Photo: Hoff1606 · CC BY-SA 4.0Lowell Township has lower unemployment (0.9%) than 95% of U.S. towns
Jobs and income earn Lowell Township A+; getting around on foot earns it C. Household incomes here are higher than in 80% of U.S. towns. Working from home is the commute for 26% of workers, against 14% across Michigan.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Lowell Township
The better-paid jobs are outside Lowell Township
63% of Lowell Township residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 28% of the jobs based in Lowell Township pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 97% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
Home offices are common in Lowell Township
26% of Lowell Township workers work from home, against 14% across Michigan. Time on the road ↓
Young people hold many of the jobs here
33% of the jobs based in Lowell Township are held by workers 29 or younger, against 21% of Lowell Township’s own working residents. 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.
What’s behind Lowell Township’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Lowell Township is better than 97% of U.S. towns, #16 of 701 in Michigan. Unemployment is its strongest input; job access by car ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (ahead of 76% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate and 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 fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Lowell Township could be anywhere from A to A+.
What Lowell Township’s employers do
1,844 jobs are based in Lowell Township.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Lowell Township, 2011 → 2021: 2,407 → 1,844. 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 Lowell Township’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily trip from Lowell Township: about 23 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Lowell Township workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,397 commuters (the 26% 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.
How a workday changes Lowell Township
On a workday 2,683 residents head out to work, 86 work right here, and 1,758 people come in from elsewhere.
About 5,600 people are in Lowell Township on a workday afternoon, 14% fewer than live here.
0.67 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.
19% of working residents work in Grand Rapids
Where Lowell Township clocks in
9% 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.
How far it is to work from Lowell Township
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.
In Lowell Township, the car does most of the work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Lowell Township is more walkable than 31% of U.S. towns, #400 of 701 in Michigan. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 2.6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.8% across Michigan, on an EPA index of 4.8.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 3,219 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 1.4% of Lowell Township households have no vehicle (Michigan 7.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Lowell Township’s commuters take a bus or train.
Lowell Township places 133rd of 3,218 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 4,600 to 8,800
| # | 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 | Norwood NJ | 5,817 | $178K | 2.8% | 0.9% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 45 | Northville MI | 6,013 | $146K | 2.8% | 2.1% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 102 | Vergennes Township MI | 4,968 | $113K | 1.5% | 0.9% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 131 | Mead CO | 7,042 | $125K | 1.4% | 2.3% | 4% | A+ |
| 132 | Halifax MA | 7,845 | $119K | 2.6% | 1.1% | 3% | A+ |
| 133 | Lowell Township MI | 6,500 | $105K | 3.3% | 0.9% | 3% | A+ |
| 134 | Darnestown MD | 7,051 | $232K | 1.2% | 4.0% | 3% | A+ |
| 135 | Landen OH | 7,499 | $109K | 4.5% | 1.3% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,218 | 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 Lowell Township, the top three, the last and three more from Michigan.
Work next door: 20% of Lowell Township’s workers
The biggest share goes to Cascade Township (9%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Lowell Township workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lowell Township | – | A+ | C | 23 min | $104,794 |
| Lowell | 4% | A | A | 25 min | $72,875 |
| Boston Township | under 3% | B | C | 28 min | $83,977 |
| Vergennes Township | under 3% | A+ | D | 27 min | $113,482 |
| Forest Hills | under 3% | — | — | 20 min | — |
| Cascade Township | 9% | A+ | C+ | 19 min | $135,896 |
| Bowne Township | 3% | A− | D− | 26 min | $120,859 |
| Ada Township | 4% | A+ | B− | 20 min | $168,468 |
Same-state neighbors only. Forest Hills: 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 Lowell 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 Lowell Township: questions
What is the median household income in Lowell Township?
$104,794 (±$10,807) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Lowell Township?
3.3%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Lowell Township?
23 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 26% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Lowell Township work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Grand Rapids (19%, 15 mi), Cascade Township (9%, 6 mi), Kentwood (6%, 11 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Is Lowell Township walkable?
Lowell Township is more walkable than 31% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 4.8 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Lowell Township without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Lowell Township, from the people who make the trip.
More of Lowell 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.