Photo: RaboKarbakian · CC BY-SA 1.0Unemployment in Handy Township (3.2%) is lower than in 66% of U.S. towns
For jobs and income Handy Township is better than 69% of U.S. towns (B+); for walkability it is more walkable than 47% of U.S. towns (B−). About one in ten work in Handy Township itself; outside it, Howell draws the most (7%, 8 miles). A typical one-way commute lasts 29 minutes; Michigan averages 24, the U.S. 26.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Handy Township apart
No single place dominates Handy Township’s commute
The biggest draw, Howell, gets only 7% of working residents, and 56% work outside the top ten towns entirely. Handy Township residents fan out across the region. The commute map ↓
The quickest commute around
Handy Township’s 29-minute average trip is shorter than in any town next door, where it runs from 32 to 36 minutes. Next door ↓
Handy Township makes and builds things
38% of the jobs based in Handy Township are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Handy Township residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 24%. The jobs ↓
Handy Township workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 29 minutes each way, against 24 across Michigan. Over a year that’s about 222 hours of commuting, 38 more than the state’s typical 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.
Income, poverty and work: Handy Township’s grade explained
All four inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Handy Township’s grade. It also does well on household income and the poverty rate and unemployment.
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, Handy Township could be anywhere from B− to A.
Out of Handy Township to work: where people go
Where Handy Township clocks in
7% of workers
5% of workers
5% 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.
Factories, building and farms: 38% of the jobs in Handy Township
2,525 jobs are based in Handy Township.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Handy Township, 2011 → 2021: 2,054 → 2,525. 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 Handy Township’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily trip from Handy Township: about 29 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Handy Township workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,844 commuters (the 8% 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.
The workday shuffle in and out of Handy Township
On a workday 3,276 residents head out to work, 412 work right here, and 2,113 people come in from elsewhere.
About 7,700 people are in Handy Township on a workday afternoon, 13% fewer than live here.
0.68 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.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Handy Township
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.
Handy Township is a driving town
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 3.0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.8% across Michigan, on an EPA index of 6.0.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 4,167 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% 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 under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% 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). 4.3% of Handy Township households have no vehicle (Michigan 7.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Handy Township’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 2,907 U.S. towns of 6,200 to 12,000, Handy Township comes 1,166th 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 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 3 | Pimmit Hills VA | 6,589 | $173K | 1.6% | 1.3% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5 | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,164 | The Village OK | 9,276 | $77K | 11.6% | 3.2% | 3% | B+ |
| 1,165 | Scappoose OR | 8,257 | $98K | 7.2% | 2.1% | 9% | B+ |
| 1,166 | Handy Township MI | 8,887 | $79K | 8.0% | 3.2% | 11% | B+ |
| 1,167 | Ash Township MI | 8,013 | $73K | 6.9% | 4.0% | 8% | B+ |
| 1,168 | Derby CO | 8,453 | $82K | 8.1% | 5.1% | 1% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,907 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Handy Township, the top three, the last and three more from Michigan.
The towns around Handy Township
The biggest share goes to Howell Township (3%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Handy Township workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Handy Township | – | B+ | B− | 29 min | $78,542 |
| Conway Township | under 3% | A | D− | 36 min | $100,625 |
| Howell Township | 3% | — | — | 32 min | — |
| Leroy Township | under 3% | C+ | C+ | 32 min | $84,704 |
| Iosco Township | under 3% | A− | D | 35 min | $112,063 |
Same-state neighbors only. Howell Township: not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Handy 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 Handy Township: questions
What is the median household income in Handy Township?
$78,542 (±$8,114) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Handy Township?
8.0%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Handy Township?
29 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Handy Township work?
11% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Howell (7%, 8 mi), Ann Arbor (5%, 31 mi), Genoa Township (5%, 13 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Is Handy Township walkable?
Handy Township is more walkable than 47% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 6.0 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Handy Township without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Handy Township, from the people who make the trip.
More of Handy 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.