Marshall Michigan Historic Landmark District · Photo: rossograph · CC BY-SA 4.0There are 2.5 jobs in Marshall for every working resident, and 5,803 people commute in
Employers in Marshall report 6,439 jobs; 2,558 of its residents have a job. Jobs and income earn Marshall B−; getting around on foot earns it A−. About one in four work in Marshall; the top destination outside it is Battle Creek (13%, 13 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Marshall, in brief
Marshall is where the jobs are
Marshall has 6,439 jobs, 2.5 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 11,000 people are in town, 57% more than the 6,800 who live here. Day and night ↓
Marshall draws workers from far and wide
The 6,439 jobs in Marshall are filled from a wide area. Marshall’s own residents hold 10% and the ten next-biggest home towns 28%; the other 62% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
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.
The figures behind Marshall’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Marshall is better than 53% of U.S. towns, #383 of 701 in Michigan. The poverty rate holds Marshall’s grade up (5.7%, U.S. 12.5%); unemployment pulls it down (6.9%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income 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 rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Marshall could be anywhere from C+ to A.
Marshall by day and by night
On a workday 1,922 residents head out to work and 636 work right here.
About 11,000 people are in Marshall on a workday afternoon, 57% more than live here.
2.5 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.
Who travels to work in Marshall, and from where
Where Marshall clocks in
13% 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.
The kinds of work in Marshall
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Marshall, 2011 → 2021: 5,633 → 6,439. 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 Marshall’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 21 minutes each way, quicker than most of Michigan
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Marshall workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,886 commuters (the 11% 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.
Miles to work from Marshall
About 19% 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.
Walkable streets, thin transit: Marshall
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Marshall is more walkable than 77% of U.S. towns, #98 of 701 in Michigan. 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 7.7.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 3,234 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). 6.7% of Marshall households have no vehicle (Michigan 7.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Marshall’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Marshall ranks: 1,718th of 3,168 U.S. towns of 4,800 to 9,200
| # | 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 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 46 | Northville MI | 6,013 | $146K | 2.8% | 2.1% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 93 | Plymouth MI | 9,164 | $112K | 3.2% | 2.3% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,716 | Monaca PA | 5,456 | $74K | 10.5% | 5.1% | 5% | B− |
| 1,717 | Attica NY | 6,475 | $77K | 8.8% | 3.4% | 14% | B− |
| 1,718 | Marshall MI | 6,800 | $76K | 5.7% | 6.9% | 25% | B− |
| 1,719 | Bloomer Township MI | 6,567 | $86K | 9.1% | 2.5% | 4% | B− |
| 1,720 | Kula HI | 6,791 | $100K | 12.3% | 2.6% | 7% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,168 | 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 Marshall, the top three, the last and three more from Michigan.
Work in the towns next to Marshall
The biggest share goes to Marshall Township (3%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Marshall workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Marshall | – | B− | A− | 21 min | $76,050 |
| Marshall Township | 3% | B+ | C+ | 21 min | $106,944 |
| Fredonia Township | under 2% | B− | D− | 24 min | $80,938 |
| Marengo Township | under 2% | B− | D | 20 min | $85,450 |
| Eckford Township | under 2% | B+ | C− | 24 min | $82,500 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Marshall’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 Marshall: questions
What is the median household income in Marshall?
$76,050 (±$7,142) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Marshall?
5.7%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Marshall?
21 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Marshall work?
25% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Battle Creek (13%, 13 mi), Emmett Township (4%, 7 mi), Marshall Township (3%, 3 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Is Marshall walkable?
Marshall is more walkable than 77% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 7.7 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Marshall without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Marshall, from the people who make the trip.
More of Marshall
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.