Photo: Lrgjr72 · CC BY-SA 4.0Grand Blanc has lower unemployment (2.5%) than 77% of U.S. towns
22% of workers have no commute at all; Michigan has 14%. Jobs and income earn Grand Blanc B+; getting around on foot earns it B. Only 7% stay in Grand Blanc for work; outside it, Flint is the main destination (12%, 7 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Grand Blanc
Grand Blanc workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 42 minutes each way, against 24 across Michigan. Over a year that’s about 322 hours of commuting, 138 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Grand Blanc trades workers with the towns around it
Grand Blanc has about as many jobs (3,259) as working residents (3,195), but they are mostly different people: 2,986 residents leave for work each day while 3,050 people come in. Only 6% of the jobs in Grand Blanc are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Grand Blanc than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Grand Blanc fell from 8,523 in 2011 to 3,259 in 2021, −62%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. The jobs ↓
Home offices are common in Grand Blanc
22% of Grand Blanc workers work from home, against 14% across Michigan. Time on the road ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2021, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; 2021 is the newest year Michigan has published.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Grand Blanc
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Grand Blanc is better than 68% of U.S. towns, #251 of 701 in Michigan. Unemployment holds Grand Blanc’s grade up; household income pulls it down ($68,052, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on the poverty rate and job access by car.
The commuting and job counts on this page are Census LEHD 2021: Michigan reports later than other states, so its newest year is three years behind.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Grand Blanc could be anywhere from C+ to A.
Getting to work from Grand Blanc takes about 42 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 13.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Grand Blanc workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,024 commuters (the 22% 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.
Grand Blanc on a workday afternoon
On a workday 2,986 residents head out to work, 209 work right here, and 3,050 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 (1.02 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.
In Grand Blanc, services account for most jobs
3,259 jobs are based in Grand Blanc.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Grand Blanc, 2011 → 2021: 8,523 → 3,259. 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 Grand Blanc’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where Grand Blanc’s working residents head each day
Where Grand Blanc clocks in
8% 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.
How far Grand Blanc’s workers travel
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.
In Grand Blanc, the car does most of the work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Grand Blanc is more walkable than 59% of U.S. towns, #196 of 701 in Michigan. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 3.8% across Michigan.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 3,881 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 58% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 1.2 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 60% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 6.8% of Grand Blanc households have no vehicle (Michigan 7.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Grand Blanc’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 5,500 to 10,600, Grand Blanc ranks 1,183rd of 3,026 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 7 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 35 | Grosse Pointe Farms MI | 9,735 | $161K | 2.5% | 1.9% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,181 | Hutchison VA | 7,284 | $106K | 14.5% | 4.8% | 1% | B+ |
| 1,182 | De Soto KS | 7,083 | $104K | 6.1% | 8.6% | 15% | B+ |
| 1,183 | Grand Blanc MI | 7,880 | $68K | 9.0% | 2.5% | 7% | B+ |
| 1,184 | Kimberly WI | 7,556 | $70K | 9.9% | 2.8% | 5% | B+ |
| 1,185 | Fort Russell Township IL | 9,158 | $73K | 7.6% | 3.3% | 4% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,026 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 6% | D− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Grand Blanc, the top three, the last and three more from Michigan.
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 Grand Blanc: questions
What is the median household income in Grand Blanc?
$68,052 (±$27,338) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Grand Blanc?
9.0%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Grand Blanc?
42 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 22% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Grand Blanc work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Flint (12%, 7 mi), Grand Blanc Township (8%, 1 mi), Flint Township (5%, 9 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Is Grand Blanc walkable?
Grand Blanc is more walkable than 59% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 10.1 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Grand Blanc without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Grand Blanc, from the people who make the trip.
More of Grand Blanc
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. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.