Higgins Township has lower household incomes than 81% of U.S. towns
About one in seven stay in Higgins Township for work; outside it, Grayling is the main destination (9%, 18 miles). Below the poverty line: 9.9% of residents, next to 13.2% across Michigan. Higgins Township grades C− for jobs and income and C+ for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Higgins Township: the figures worth knowing
Higgins Township is where the jobs are
Higgins Township has 924 jobs, 1.7 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
A big share show a job far from home
40% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
Higgins Township makes and builds things
40% of the jobs based in Higgins Township are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Higgins Township residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 19%. 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; with 552 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Income, poverty and work: Higgins Township’s grade explained
On income, poverty and job access, Higgins Township is better than 16% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Higgins Township’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 8% of U.S. towns).
Unemployment (3.8%) is left out: Higgins Township’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
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 and poverty, Higgins Township could be anywhere from D to C.
Who leaves Higgins Township for work, and who comes in
On a workday 470 residents head out to work, 82 work right here, and 842 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,300 people are in Higgins Township on a workday afternoon, 20% more than live here.
1.7 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.
Higgins Township’s commute, mile by mile
About 40% 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.
Making and building: 40% of jobs based in Higgins Township
924 jobs are based in Higgins Township.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Higgins Township, 2011 → 2021: 699 → 924. 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 Higgins Township’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who travels to work in Higgins Township, and from where
Where Higgins Township clocks in
Lines 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.
Each way, about 20 minutes from Higgins Township
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Higgins Township workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 780 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.
In Higgins Township, the car does most of the work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Higgins Township is more walkable than 38% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Higgins Township near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 850 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). 7.0% of Higgins Township households have no vehicle (Michigan 7.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Higgins Township’s commuters take a bus or train.
Higgins Township is 4,514th of 5,921 U.S. towns of 1,300 to 2,600 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 109 | Caledonia MI | 1,778 | $106K | 3.7% | 0.5% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 148 | Village of Grosse Pointe Shores MI | 2,533 | $190K | 2.7% | 3.5% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 223 | Wheatfield Township MI | 1,659 | $117K | 1.9% | 2.7% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 4,512 | Stratford TX | 1,978 | $49K | 8.1% | 2.1% | 22% | C− |
| 4,513 | Cass Township IN | 1,857 | $61K | 12.6% | 5.9% | 9% | C− |
| 4,514 | Higgins Township MI | 1,892 | $55K | 9.9% | 3.8% | 15% | C− |
| 4,515 | Mary Ann Township OH | 2,274 | $55K | 16.8% | 0.0% | 1% | C− |
| 4,516 | Hoxie AR | 2,568 | $35K | 19.0% | 4.3% | 10% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,921 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 0% | 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 Higgins Township, the top three, the last and three more from Michigan.
How Higgins Township compares with the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Gerrish Township (5%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Higgins Township workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Higgins Township | – | C− | C+ | 20 min | $55,313 |
| Backus Township | under 2% | — | — | 24 min | — |
| Au Sable Township | under 2% | — | — | 30 min | — |
| Gerrish Township | 5% | B | D | 18 min | $95,813 |
| Markey Township | 4% | D | D− | 27 min | $51,587 |
| Richfield Township | under 2% | D− | C+ | 29 min | $47,055 |
| South Branch Township | under 2% | D | C+ | 21 min | $52,292 |
Same-state neighbors only. Backus Township and Au Sable Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Higgins 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 Higgins Township: questions
What is the median household income in Higgins Township?
$55,313 (±$11,994) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Higgins Township?
9.9%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Higgins Township?
20 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Higgins Township work?
15% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Grayling (9%, 18 mi), Grayling Township (5%, 19 mi), Gerrish Township (5%, 7 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Is Higgins Township walkable?
Higgins Township is more walkable than 38% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 5.9 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Higgins Township without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Higgins Township, from the people who make the trip.
More of Higgins 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.