Photo: Dwight Burdette · CC BY 3.0Household incomes in Inkster trail those of 96% of U.S. towns
6% of workers work from home, where Michigan as a whole has 14%. Poverty touches 35.2% of residents, next to 13.2% for Michigan as a whole. Inkster grades D for jobs and income and B+ for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Inkster
Inkster is a place people come home to
There are 2,153 jobs based in Inkster, about three for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Inkster has about 19,000 people in it, 25% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Fewer than half of Inkster workers earn over $40,000 a year
42% of Inkster’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, wherever they work, and 20% earn $1,250 a month or less. 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.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Inkster
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Inkster is better than 15% of U.S. towns, #642 of 701 in Michigan. Job access by car holds Inkster’s grade up (ahead of 90% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (14.4%, U.S. 5.2%).
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, Inkster could be anywhere from D to C−.
The daily commute in and out of Inkster
On a workday 8,293 residents head out to work, 176 work right here, and 1,977 people come in from elsewhere.
About 19,000 people are in Inkster on a workday afternoon, 25% fewer than live here.
0.25 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.
Health, schools and offices: most of the jobs in Inkster
2,153 jobs are based in Inkster.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Inkster, 2011 → 2021: 2,490 → 2,153. 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 Inkster’s own residents hold wherever they work.
12% of working residents work in Detroit
Where Inkster clocks in
7% of workers
7% 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.
Getting to work from Inkster takes about 27 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Inkster workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 8,903 commuters (the 6% 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.
Miles to work from Inkster
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.
Driving is how Inkster gets around
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Inkster is more walkable than 69% of U.S. towns, #139 of 701 in Michigan. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 5.4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.8% across Michigan, on an EPA index of 6.9.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 9,464 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). 16.5% of Inkster households have no vehicle (Michigan 7.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 4% of Inkster’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Inkster compares with U.S. towns of 17,000 to 34,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Mountain Brook AL | 21,661 | $201K | 3.2% | 1.2% | 8% | A+ |
| 3 | Lake Forest IL | 19,731 | $235K | 3.5% | 1.8% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 34 | Northville Township MI | 31,399 | $151K | 3.1% | 2.9% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 69 | Oakland Township MI | 20,631 | $167K | 2.7% | 3.0% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 112 | Cascade Township MI | 20,201 | $136K | 4.6% | 2.6% | 14% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,614 | Elizabeth City NC | 19,622 | $52K | 13.3% | 7.0% | 35% | D |
| 1,615 | Anniston AL | 20,930 | $47K | 20.6% | 6.4% | 28% | D |
| 1,616 | Inkster MI | 24,959 | $39K | 35.2% | 14.4% | 2% | D |
| 1,617 | Jackson MI | 31,022 | $45K | 24.6% | 9.1% | 30% | D |
| 1,618 | West Memphis AR | 23,336 | $43K | 29.1% | 14.5% | 30% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 1,688 | Nogales AZ | 19,495 | $43K | 28.0% | 15.7% | 37% | 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 Inkster, the top three, the last and three more from Michigan.
The towns around Inkster
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Inkster workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Inkster | – | D | B+ | 27 min | $39,252 |
| Dearborn Heights | under 3% | C | B | 24 min | $60,391 |
| Westland | under 3% | C+ | B− | 25 min | $62,076 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Inkster’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 Inkster: questions
What is the median household income in Inkster?
$39,252 (±$5,394) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Inkster?
35.2%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Inkster?
27 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Inkster work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Detroit (12%, 13 mi), Romulus (7%, 6 mi), Dearborn (7%, 6 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Is Inkster walkable?
Inkster is more walkable than 69% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 6.9 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Inkster without a car?
4% of commuters take transit and 16% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Inkster, from the people who make the trip.
More of Inkster
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.