Photo: User Mxobe on en.wikipedia · Public domainMore people are out of work in Kalamazoo Township (6.3%) than in 77% of U.S. towns
Only 6% work in Kalamazoo Township itself; outside it, Kalamazoo draws the most (30%, 3 miles). Kalamazoo Township grades C+ for jobs and income and C+ for walkability. Working residents average 21 minutes each way; Michigan averages 24, the U.S. 26.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Kalamazoo Township in brief
Jobs in Kalamazoo Township have more than doubled in ten years
Jobs based in Kalamazoo Township went from 3,378 in 2011 to 6,957 in 2021, +106%. The jobs ↓
A lot of Kalamazoo Township works one town over
38% of working residents work in a town that borders Kalamazoo Township: Kalamazoo (30%), Comstock Township (4%) and Oshtemo Township (4%). Next door ↓
Most Kalamazoo Township residents work close to home
63% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home. How far ↓
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.
How Kalamazoo Township earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Kalamazoo Township is better than 37% of U.S. towns, #509 of 701 in Michigan. Job access by car holds Kalamazoo Township’s grade up (ahead of 75% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down.
The commuting and job counts on this page are Census LEHD 2021: Michigan reports later than other states, so its newest year is three years behind.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Kalamazoo Township could be anywhere from C− to B.
What work there is in Kalamazoo Township: 6,957 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Kalamazoo Township, 2011 → 2021: 3,378 → 6,957. 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 Kalamazoo Township’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Kalamazoo Township’s commute, mile by mile
About 15% 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.
How a workday changes Kalamazoo Township
On a workday 8,964 residents head out to work, 571 work right here, and 6,386 people come in from elsewhere.
About 20,000 people are in Kalamazoo Township on a workday afternoon, 11% fewer than live here.
0.73 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.
Where Kalamazoo Township’s working residents head each day
Where Kalamazoo Township clocks in
30% 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.
From Kalamazoo Township, about 21 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Kalamazoo Township workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 10,002 commuters (the 13% 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.
Most trips from Kalamazoo Township start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Kalamazoo Township is more walkable than 43% of U.S. towns, #307 of 701 in Michigan. Both inputs place Kalamazoo 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 11,448 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). 8.8% of Kalamazoo Township households have no vehicle (Michigan 7.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of Kalamazoo Township’s commuters take a bus or train.
Kalamazoo Township places 1,280th of 1,658 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 16,000 to 30,000
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 72 | Oakland Township MI | 20,631 | $167K | 2.7% | 3.0% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 117 | Hartland Township MI | 16,108 | $109K | 3.1% | 2.1% | 9% | A+ |
| 118 | Cascade Township MI | 20,201 | $136K | 4.6% | 2.6% | 14% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,278 | Middle Township NJ | 19,990 | $84K | 12.0% | 6.2% | 29% | C+ |
| 1,279 | Hermiston OR | 19,906 | $67K | 10.1% | 4.9% | 33% | C+ |
| 1,280 | Kalamazoo Township MI | 22,523 | $58K | 11.6% | 6.3% | 6% | C+ |
| 1,281 | Niles OH | 18,116 | $51K | 16.2% | 4.2% | 14% | C+ |
| 1,282 | Sidney OH | 20,124 | $61K | 14.2% | 4.8% | 35% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,658 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 28% | 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 Kalamazoo Township, the top three, the last and three more from Michigan.
Kalamazoo Township and its neighbors: 38% work next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Kalamazoo Township workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kalamazoo Township | – | C+ | C+ | 21 min | $58,349 |
| Kalamazoo | 30% | C | A | 19 min | $52,272 |
| Parchment | under 2% | B− | A | 20 min | $72,798 |
| Comstock Township | 4% | B+ | C+ | 22 min | $76,376 |
| Oshtemo Township | 4% | C | B | 22 min | $58,020 |
| Comstock Northwest | under 2% | — | — | 19 min | — |
| Cooper Township | under 2% | B+ | D | 22 min | $82,864 |
Same-state neighbors only. Comstock Northwest: a Census-designated place inside a larger town, graded as part of it. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Kalamazoo. Darker towns draw more of Kalamazoo 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 Kalamazoo Township: questions
What is the median household income in Kalamazoo Township?
$58,349 (±$6,250) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Kalamazoo Township?
11.6%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Kalamazoo Township?
21 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 13% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Kalamazoo Township work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Kalamazoo (30%, 3 mi), Portage (10%, 8 mi), Oshtemo Township (4%, 5 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Is Kalamazoo Township walkable?
Kalamazoo Township is more walkable than 43% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 6.5 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Kalamazoo Township without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 9% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Kalamazoo Township, from the people who make the trip.
More of Kalamazoo 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.