Most of Merritt Township commutes out: there are 0.2 jobs for every working resident
There are 84 jobs in Merritt Township, against 554 working residents. For jobs and income Merritt Township is better than 74% of U.S. towns (B+); for walkability it is more walkable than 9% of U.S. towns (D). Hardly any work in Merritt Township; the top destination outside it is Bay City (21%, 9 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Merritt Township apart on work
Merritt Township and Bay City trade workers both ways
Bay City is the top workplace for Merritt Township residents (21%) and also where the most people who work in Merritt Township come from (30% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Merritt Township is a place people come home to
There are 84 jobs based in Merritt Township, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Merritt Township has about 860 people in it, 35% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Merritt Township workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 31 minutes each way, against 24 across Michigan. Over a year that’s about 238 hours of commuting, 54 more than the state’s typical worker. Every town next door averages less (20 to 26 minutes). Time on the road ↓
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 554 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
The figures behind Merritt Township’s Jobs & income grade
The poverty rate holds Merritt Township’s grade up (4.8%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 49% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income.
Unemployment (4.2%) is left out: Merritt Township’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, Merritt Township could be anywhere from B to A.
The towns that employ Merritt Township’s residents
Where Merritt Township clocks in
21% of workers
8% 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.
In and out of Merritt Township on a workday
On a workday 553 residents head out to work, 1 work right here, and 83 people come in from elsewhere.
About 860 people are in Merritt Township on a workday afternoon, 35% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2021, primary jobs.
About 31 minutes each way for Merritt Township’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Merritt Township workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 623 commuters (the 8% 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.
Making and building: 50% of jobs based in Merritt Township
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Merritt Township, 2011 → 2021: 74 → 84. 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 Merritt Township’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The commute from Merritt Township, by distance
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.
In Merritt Township, the car does most of the work
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 1.1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.8% across Michigan, on an EPA index of 3.0.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 678 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). 1.1% of Merritt Township households have no vehicle (Michigan 7.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Merritt Township’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Merritt Township ranks: 754th of 5,400 U.S. towns of 900 to 1,800
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 87 | Caledonia MI | 1,778 | $106K | 3.7% | 0.5% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 139 | Dimondale MI | 1,183 | $111K | 3.2% | 4.6% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 168 | Wheatfield Township MI | 1,659 | $117K | 1.9% | 2.7% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 752 | Linwood WI | 1,082 | $82K | 1.4% | 1.9% | 0% | B+ |
| 753 | Elmore OH | 1,370 | $85K | 6.1% | 0.0% | 3% | B+ |
| 754 | Merritt Township MI | 1,325 | $89K | 4.8% | 4.2% | <1% | B+ |
| 755 | Eau Pleine WI | 1,078 | $107K | 6.2% | 6.6% | 1% | B+ |
| 756 | Texas WI | 1,604 | $87K | 3.9% | 3.1% | <1% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5,400 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 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 Merritt Township, the top three, the last and three more from Michigan.
Merritt Township and its neighbors
The biggest share goes to Portsmouth Township (3%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Merritt Township workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Merritt Township | – | B+ | D | 31 min | $88,750 |
| Hampton Township | under 3% | C+ | C | 24 min | $51,728 |
| Portsmouth Township | 3% | B+ | C | 26 min | $79,310 |
| Blumfield Township | under 3% | A | D | 24 min | $86,979 |
| Gilford Township | under 3% | — | — | 26 min | — |
| Buena Vista Township | 3% | C− | B− | 20 min | $44,397 |
Same-state neighbors only. Gilford Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Merritt 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 Merritt Township: questions
What is the median household income in Merritt Township?
$88,750 (±$12,137) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Merritt Township?
4.8%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Merritt Township?
31 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Merritt Township work?
<1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Bay City (21%, 9 mi), Saginaw (8%, 12 mi), Midland (6%, 25 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Is Merritt Township walkable?
Merritt Township is more walkable than 9% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 3.0 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Merritt Township without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Merritt Township, from the people who make the trip.
More of Merritt 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.