Photo: Andrew Jameson · CC BY-SA 3.0Households in Hamtramck have lower incomes than those in 96% of U.S. towns
For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 3.9 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 7.2 in Detroit. 39.9% of residents are in poverty, next to 13.2% for Michigan as a whole. Jobs and income earn Hamtramck C−; getting around on foot earns it A.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Hamtramck, in brief
Hamtramck and Detroit trade workers both ways
Detroit is the top workplace for Hamtramck residents (19%) and also where the most people who work in Hamtramck come from (22% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Fewer than half of Hamtramck workers earn over $40,000 a year
37% of Hamtramck’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, wherever they work, and 24% earn $1,250 a month or less. 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.
The figures behind Hamtramck’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Hamtramck is better than 16% of U.S. towns, #627 of 701 in Michigan. Job access by car holds Hamtramck’s grade up; the poverty rate pulls it down.
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 firm grade. At either end of the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Hamtramck stays C−.
19% of working residents work in Detroit
Where Hamtramck clocks in
8% of workers
4% 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.
Inside Hamtramck’s 2,609 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Hamtramck, 2011 → 2021: 2,936 → 2,609. 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 Hamtramck’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who works in Hamtramck, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 6,516 residents head out to work, 430 work right here, and 2,179 people come in from elsewhere.
About 23,000 people are in Hamtramck on a workday afternoon, 16% fewer than live here.
0.38 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute 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.
The trip to work from Hamtramck: about 24 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Hamtramck workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 6,719 commuters (the 9% 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 Hamtramck goes to work
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.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Hamtramck
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Hamtramck is more walkable than 93% of U.S. towns, #12 of 701 in Michigan. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 5.5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, above 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 7,401 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). Nearly all residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 85% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 3.9 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 80% 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). 19.8% of Hamtramck households have no vehicle (Michigan 7.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Hamtramck’s commuters take a bus or train.
Hamtramck and other U.S. towns of 19,000 to 37,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Mountain Brook AL | 21,661 | $201K | 3.2% | 1.2% | 8% | A+ |
| 3 | Lake Forest IL | 19,731 | $235K | 3.5% | 1.8% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 32 | Northville Township MI | 31,399 | $151K | 3.1% | 2.9% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 66 | Oakland Township MI | 20,631 | $167K | 2.7% | 3.0% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 100 | Cascade Township MI | 20,201 | $136K | 4.6% | 2.6% | 14% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,426 | Hinesville GA | 36,674 | $60K | 14.0% | 8.5% | 22% | C− |
| 1,427 | Le Ray NY | 24,259 | $63K | 13.0% | 8.5% | 6% | C− |
| 1,428 | Hamtramck MI | 27,261 | $39K | 39.9% | 13.1% | 6% | C− |
| 1,429 | Boone NC | 19,929 | $30K | 51.2% | 12.0% | 37% | C− |
| 1,430 | Oildale CA | 34,687 | $51K | 25.2% | 11.6% | 9% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,509 | Nogales AZ | 19,495 | $43K | 28.0% | 15.7% | 37% | 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 Hamtramck, 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 Hamtramck: questions
What is the median household income in Hamtramck?
$39,293 (±$5,070) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Hamtramck?
39.9%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Hamtramck?
24 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Hamtramck work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Detroit (19%, 2 mi), Warren (8%, 7 mi), Sterling Heights (4%, 13 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Is Hamtramck walkable?
Hamtramck is more walkable than 93% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 13.9 out of 20, and 6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Hamtramck without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 20% of households have no car. 85% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Hamtramck, from the people who make the trip.
More of Hamtramck
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.