Household incomes in Grand Rapids Township top those of 89% of U.S. towns
30% of workers have no commute at all (Michigan 14%). Below the poverty line: 6.5% of residents, next to 13.2% for Michigan as a whole. Jobs and income earn Grand Rapids Township A; getting around on foot earns it B.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Grand Rapids Township at work: what stands out
Much of Grand Rapids Township works one town over
53% of working residents work in a town that borders Grand Rapids Township: Grand Rapids (30%), Kentwood (8%) and Cascade Township (7%). Next door ↓
Home offices are common in Grand Rapids Township
30% of Grand Rapids Township workers work from home, against 14% across Michigan. Time on the road ↓
Most Grand Rapids Township residents work close to home
65% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home, about two in three. How far ↓
Nearly all the work in Grand Rapids Township is services
90% of the jobs based here are in services, such as health care, schools and offices. Only 4% are in factories, building or farms. The jobs ↓
Grand Rapids Township has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Grand Rapids Township went from 7,224 in 2011 to 10,017 in 2021, +39%. The jobs ↓
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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Why Grand Rapids Township gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Grand Rapids Township is better than 85% of U.S. towns, #110 of 701 in Michigan. Household income holds Grand Rapids Township’s grade up ($123,246, U.S. $80,734); unemployment pulls it down (4.3%, U.S. 5.2%). 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 fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Grand Rapids Township could be anywhere from B to A+.
The daily trip from Grand Rapids Township: about 20 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Grand Rapids Township workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 6,462 commuters (the 30% 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.
How far it is to work from Grand Rapids Township
About 16% 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.
Mostly services: health care, schools and offices
10,017 jobs are based in Grand Rapids Township.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Grand Rapids Township, 2011 → 2021: 7,224 → 10,017. 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 Rapids Township’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How many people are in Grand Rapids Township by day
On a workday 6,989 residents head out to work, 393 work right here, and 9,624 people come in from elsewhere.
About 22,000 people are in Grand Rapids Township on a workday afternoon, 14% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.36 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 Grand Rapids Township goes to work
Where Grand Rapids Township clocks in
8% of workers
7% 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.
For most of Grand Rapids Township, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Grand Rapids Township is more walkable than 63% of U.S. towns, #174 of 701 in Michigan. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.0% 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 9,171 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 9% 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 2.2 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 70% 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). 8.2% of Grand Rapids Township households have no vehicle (Michigan 7.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Grand Rapids Township’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Grand Rapids Township is 466th of 1,760 U.S. towns of 14,000 to 26,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Ada Township MI | 14,769 | $168K | 2.0% | 0.7% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 13 | Southfield Township MI | 14,671 | $185K | 4.7% | 1.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 63 | Berkley MI | 15,145 | $116K | 4.5% | 2.2% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 464 | Waconia MN | 14,113 | $111K | 4.1% | 4.4% | 19% | A |
| 465 | DeWitt Township MI | 15,516 | $97K | 6.0% | 2.9% | 4% | A |
| 466 | Grand Rapids Township MI | 19,442 | $123K | 6.5% | 4.3% | 5% | A |
| 467 | Bon Air VA | 16,904 | $102K | 6.7% | 3.5% | 4% | A |
| 468 | Firestone CO | 20,129 | $120K | 4.6% | 4.2% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,760 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 28% | 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 Rapids Township, the top three, the last and three more from Michigan.
The towns next door employ 53% of Grand Rapids Township
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Grand Rapids Township workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Rapids Township | – | A | B | 20 min | $123,246 |
| Grand Rapids | 30% | B− | A+ | 19 min | $69,108 |
| East Grand Rapids | 2% | A+ | A | 18 min | $166,610 |
| Ada Township | 3% | A+ | B− | 20 min | $168,468 |
| Forest Hills | under 2% | — | — | 20 min | — |
| Plainfield Township | 3% | A− | C+ | 20 min | $94,218 |
| Northview | under 2% | — | — | 18 min | — |
| Kentwood | 8% | B | A− | 20 min | $74,373 |
| Cascade Township | 7% | A+ | C+ | 19 min | $135,896 |
Same-state neighbors only. Forest Hills and Northview: Census-designated places inside larger towns, graded as part of them. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Grand Rapids. Darker towns draw more of Grand Rapids Township’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 Grand Rapids Township: questions
What is the median household income in Grand Rapids Township?
$123,246 (±$10,113) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Grand Rapids Township?
6.5%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Grand Rapids Township?
20 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 30% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Grand Rapids Township work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Grand Rapids (30%, 5 mi), Kentwood (8%, 8 mi), Cascade Township (7%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Is Grand Rapids Township walkable?
Grand Rapids Township is more walkable than 63% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 8.4 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Grand Rapids Township without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Grand Rapids Township, from the people who make the trip.
More of Grand Rapids Township
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.