Lorenzo and Ruth Wells Palmer House · Photo: Notorious4life · Public domainUnemployment in Hudson (7.9%) is higher than in 88% of U.S. towns
Measured by household income, Hudson is behind 84% of U.S. towns. For jobs and income Hudson is better than 9% of U.S. towns (D); for walkability it is more walkable than 78% of U.S. towns (A−). 2% of workers have no commute at all, where Michigan as a whole has 14%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Hudson apart on work
Hudson has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Hudson went from 566 in 2011 to 788 in 2021, +39%. The jobs ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Hudson
53% of Hudson residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 35% of the jobs based in Hudson pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 84% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
Few Hudson workers work from home
Only 2% of workers work from home, against 14% across Michigan. Almost everyone here travels to a job. 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; with 951 working residents, small shifts move the shares; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Income, poverty and work: Hudson’s grade explained
All four inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Hudson’s grade.
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, Hudson could be anywhere from D− to C+.
Making and building: 29% of jobs based in Hudson
788 jobs are based in Hudson.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Hudson, 2011 → 2021: 566 → 788. 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 Hudson’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Getting to work from Hudson takes about 28 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Hudson workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 944 commuters (the 2% 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 Hudson
On a workday 797 residents head out to work, 154 work right here, and 634 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.83 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2021, primary jobs.
Where people from Hudson work
Where Hudson clocks in
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.
How far it is to work from Hudson
About 24% 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.
Hudson is easy on foot, hard by bus
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 8.7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.8% across Michigan, on an EPA index of 7.2.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 965 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). 5.9% of Hudson households have no vehicle (Michigan 7.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Hudson’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 1,600 to 3,200, Hudson ranks 4,847th of 5,552 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 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 21 | Franklin MI | 3,134 | $194K | 2.8% | 2.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 103 | Caledonia MI | 1,778 | $106K | 3.7% | 0.5% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 145 | Village of Grosse Pointe Shores MI | 2,533 | $190K | 2.7% | 3.5% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,845 | Webster County GA | 2,369 | $47K | 22.3% | 4.2% | 15% | D |
| 4,846 | Shelby MI | 2,185 | $50K | 20.0% | 6.6% | 6% | D |
| 4,847 | Hudson MI | 2,347 | $53K | 17.8% | 7.9% | 16% | D |
| 4,848 | Townsend MT | 2,272 | $71K | 15.6% | 13.3% | 24% | D |
| 4,849 | Chelsea OK | 1,999 | $51K | 19.1% | 10.7% | 16% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 5,552 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 Hudson, the top three, the last and three more from Michigan.
Hudson and its neighbors
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Hudson workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Hudson | – | D | A− | 28 min | $53,009 |
| Hudson Township | 2% | C | C− | 27 min | $54,471 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Hudson Township. Darker towns draw more of Hudson’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 Hudson: questions
What is the median household income in Hudson?
$53,009 (±$8,340) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Hudson?
17.8%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Hudson?
28 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 2% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Hudson work?
16% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Adrian (9%, 16 mi), Hillsdale (5%, 16 mi), Jackson (4%, 27 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Is Hudson walkable?
Hudson is more walkable than 78% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 7.2 out of 20, and 9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Hudson without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Hudson, from the people who make the trip.
More of Hudson
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.