Kalkaska draws 1,835 commuters a day, with 2.6 jobs for every working resident
1% of workers work from home, against 14% across Michigan. 2,003 jobs are based in Kalkaska; 778 of its residents have a job. For jobs and income Kalkaska is better than 29% of U.S. towns (C); for walkability it is more walkable than 82% of U.S. towns (A−).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Kalkaska in brief
Kalkaska is where the jobs are
Kalkaska has 2,003 jobs, 2.6 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 3,500 people are in town, 54% more than the 2,300 who live here. Day and night ↓
Kalkaska and Kalkaska Township trade workers both ways
Kalkaska Township is the top workplace for Kalkaska residents (28%) and also where the most people who work in Kalkaska come from (20% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Jobs in Kalkaska have more than doubled in ten years
Jobs based in Kalkaska went from 977 in 2011 to 2,003 in 2021, +105%. 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; with 778 working residents, small shifts move the shares; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Jobs & income in Kalkaska: the grade in detail
Unemployment holds Kalkaska’s grade up (3.4%, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($57,143, U.S. $80,734).
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, Kalkaska could be anywhere from D to B.
Who leaves Kalkaska for work, and who comes in
On a workday 610 residents head out to work and 168 work right here.
About 3,500 people are in Kalkaska on a workday afternoon, 54% 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.
The daily trip into Kalkaska
Where Kalkaska clocks in
13% of workers
6% 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.
What Kalkaska’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Kalkaska, 2011 → 2021: 977 → 2,003. 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 Kalkaska’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily trip from Kalkaska: about 22 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Kalkaska workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,073 commuters (the 1% 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.
Kalkaska’s commute, mile by mile
About 19% 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.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Kalkaska
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,082 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). 10.6% of Kalkaska households have no vehicle (Michigan 7.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Kalkaska’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Kalkaska is 3,331st among 5,102 U.S. towns of 1,600 to 3,000
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 87 | Caledonia MI | 1,778 | $106K | 3.7% | 0.5% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 126 | Village of Grosse Pointe Shores MI | 2,533 | $190K | 2.7% | 3.5% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 206 | Wheatfield Township MI | 1,659 | $117K | 1.9% | 2.7% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 3,329 | Callahan FL | 1,830 | $57K | 14.7% | 1.2% | 4% | C |
| 3,330 | Greensboro MD | 1,962 | $54K | 15.9% | 3.7% | 3% | C |
| 3,331 | Kalkaska MI | 2,258 | $57K | 13.3% | 3.4% | 22% | C |
| 3,332 | Forsyth MO | 2,752 | $46K | 11.7% | 2.9% | 12% | C |
| 3,333 | Oblong Township IL | 2,730 | $59K | 16.8% | 2.3% | 15% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 5,102 | 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 Kalkaska, the top three, the last and three more from Michigan.
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 Kalkaska: questions
What is the median household income in Kalkaska?
$57,143 (±$12,624) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Kalkaska?
13.3%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Kalkaska?
22 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 1% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Kalkaska work?
22% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Kalkaska Township (28%, 2 mi), Traverse City (13%, 21 mi), Garfield Township (6%, 22 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Is Kalkaska walkable?
Kalkaska is more walkable than 82% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 8.6 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Kalkaska without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 11% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Kalkaska, from the people who make the trip.
More of Kalkaska
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.