Medical Arts Building · Photo: Andrew Jameson · CC BY-SA 3.0Unemployment in Grand Rapids (5.2%) is higher than in 64% of U.S. towns
Working residents average 19 minutes each way, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. About one in three work in Grand Rapids; the top destination outside it is Kentwood (8%, 6 miles). Household incomes here are lower than in 60% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Grand Rapids and work: the main findings
Most Grand Rapids residents work close to home
68% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home, about two in three. How far ↓
Grand Rapids is where the jobs are
Grand Rapids has 127,078 jobs, 1.6 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
A young workforce
31% of Grand Rapids’ working residents are 29 or younger. The jobs ↓
Commutes from Grand Rapids are quick
The average trip to work takes 19 minutes, against 24 across Michigan. That’s about 38 hours a year less on the road than the typical Michigan worker. 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.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Grand Rapids
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Grand Rapids is better than 46% of U.S. towns, #428 of 701 in Michigan. Job access by car holds Grand Rapids’ grade up (ahead of 91% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (16.9%, U.S. 12.5%).
The commuting and job counts on this page are Census LEHD 2021: Michigan reports later than other states, so its newest year is two years behind.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Grand Rapids could be anywhere from C+ to B−.
Short hops and long hauls from Grand Rapids
About 15% 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.
How many people are in Grand Rapids by day
On a workday 54,113 residents head out to work, 27,591 work right here, and 99,487 people come in from elsewhere.
About 247,000 people are in Grand Rapids on a workday afternoon, 23% more than live here.
1.6 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2021, primary jobs.
Jobs in Grand Rapids: what the 127,078 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Grand Rapids, 2011 → 2021: 117,992 → 127,078. 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’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Getting to work from Grand Rapids takes about 19 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Grand Rapids workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 89,929 commuters (the 14% 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.
Where Grand Rapids’ workforce comes from
Where Grand Rapids clocks in
8% of workers
6% 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.
Grand Rapids is more walkable than 96% of U.S. towns
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 104,470 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 97% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 45% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 13.4 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 96% 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). 10.9% of Grand Rapids households have no vehicle (Michigan 7.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 3% of Grand Rapids’ commuters take a bus or train.
These are town averages; neighborhoods differ.
Grand Rapids places 76th of 136 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 141,000 to 272,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | North Hempstead NY | 238,982 | $158K | 4.5% | 4.1% | 20% | A |
| 2 | Frisco TX | 236,955 | $150K | 3.6% | 4.6% | 14% | A |
| 3 | Olathe KS | 150,025 | $114K | 5.6% | 2.7% | 26% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 74 | Ramapo NY | 161,564 | $82K | 26.5% | 5.5% | 34% | B− |
| 75 | Hialeah FL | 230,968 | $56K | 17.0% | 4.1% | 15% | B− |
| 76 | Grand Rapids MI | 201,183 | $69K | 16.9% | 5.2% | 34% | B− |
| 77 | Little Rock AR | 206,427 | $63K | 17.5% | 4.1% | 68% | B− |
| 78 | Tallahassee FL | 204,902 | $57K | 23.6% | 6.4% | 70% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 136 | Macon-Bibb County GA | 157,556 | $51K | 24.7% | 8.1% | 53% | 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, the top three, the last and three more from Michigan.
The towns next door employ 21% of Grand Rapids
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Grand Rapids workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Rapids | – | B− | A+ | 19 min | $69,108 |
| Walker | 4% | A− | B+ | 20 min | $76,360 |
| Grand Rapids Township | 2% | A | B | 20 min | $123,246 |
| Wyoming | 7% | B | A− | 22 min | $73,677 |
| East Grand Rapids | under 2% | A+ | A | 18 min | $166,610 |
| Kentwood | 8% | B | A− | 20 min | $74,373 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Kentwood. Darker towns draw more of Grand Rapids’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: questions
What is the median household income in Grand Rapids?
$69,108 (±$1,869) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Grand Rapids?
16.9%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Grand Rapids?
19 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 14% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Grand Rapids work?
34% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Kentwood (8%, 6 mi), Wyoming (7%, 6 mi), Cascade Township (6%, 9 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Is Grand Rapids walkable?
Grand Rapids is more walkable than 96% of U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 13.1 out of 20, and 9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Grand Rapids without a car?
3% of commuters take transit and 11% of households have no car. 45% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Grand Rapids, from the people who make the trip.
More of Grand Rapids
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.