Photo: O. David Redwine · CC BY-SA 3.0Earning a living in Midland
About two in five work in Midland itself; outside it, Saginaw Township draws the most (4%, 16 miles). Midland grades B− for jobs and income and B for walkability. Commuters spend 20 minutes getting to work on average, next to 24 for Michigan and 26 for the U.S.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Midland apart on work
The four measures behind Midland’s grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Midland is better than 53% of U.S. towns, #385 of 701 in Michigan. All four inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Midland’s grade. It also does well on unemployment.
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, Midland could be anywhere from C+ to B+.
In and out of Midland on a workday
On a workday 9,063 residents head out to work, 6,943 work right here, and 20,233 people come in from elsewhere.
About 54,000 people are in Midland on a workday afternoon, 26% more than live here.
1.7 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.
Commuting in to Midland: where workers come from
Where Midland clocks in
4% of workers
4% 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.
What the 27,176 jobs in Midland are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Midland, 2011 → 2021: 30,552 → 27,176. 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 Midland’s own residents hold wherever they work.
A commute of about 20 minutes in Midland
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Midland workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 16,834 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.
Miles to work from Midland
About 22% 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.
Midland is a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Midland is more walkable than 61% of U.S. towns, #184 of 701 in Michigan. Both inputs place Midland 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 19,271 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). 7.0% of Midland households have no vehicle (Michigan 7.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Midland’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Midland is 681st among 1,011 U.S. towns of 30,000 to 58,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 2 | Southlake TX | 31,175 | $250K | 1.5% | 2.7% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Leawood KS | 34,093 | $186K | 3.1% | 2.0% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 17 | Northville Township MI | 31,399 | $151K | 3.1% | 2.9% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 76 | Bloomfield Township MI | 43,904 | $163K | 4.8% | 3.6% | 7% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 95 | Independence Township MI | 37,725 | $115K | 4.3% | 2.9% | 8% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 679 | Vero Beach South FL | 30,344 | $73K | 9.1% | 3.8% | 7% | B− |
| 680 | Martinez GA | 33,750 | $82K | 10.0% | 6.1% | 10% | B− |
| 681 | Midland MI | 42,806 | $73K | 10.3% | 4.1% | 43% | B− |
| 682 | Wallkill NY | 31,414 | $96K | 11.0% | 6.1% | 22% | B− |
| 683 | Nicholasville KY | 33,857 | $69K | 13.1% | 3.6% | 20% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,011 | Bullhead City AZ | 43,987 | $51K | 18.7% | 11.5% | 26% | 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 Midland, the top three, the last and three more from Michigan.
Work in the towns next to Midland
The biggest share goes to Williams Township (2%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Midland workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Midland | – | B− | B | 20 min | $73,325 |
| Homer Township | under 1% | B− | D | 31 min | $117,295 |
| Midland Township | under 1% | B | C+ | 23 min | $91,518 |
| Larkin Township | under 1% | A | C+ | 19 min | $143,427 |
| Lincoln Township | under 1% | B+ | C+ | 27 min | $91,125 |
| Williams Township | 2% | B+ | B− | 25 min | $87,380 |
| Ingersoll Township | under 1% | A− | C− | 29 min | $99,063 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Midland’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 Midland: questions
What is the median household income in Midland?
$73,325 (±$5,223) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Midland?
10.3%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Midland?
20 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 13% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Midland work?
43% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Saginaw Township (4%, 16 mi), Saginaw (4%, 20 mi), Mount Pleasant (3%, 27 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Is Midland walkable?
Midland is more walkable than 61% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 7.3 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Midland without a car?
1% 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 Midland, from the people who make the trip.
More of Midland
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.