Earning a living in Gobles
Only 3% work in Gobles; the top destination outside it is Bloomingdale Township (7%, 3 miles). Home is the office for 6% of workers, against 14% across Michigan. Working residents average 23 minutes each way, next to 24 for Michigan and 26 for the U.S.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Gobles, in brief
What Gobles’ employers do
353 jobs are based in Gobles.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Gobles, 2011 → 2021: 158 → 353. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2021.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Gobles’s own residents hold wherever they work.
A workday in Gobles: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 277 residents head out to work, 10 work right here, and 343 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.23 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2021, primary jobs.
Where the trip to work from Gobles ends
Where Gobles clocks in
6% of workers
5% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Getting to work from Gobles takes about 23 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Gobles workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 237 commuters (the 6% who work from home are left out). Across Michigan: 86% drive alone, 1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Near or far: the trip to work from Gobles
About 17% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2021.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Gobles and the towns next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Gobles workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Gobles | – | — | — | 23 min | $44,250 |
| Pine Grove Township | under 3% | B | D | 33 min | $69,239 |
| Bloomingdale Township | 7% | C− | C+ | 26 min | $65,634 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Bloomingdale Township. Darker towns draw more of Gobles’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2021, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Gobles: questions
What is the median household income in Gobles?
$44,250 (±$17,692) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Gobles?
22.8%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Gobles?
23 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Gobles work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Bloomingdale Township (7%, 3 mi), Kalamazoo (6%, 16 mi), Allegan (5%, 12 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Can you get around Gobles without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 24% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Gobles, from the people who make the trip.
More of Gobles
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2021, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer.