Photo: Joshuay04 · CC BY-SA 4.0Howell draws 7,049 commuters a day, with 1.8 jobs for every working resident
About one in ten work in Howell; the top destination outside it is Ann Arbor (6%, 25 miles). Employers in Howell report 7,525 jobs, against 4,102 working residents. Jobs and income earn Howell B; getting around on foot earns it B+.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Howell, in brief
No single place dominates Howell’s commute
The biggest draw, Ann Arbor, gets only 6% of working residents, and 56% work outside the top ten towns entirely. Howell residents fan out across the region. The commute map ↓
Howell is where the jobs are
Howell has 7,525 jobs, 1.8 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Howell workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 30 minutes each way, against 24 across Michigan. Over a year that’s about 230 hours of commuting, 46 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Howell draws workers from far and wide
The 7,525 jobs in Howell are filled from a wide area. Howell’s own residents hold 6% and the ten next-biggest home towns 35%; the other 59% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
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 Howell’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Howell is better than 64% of U.S. towns, #283 of 701 in Michigan. Job access by car holds Howell’s grade up (ahead of 81% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($60,449, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on 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 rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Howell could be anywhere from C+ to A−.
Where Howell’s workforce comes from
Where Howell clocks in
6% of workers
5% 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.
A workday in Howell: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 3,626 residents head out to work and 476 work right here.
About 13,000 people are in Howell on a workday afternoon, 35% more 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.
About 30 minutes to work from Howell
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Howell workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 5,002 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.
What Howell’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Howell, 2011 → 2021: 7,896 → 7,525. 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 Howell’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Howell’s commute, mile by mile
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.
For most of Howell, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Howell is more walkable than 70% of U.S. towns, #132 of 701 in Michigan. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.1% 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 5,518 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). 8.3% of Howell households have no vehicle (Michigan 7.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Howell’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 2,792 U.S. towns of 6,900 to 13,400, Howell comes 1,294th on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Ladue MO | 8,934 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 25 | Grosse Pointe Farms MI | 9,735 | $161K | 2.5% | 1.9% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 62 | Jamestown Township MI | 10,702 | $120K | 2.8% | 1.1% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,292 | Stillwater NY | 10,198 | $105K | 6.7% | 5.7% | 4% | B |
| 1,293 | Stuarts Draft VA | 11,780 | $79K | 7.3% | 3.2% | 18% | B |
| 1,294 | Howell MI | 9,896 | $60K | 7.7% | 3.2% | 12% | B |
| 1,295 | Crawford NY | 9,041 | $135K | 7.8% | 5.8% | 7% | B |
| 1,296 | Valley Township PA | 8,100 | $89K | 11.6% | 4.0% | 3% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 2,792 | 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 Howell, the top three, the last and three more from Michigan.
Next door to Howell
The biggest share goes to Genoa Township (5%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Howell workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Howell | – | B | B+ | 30 min | $60,449 |
| Howell Township | 3% | — | — | 32 min | — |
| Oceola Township | under 3% | A | C− | 31 min | $118,870 |
| Marion Township | under 3% | A | D | 29 min | $123,211 |
| Genoa Township | 5% | A− | C | 28 min | $100,716 |
Same-state neighbors only. Howell Township: not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Howell’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 Howell: questions
What is the median household income in Howell?
$60,449 (±$9,069) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Howell?
7.7%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Howell?
30 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Howell work?
12% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Ann Arbor (6%, 25 mi), Genoa Township (5%, 6 mi), Brighton (4%, 9 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Is Howell walkable?
Howell is more walkable than 70% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 9.7 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Howell without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Howell, from the people who make the trip.
More of Howell
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.