Harper Woods has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.4 for each
Jobs and income earn Harper Woods C+; getting around on foot earns it B+. There are 2,485 jobs in Harper Woods, against 6,002 working residents. A typical one-way commute lasts 26 minutes (Michigan 24, U.S. 26).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Harper Woods, in a few figures
Harper Woods and Detroit trade workers both ways
Detroit is the top workplace for Harper Woods residents (26%) and also where the most people who work in Harper Woods come from (21% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Harper Woods than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Harper Woods fell from 3,946 in 2011 to 2,485 in 2021, −37%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. The jobs ↓
Stores, warehouses and trucking
42% of the jobs in Harper Woods are in trade, transport and utilities, against 17% of the jobs its residents hold. The jobs ↓
Many jobs in Harper Woods pay little
28% of the jobs based in Harper Woods pay $1,250 a month or less, under $15,000 a year. Young workers hold many of them: 30% of all the jobs here go to people 29 or younger. 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.
Harper Woods’ Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Harper Woods is better than 35% of U.S. towns, #522 of 701 in Michigan. Job access by car holds Harper Woods’ grade up (ahead of 93% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (19.8%, 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, Harper Woods could be anywhere from C− to B.
26% of working residents work in Detroit
Where Harper Woods clocks in
8% 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.
What Harper Woods’ employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Harper Woods, 2011 → 2021: 3,946 → 2,485. 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 Harper Woods’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Harper Woods quiets down on a workday
On a workday 5,870 residents head out to work, 132 work right here, and 2,353 people come in from elsewhere.
About 11,000 people are in Harper Woods on a workday afternoon, 24% 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.
Each way, about 26 minutes from Harper Woods
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Harper Woods workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 5,638 commuters (the 13% 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 Harper Woods
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.
Harper Woods is a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Harper Woods is more walkable than 68% of U.S. towns, #144 of 701 in Michigan. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.7% 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 6,449 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 66% 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 4.6 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 83% 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). 11.3% of Harper Woods households have no vehicle (Michigan 7.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Harper Woods’ commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Harper Woods is 1,765th of 2,362 U.S. towns of 10,000 to 20,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 9 | Ada Township MI | 14,769 | $168K | 2.0% | 0.7% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 29 | Southfield Township MI | 14,671 | $185K | 4.7% | 1.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,763 | Tremonton UT | 12,934 | $75K | 10.2% | 5.6% | 18% | C+ |
| 1,764 | Port Huron Township MI | 10,665 | $62K | 16.5% | 3.8% | 6% | C+ |
| 1,765 | Harper Woods MI | 14,860 | $65K | 19.8% | 7.1% | 2% | C+ |
| 1,766 | Sedro-Woolley WA | 13,308 | $81K | 15.7% | 4.8% | 13% | C+ |
| 1,767 | Plains Township PA | 10,010 | $74K | 16.8% | 7.2% | 15% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,362 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 Harper Woods, the top three, the last and three more from Michigan.
Harper Woods and its neighbors: 26% work next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Harper Woods workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Harper Woods | – | C+ | B+ | 26 min | $65,022 |
| Detroit | 26% | C− | A+ | 25 min | $39,938 |
| Grosse Pointe Woods | under 2% | A− | B | 24 min | $126,395 |
| Eastpointe | under 2% | C | A | 26 min | $62,325 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Detroit. Darker towns draw more of Harper Woods’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 Harper Woods: questions
What is the median household income in Harper Woods?
$65,022 (±$8,141) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Harper Woods?
19.8%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Harper Woods?
26 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 13% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Harper Woods work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Detroit (26%, 10 mi), Warren (8%, 6 mi), Troy (5%, 15 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Is Harper Woods walkable?
Harper Woods is more walkable than 68% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 10.6 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Harper Woods without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 11% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Harper Woods, from the people who make the trip.
More of Harper Woods
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.