Photo: TCP04 · CC BY 4.0Manistee has higher unemployment (6.7%) than 80% of U.S. towns
Jobs and income earn Manistee D; getting around on foot earns it A−. About one in five work in Manistee; the top destination outside it is Manistee Township (22%, 5 miles). Measured by household income, Manistee is behind 73% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work and commuting in Manistee, in brief
Commutes from Manistee are quick
The average trip to work takes 15 minutes, against 24 across Michigan. That’s about 69 hours a year less on the road than the typical Michigan worker, and quicker than any town next door (18 to 24 minutes). Time on the road ↓
A lot of Manistee works one town over
31% of working residents work in a town that borders Manistee: Manistee Township (22%), Filer Township (5%) and Stronach Township (4%). Next door ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Manistee than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Manistee fell from 1,916 in 2011 to 1,389 in 2021, −28%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. 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.
Why Manistee gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Manistee is better than 11% of U.S. towns, #661 of 701 in Michigan. All four inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Manistee’s grade.
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, Manistee could be anywhere from D− to C.
A commute of about 15 minutes in Manistee
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Manistee workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,339 commuters (the 13% 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.
The 1,389 jobs based in Manistee
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Manistee, 2011 → 2021: 1,916 → 1,389. 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 Manistee’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Manistee on a workday afternoon
On a workday 1,654 residents head out to work, 429 work right here, and 960 people come in from elsewhere.
About 5,500 people are in Manistee on a workday afternoon, 11% 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.
Where Manistee’s working residents head each day
Where Manistee clocks in
22% 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.
Manistee’s commute, mile by mile
About 27% 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.
Manistee 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, Manistee is more walkable than 84% of U.S. towns, #61 of 701 in Michigan. Both inputs place Manistee 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 2,676 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). 5.8% of Manistee households have no vehicle (Michigan 7.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Manistee’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Manistee compares with U.S. towns of 4,300 to 8,300
| # | 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 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 49 | Northville MI | 6,013 | $146K | 2.8% | 2.1% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 117 | Vergennes Township MI | 4,968 | $113K | 1.5% | 0.9% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,098 | California PA | 4,615 | $49K | 28.9% | 10.8% | 11% | D |
| 3,099 | Cuero TX | 8,264 | $56K | 21.7% | 6.0% | 26% | D |
| 3,100 | Manistee MI | 6,157 | $61K | 16.8% | 6.7% | 21% | D |
| 3,101 | St. James MN | 4,863 | $60K | 18.0% | 7.9% | 40% | D |
| 3,102 | Uhrichsville OH | 5,145 | $42K | 26.0% | 7.2% | 13% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 3,370 | 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 Manistee, the top three, the last and three more from Michigan.
Work next door: 31% of Manistee’s workers
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Manistee workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Manistee | – | D | A− | 15 min | $60,541 |
| Filer Township | 5% | B− | C− | 19 min | $74,675 |
| Manistee Township | 22% | C− | C− | 18 min | $65,461 |
| Stronach Township | 4% | — | — | 24 min | — |
| Eastlake | under 2% | — | — | 19 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Stronach Township and Eastlake: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Manistee Township. Darker towns draw more of Manistee’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 Manistee: questions
What is the median household income in Manistee?
$60,541 (±$4,298) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Manistee?
16.8%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Manistee?
15 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 13% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Manistee work?
21% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Manistee Township (22%, 5 mi), Filer Township (5%, 3 mi), Stronach Township (4%, 9 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Is Manistee walkable?
Manistee is more walkable than 84% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 9.4 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Manistee without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Manistee, from the people who make the trip.
More of Manistee
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.