Photo: Notorious4life · Public domainA job hub: Lapeer has 2.5 jobs per working resident, and 7,526 people come in to work
There are 8,133 jobs in Lapeer, and 3,297 of its residents work somewhere. Jobs and income earn Lapeer C; getting around on foot earns it A−. Household incomes here are lower than in 84% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Lapeer at work: what stands out
No single place dominates Lapeer’s commute
The biggest draw, Detroit, gets only 3% of working residents, and 57% work outside the top ten towns entirely. Lapeer residents fan out across the region. The commute map ↓
Lapeer is where the jobs are
Lapeer has 8,133 jobs, 2.5 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 14,000 people are in town, 53% more than the 9,200 who live here. Day and night ↓
Lapeer draws workers from far and wide
The 8,133 jobs in Lapeer are filled from a wide area. Lapeer’s own residents hold 7% and the ten next-biggest home towns 30%; the other 63% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
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 Lapeer
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Lapeer is better than 29% of U.S. towns, #552 of 701 in Michigan. Unemployment holds Lapeer’s grade up (3.6%, U.S. 5.2%); the poverty rate pulls it down (24.5%, U.S. 12.5%). It also does well on job access by car.
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, Lapeer could be anywhere from D to B−.
Where Lapeer’s workforce comes from
Where Lapeer clocks in
3% of workers
3% 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.
Who commutes out of Lapeer, and who commutes in
On a workday 2,690 residents head out to work and 607 work right here.
About 14,000 people are in Lapeer on a workday afternoon, 53% 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.
What Lapeer’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Lapeer, 2011 → 2021: 9,254 → 8,133. 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 Lapeer’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Getting to work from Lapeer takes about 25 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Lapeer workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,343 commuters (the 9% 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 in the region Lapeer works
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.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Lapeer
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Lapeer is more walkable than 80% of U.S. towns, #78 of 701 in Michigan. Both inputs place Lapeer 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 3,671 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). 14.2% of Lapeer households have no vehicle (Michigan 7.0%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Lapeer’s commuters take a bus or train.
Lapeer next to U.S. towns of 6,400 to 12,400: 2,244th of 2,886 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Pimmit Hills VA | 6,589 | $173K | 1.6% | 1.3% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Braddock VA | 6,536 | $212K | 0.9% | 1.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 4 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 33 | Grosse Pointe Farms MI | 9,735 | $161K | 2.5% | 1.9% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 67 | Jamestown Township MI | 10,702 | $120K | 2.8% | 1.1% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,242 | St. Marys PA | 12,253 | $67K | 7.8% | 7.7% | 55% | C |
| 2,243 | Irondale GA | 9,185 | $55K | 19.2% | 6.2% | <1% | C |
| 2,244 | Lapeer MI | 9,201 | $53K | 24.5% | 3.6% | 18% | C |
| 2,245 | Pipe Creek Township IN | 12,354 | $63K | 14.9% | 5.6% | 20% | C |
| 2,246 | Fair Oaks GA | 9,014 | $63K | 23.6% | 8.4% | 2% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 2,886 | 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 Lapeer, the top three, the last and three more from Michigan.
Lapeer and its neighbors
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Lapeer workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lapeer | – | C | A− | 25 min | $52,716 |
| Lapeer Township | under 3% | C+ | D | 37 min | $70,197 |
| Mayfield Township | under 3% | B− | D | 26 min | $68,774 |
| Elba Township | under 3% | B+ | C− | 33 min | $82,994 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Lapeer’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 Lapeer: questions
What is the median household income in Lapeer?
$52,716 (±$6,935) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Lapeer?
24.5%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Lapeer?
25 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Lapeer work?
18% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Detroit (3%, 47 mi), Auburn Hills (3%, 26 mi), Troy (3%, 33 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Is Lapeer walkable?
Lapeer is more walkable than 80% 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 Lapeer without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 14% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Lapeer, from the people who make the trip.
More of Lapeer
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.