Photo: Andrew Jameson · CC BY-SA 3.0Ishpeming has lower household incomes than 84% of U.S. towns
About one in four work in Ishpeming itself; outside it, Marquette draws the most (26%, 14 miles). Below the poverty line: 18.7% of residents, next to 13.2% for Michigan as a whole. Ishpeming grades D for jobs and income and A− for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Ishpeming at work: what stands out
Ishpeming trades workers with the towns around it
Ishpeming has about as many jobs (2,764) as working residents (2,439), but they are mostly different people: 1,839 residents leave for work each day while 2,164 people come in. Only 22% of the jobs in Ishpeming are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Ishpeming has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Ishpeming went from 1,674 in 2011 to 2,764 in 2021, +65%. The jobs ↓
Ishpeming makes and builds things
45% of the jobs based in Ishpeming are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Ishpeming residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 20%. The jobs ↓
The jobs in Ishpeming pay better than its residents’ jobs
64% of the jobs based in Ishpeming pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), against 44% of the jobs Ishpeming residents hold. 78% of the jobs here are held by people who live outside Ishpeming. The jobs ↓
Commutes from Ishpeming are quick
The average trip to work takes 19 minutes, against 24 across Michigan. That’s about 38 hours a year less on the road than the typical Michigan worker. 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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Jobs & income in Ishpeming: the grade in detail
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Ishpeming is better than 10% of U.S. towns, #671 of 701 in Michigan. All four inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Ishpeming’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, Ishpeming could be anywhere from D− to C.
In and out of Ishpeming on a workday
On a workday 1,839 residents head out to work, 600 work right here, and 2,164 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 (1.13 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.
45% of the jobs in Ishpeming make or build things
2,764 jobs are based in Ishpeming.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Ishpeming, 2011 → 2021: 1,674 → 2,764. 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 Ishpeming’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Getting to work from Ishpeming takes about 19 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Ishpeming workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,591 commuters (the 7% 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.
Where Ishpeming’s working residents head each day
Where Ishpeming clocks in
26% 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.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Ishpeming
About 23% 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.
Ishpeming is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Ishpeming is more walkable than 82% of U.S. towns, #68 of 701 in Michigan. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 8.3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.8% across Michigan, on an EPA index of 7.7.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,800 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). 8.4% of Ishpeming households have no vehicle (Michigan 7.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Ishpeming’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Ishpeming compares with U.S. towns of 4,300 to 8,400
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 50 | Northville MI | 6,013 | $146K | 2.8% | 2.1% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 119 | Vergennes Township MI | 4,968 | $113K | 1.5% | 0.9% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,183 | South Boston VA | 7,795 | $44K | 26.9% | 5.2% | 19% | D |
| 3,184 | Kingsland TX | 7,330 | $57K | 16.3% | 6.4% | 12% | D |
| 3,185 | Ishpeming MI | 6,205 | $53K | 18.7% | 6.4% | 25% | D |
| 3,186 | Fulton MS | 4,640 | $53K | 18.7% | 7.9% | 28% | D |
| 3,187 | Ocean Shores WA | 7,892 | $58K | 12.3% | 7.3% | 27% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 3,432 | 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 Ishpeming, the top three, the last and three more from Michigan.
Around Ishpeming: the bordering towns
The biggest share goes to Negaunee (5%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Ishpeming workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ishpeming | – | D | A− | 19 min | $52,754 |
| Ishpeming Township | 4% | B− | C | 21 min | $94,271 |
| Tilden Township | under 2% | C− | C− | 23 min | $67,596 |
| Negaunee | 5% | C+ | C+ | 16 min | $70,568 |
| West Ishpeming | under 2% | — | — | 21 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. West Ishpeming: a Census-designated place inside a larger town, graded as part of it. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Ishpeming’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 Ishpeming: questions
What is the median household income in Ishpeming?
$52,754 (±$4,545) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Ishpeming?
18.7%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Ishpeming?
19 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Ishpeming work?
25% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Marquette (26%, 14 mi), Negaunee (5%, 4 mi), Ishpeming Township (4%, 11 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Is Ishpeming walkable?
Ishpeming is more walkable than 82% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 7.7 out of 20, and 8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Ishpeming without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Ishpeming, from the people who make the trip.
More of Ishpeming
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.