Morgan-Copp-Mervau Building · Public domainLeelanau Township has 0.7 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
Jobs & income B: better than 64% of U.S. towns on income, poverty and job access.
Walkability B−: more walkable than 53% of U.S. towns.
Household incomes here are higher than in 88% of U.S. towns. Working residents average 21 minutes each way (Michigan 24, U.S. 26). About one in four work in Leelanau Township; the top destination outside it is Traverse City (13%, 28 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work and commuting in Leelanau Township, in brief
Leelanau Township’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Leelanau Township is Traverse City, 28 miles away as the crow flies. 13% of working residents (79) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
A big share show a job far from home
30% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. 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; with 600 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
What’s behind Leelanau Township’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, Leelanau Township is better than 64% of U.S. towns. Household income holds Leelanau Township’s grade up ($119,044, U.S. $80,734); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 4% of U.S. towns). It also does well on the poverty rate.
Unemployment (0.0%) is left out: Leelanau Township’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
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 and poverty, Leelanau Township could be anywhere from B to B+.
Half of Leelanau Township commutes less than 22 miles
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
About 30% 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.
Who leaves, who stays, who comes in
On a workday 431 residents head out to work, 169 work right here, and 239 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.
0.68 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.
13% of working residents work in Traverse City
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Where Leelanau Township clocks in
13% of workers
9% of workers
5% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
Leelanau Township makes things: 31% of its jobs are in goods
408 jobs are based in Leelanau Township. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Leelanau Township’s own residents hold wherever they work.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Leelanau Township, 2011 → 2021: 366 → 408. 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.
About 21 minutes each way, quicker than most of Michigan
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Leelanau Township workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 618 commuters (the 16% who work from home are left out). Across Michigan: 86% drive alone, 1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
Most trips from Leelanau Township start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Leelanau Township is more walkable than 53% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 5.5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.8% across Michigan, on an EPA index of 5.3.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 740 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). 0.2% of Leelanau Township households have no vehicle (Michigan 7.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Leelanau Township’s commuters take a bus or train.
Leelanau Township is 1,409th of 5,148 U.S. towns of 1,500 to 2,800 on jobs and income
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Leelanau Township, the top three, the last and three more from Michigan.
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 89 | Caledonia MI | 1,778 | $106K | 3.7% | 0.5% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 124 | Village of Grosse Pointe Shores MI | 2,533 | $190K | 2.7% | 3.5% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 201 | Wheatfield Township MI | 1,659 | $117K | 1.9% | 2.7% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,407 | Arlington Heights WA | 2,727 | $127K | 3.4% | 5.5% | 1% | B |
| 1,408 | Oil Township IN | 2,751 | $93K | 1.6% | 3.3% | 9% | B |
| 1,409 | Leelanau Township MI | 2,109 | $119K | 4.3% | 0.0% | 28% | B |
| 1,410 | Combine TX | 2,769 | $95K | 6.3% | 10.0% | <1% | B |
| 1,411 | Riverside Township IL | 1,982 | $81K | 5.9% | 4.1% | 2% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 5,148 | 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.
14% of Leelanau Township works in a bordering town
The biggest share goes to Suttons Bay Township (9%). Darker towns draw more of Leelanau Township’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Leelanau Township workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Leelanau Township | – | B | B− | 21 min | $119,044 |
| Leland Township | 5% | B | B | 17 min | $92,857 |
| Suttons Bay Township | 9% | C+ | B | 34 min | $115,769 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
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 Leelanau Township: questions
What is the median household income in Leelanau Township?
$119,044 (±$10,415) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Leelanau Township?
4.3%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Leelanau Township?
21 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 16% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Leelanau Township work?
28% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Traverse City (13%, 28 mi), Suttons Bay Township (9%, 11 mi), Leland Township (5%, 19 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Is Leelanau Township walkable?
Leelanau Township is more walkable than 53% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 5.3 out of 20, and 6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Leelanau Township without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and <1% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Leelanau Township, from the people who make the trip.
More of Leelanau 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.