Photo: Dwight Burdette · CC BY 3.0With 0.5 jobs for every working resident, most of Grass Lake Township works elsewhere
909 jobs are based in Grass Lake Township for 1,957 working residents. Grass Lake Township grades A for jobs and income and B for walkability. Only 8% stay in Grass Lake Township for work; outside it, Jackson is the main destination (12%, 11 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Grass Lake Township
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Grass Lake Township is better than 88% of U.S. towns, #69 of 701 in Michigan. The poverty rate is its strongest input (3.6%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (ahead of 57% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and unemployment 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, Grass Lake Township could be anywhere from A− to A.
How a workday changes Grass Lake Township
On a workday 1,801 residents head out to work, 156 work right here, and 753 people come in from elsewhere.
About 5,200 people are in Grass Lake Township on a workday afternoon, 17% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2021, primary jobs.
Commuting out of Grass Lake Township: the destinations
Where Grass Lake Township clocks in
12% of workers
10% 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.
Goods jobs make up 31% of work in Grass Lake Township
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Grass Lake Township, 2011 → 2021: 856 → 909. 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 Grass Lake Township’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 25 minutes each way, about the MI average
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Grass Lake Township workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,565 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.
Short hops and long hauls from Grass Lake Township
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.
Most trips from Grass Lake Township start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Grass Lake Township is more walkable than 60% of U.S. towns, #189 of 701 in Michigan. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 5.9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.8% across Michigan, on an EPA index of 5.9.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,980 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 0.1% of Grass Lake Township households have no vehicle (Michigan 7.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Grass Lake Township’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Grass Lake Township ranks: 450th of 3,349 U.S. towns of 4,400 to 8,500
| # | 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 | Norwood NJ | 5,817 | $178K | 2.8% | 0.9% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 47 | Northville MI | 6,013 | $146K | 2.8% | 2.1% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 110 | Vergennes Township MI | 4,968 | $113K | 1.5% | 0.9% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 448 | Hambden Township OH | 4,728 | $94K | 4.0% | 1.9% | 3% | A |
| 449 | North Stonington CT | 5,242 | $124K | 1.5% | 2.5% | 6% | A |
| 450 | Grass Lake Township MI | 6,273 | $96K | 3.6% | 1.7% | 8% | A |
| 451 | Justin TX | 7,285 | $114K | 0.2% | 5.5% | 1% | A |
| 452 | Grant Township KS | 5,743 | $95K | 3.3% | 3.1% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 3,349 | 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 Grass Lake Township, the top three, the last and three more from Michigan.
Next door to Grass Lake Township
The biggest share goes to Leoni Township (5%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Grass Lake Township workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grass Lake Township | – | A | B | 25 min | $95,692 |
| Waterloo Township | under 2% | C+ | C− | 32 min | $74,500 |
| Sharon Township | under 2% | A− | C− | 33 min | $105,865 |
| Leoni Township | 5% | B | C | 23 min | $76,605 |
| Napoleon Township | under 2% | B+ | B− | 28 min | $73,793 |
| Norvell Township | under 2% | A− | D− | 32 min | $99,107 |
| Sylvan Township | under 2% | A | B− | 26 min | $102,656 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Grass Lake 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 Grass Lake Township: questions
What is the median household income in Grass Lake Township?
$95,692 (±$12,681) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Grass Lake Township?
3.6%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Grass Lake Township?
25 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 14% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Grass Lake Township work?
8% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Jackson (12%, 11 mi), Chelsea (10%, 10 mi), Scio Township (7%, 18 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Is Grass Lake Township walkable?
Grass Lake Township is more walkable than 60% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 5.9 out of 20, and 6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Grass Lake Township without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and <1% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Grass Lake Township, from the people who make the trip.
More of Grass Lake 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.