Households in Marlette have lower incomes than those in 89% of U.S. towns
Poverty touches 18.0% of residents, where Michigan as a whole has 13.2%. Marlette grades D for jobs and income and A− for walkability. 4% of workers have no commute at all; Michigan has 14%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Marlette: the gist
Marlette is where the jobs are
Marlette has 1,456 jobs, 2.3 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 2,700 people are in town, 45% more than the 1,800 who live here. Day and night ↓
Marlette has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Marlette went from 874 in 2011 to 1,456 in 2021, +67%. The jobs ↓
Marlette makes and builds things
35% of the jobs based in Marlette are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Marlette residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 32%. 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; with 633 working residents, small shifts move the shares; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Why Marlette gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty and job access, Marlette is better than 7% of U.S. towns. All three inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Marlette’s grade.
Unemployment (10.3%) is left out: Marlette’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, Marlette could be anywhere from D− to D.
The daily flow of workers through Marlette
On a workday 504 residents head out to work, 129 work right here, and 1,327 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,700 people are in Marlette on a workday afternoon, 45% more than live here.
2.3 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than 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.
Goods, not services: 35% of the jobs in Marlette
1,456 jobs are based in Marlette.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Marlette, 2011 → 2021: 874 → 1,456. 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 Marlette’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily trip into Marlette
Where Marlette clocks in
9% 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.
Getting to work from Marlette 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 Marlette workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 687 commuters (the 4% 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 many miles Marlette commutes
About 20% 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.
Marlette is easy on foot, hard by bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Marlette is more walkable than 78% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 6.0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.8% across Michigan, on an EPA index of 7.6.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 712 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). 8.9% of Marlette households have no vehicle (Michigan 7.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Marlette’s commuters take a bus or train.
Marlette places 5,017th of 5,656 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 1,300 to 2,500
| # | 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 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 102 | Caledonia MI | 1,778 | $106K | 3.7% | 0.5% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 212 | Wheatfield Township MI | 1,659 | $117K | 1.9% | 2.7% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 255 | Sylvan Lake MI | 1,685 | $106K | 5.4% | 2.9% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 5,015 | Wright WY | 1,659 | $70K | 27.3% | 2.3% | 12% | D |
| 5,016 | Milbridge ME | 1,316 | $61K | 18.4% | 10.2% | 16% | D |
| 5,017 | Marlette MI | 1,833 | $49K | 18.0% | 10.3% | 20% | D |
| 5,018 | Capitan NM | 1,402 | $53K | 14.4% | 6.5% | 10% | D |
| 5,019 | Mayville ND | 1,807 | $56K | 19.0% | 5.2% | 41% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 5,656 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 0% | 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 Marlette, the top three, the last and three more from Michigan.
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 Marlette: questions
What is the median household income in Marlette?
$48,571 (±$6,185) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Marlette?
18.0%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Marlette?
25 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Marlette work?
20% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Sandusky (9%, 14 mi), Marlette Township (4%, 2 mi), Imlay City (3%, 21 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Is Marlette walkable?
Marlette is more walkable than 78% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 7.6 out of 20, and 6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Marlette without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 9% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Marlette, from the people who make the trip.
More of Marlette
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.