North Branch’s household incomes are lower than in 79% of U.S. towns
Jobs & income D: better than 12% of U.S. towns on income, poverty and job access.
Walkability A−: more walkable than 82% of U.S. towns.
Working residents average 33 minutes each way (Michigan 24, U.S. 26). Only 2% work in North Branch; the top destination outside it is Lapeer (11%, 14 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The short version on getting to work from North Branch
What’s behind North Branch’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, North Branch is better than 12% of U.S. towns. All three inputs sit close together, so no single one decides North Branch’s grade.
Unemployment (7.5%) is left out: North Branch’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, North Branch could be anywhere from D− to C.
About 33 minutes each way, longer than most of Michigan
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of North Branch workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 516 commuters (the 6% who work from home are left out). Across Michigan: 86% drive alone, 1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
Who leaves, who stays, who comes in
On a workday 424 residents head out to work, 9 work right here, and 361 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.85 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2021, primary jobs.
11% of working residents work in Lapeer
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
Where North Branch clocks in
11% of workers
9% of workers
4% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
What the 370 jobs in North Branch are
370 jobs are based in North Branch. Here is what they are, next to the jobs North Branch’s own residents hold wherever they work.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in North Branch, 2011 → 2021: 160 → 370. 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.
Half of North Branch commutes less than 31 miles
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
About 24% 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.
North Branch 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, North Branch is more walkable than 82% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 7.3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.8% across Michigan, on an EPA index of 7.8.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 549 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). 12.4% of North Branch households have no vehicle (Michigan 7.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of North Branch’s commuters take a bus or train.
North Branch is 2,970th of 3,771 U.S. towns of 800 to 1,500 on jobs and income
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of North Branch, the top three, the last and three more from Michigan.
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 95 | Dimondale MI | 1,183 | $111K | 3.2% | 4.6% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 225 | Petersburg MI | 1,152 | $83K | 1.8% | 1.7% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 275 | Freedom Township MI | 1,298 | $113K | 6.7% | 2.5% | 1% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,968 | Masonville NY | 1,227 | $59K | 12.2% | 2.9% | 6% | D |
| 2,969 | Constable NY | 1,498 | $62K | 15.6% | 2.1% | 1% | D |
| 2,970 | North Branch MI | 1,111 | $57K | 15.3% | 7.5% | 2% | D |
| 2,971 | Novesta Township MI | 1,428 | $54K | 11.9% | 2.5% | 1% | D |
| 2,972 | Hill Township MI | 1,273 | $64K | 13.9% | 5.1% | 2% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 3,771 | 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.
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 North Branch: questions
What is the median household income in North Branch?
$56,731 (±$11,385) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in North Branch?
15.3%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from North Branch?
33 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in North Branch work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Lapeer (11%, 14 mi), North Branch Township (9%, 2 mi), Rochester Hills (4%, 39 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Is North Branch walkable?
North Branch is more walkable than 82% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 7.8 out of 20, and 7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around North Branch without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 12% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from North Branch, from the people who make the trip.
More of North Branch
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.