Photo: Hoff1606 · CC BY-SA 4.0At 0.5%, unemployment in Lowell is lower than in 97% of U.S. towns
Commuters spend 25 minutes getting to work on average; the Michigan average is 24, the U.S. 26. The two grades for Lowell are A for jobs and income and A for walkability. About one in ten work in Lowell itself; outside it, Grand Rapids draws the most (17%, 16 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Lowell apart
Lowell trades workers with the towns around it
Lowell has about as many jobs (2,165) as working residents (1,852), but they are mostly different people: 1,691 residents leave for work each day while 2,004 people come in. Only 7% of the jobs in Lowell are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Lowell makes and builds things
53% of the jobs based in Lowell are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Lowell residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 23%. 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.
Where Lowell’s Jobs & income grade comes from
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Lowell is better than 86% of U.S. towns, #98 of 701 in Michigan. Unemployment holds Lowell’s grade up; household income pulls it down ($72,875, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on 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 could be anywhere from B+ to A+.
How many people are in Lowell by day
On a workday 1,691 residents head out to work, 161 work right here, and 2,004 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.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.17 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2021, primary jobs.
Making and building: 53% of jobs based in Lowell
2,165 jobs are based in Lowell.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Lowell, 2011 → 2021: 2,118 → 2,165. 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’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where people from Lowell work
Where Lowell clocks in
7% of workers
7% 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 long Lowell spends getting to work: about 25 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Lowell workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,656 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.
Near or far: the trip to work from Lowell
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.
Lowell is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Lowell is more walkable than 87% of U.S. towns, #41 of 701 in Michigan. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 9.6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.8% across Michigan, on an EPA index of 8.2.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,813 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). 5.4% of Lowell households have no vehicle (Michigan 7.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Lowell’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 4,112 U.S. towns of 2,900 to 5,600, Lowell comes 541st on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 26 | Franklin MI | 3,134 | $194K | 2.8% | 2.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 118 | Vergennes Township MI | 4,968 | $113K | 1.5% | 0.9% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 123 | Ann Arbor Township MI | 4,506 | $165K | 7.2% | 0.5% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 539 | Star Prairie WI | 3,771 | $102K | 6.7% | 0.6% | 1% | A |
| 540 | Samsula-Spruce Creek FL | 4,852 | $98K | 3.6% | 2.2% | 1% | A |
| 541 | Lowell MI | 4,134 | $73K | 4.5% | 0.5% | 9% | A |
| 542 | Rockford Township MN | 3,474 | $93K | 0.9% | 3.7% | 2% | A |
| 543 | Hartford WI | 3,359 | $110K | 5.6% | 3.3% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 4,112 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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, the top three, the last and three more from Michigan.
Lowell and the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Lowell Township (3%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Lowell workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lowell | – | A | A | 25 min | $72,875 |
| Vergennes Township | 2% | A+ | D | 27 min | $113,482 |
| Lowell Township | 3% | A+ | C | 23 min | $104,794 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Lowell’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: questions
What is the median household income in Lowell?
$72,875 (±$16,474) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Lowell?
4.5%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Lowell?
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 Lowell work?
9% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Grand Rapids (17%, 16 mi), Kentwood (7%, 13 mi), Cascade Township (7%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Is Lowell walkable?
Lowell is more walkable than 87% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 8.2 out of 20, and 10% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Lowell without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Lowell, from the people who make the trip.
More of Lowell
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.