St. John the Baptist Catholic Church Complex · Photo: kennethaw88 · CC BY 4.0Most of North Plains Township commutes out: there are 0.1 jobs for every working resident
Employers in North Plains Township report 41 jobs, and 474 of its residents work somewhere. Jobs and income earn North Plains Township D; getting around on foot earns it C−. 5% of workers have no commute at all, against 14% across Michigan.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
North Plains Township and work: the main findings
What’s behind North Plains Township’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, North Plains Township is better than 7% of U.S. towns. Household income holds North Plains Township’s grade up ($60,724, U.S. $80,734); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 10% of U.S. towns).
Unemployment (8.6%) is left out: North Plains 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, North Plains Township could be anywhere from D− to C−.
Who leaves North Plains Township for work, and who comes in
On a workday 471 residents head out to work, 3 work right here, and 38 people come in from elsewhere.
About 770 people are in North Plains Township on a workday afternoon, 36% 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.
12% of working residents work in Ionia
Where North Plains Township clocks in
4% 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.
Goods, not services: 73% of the jobs in North Plains Township
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in North Plains Township, 2011 → 2021: 55 → 41. 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 North Plains Township’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 27 minutes to work from North Plains Township
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of North Plains Township workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 472 commuters (the 5% 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.
North Plains Township’s commute, mile by mile
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.
Driving is how North Plains Township gets around
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, North Plains Township is more walkable than 15% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 1.5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.8% across Michigan, on an EPA index of 3.9.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 499 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). 5.8% of North Plains Township households have no vehicle (Michigan 7.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of North Plains Township’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 4,312 U.S. towns of 800 to 1,600, North Plains Township comes 3,773rd on jobs and income
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 110 | Dimondale MI | 1,183 | $111K | 3.2% | 4.6% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 271 | Petersburg MI | 1,152 | $83K | 1.8% | 1.7% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 319 | Milan Township MI | 1,540 | $96K | 6.0% | 4.1% | 1% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,771 | Coeburn VA | 1,535 | $55K | 19.1% | 14.6% | 8% | D |
| 3,772 | Maple Valley Township MI | 1,161 | $61K | 20.5% | 2.8% | 3% | D |
| 3,773 | North Plains Township MI | 1,200 | $61K | 22.8% | 8.6% | 1% | D |
| 3,774 | Liberty Township PA | 1,553 | $50K | 14.0% | 7.9% | 4% | D |
| 3,775 | Claypool AZ | 1,259 | $58K | 21.8% | 12.0% | 6% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 4,312 | 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 North Plains Township, the top three, the last and three more from Michigan.
The towns around North Plains Township
The biggest share goes to Lyons Township (3%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | North Plains Township workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| North Plains Township | – | D | C− | 27 min | $60,724 |
| Ronald Township | under 3% | C− | C− | 35 min | $63,098 |
| Lebanon Township | under 3% | — | — | 30 min | — |
| Lyons Township | 3% | C+ | D | 28 min | $75,294 |
| Bloomer Township | under 3% | B− | C | 24 min | $86,313 |
Same-state neighbors only. Lebanon Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of North Plains 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 North Plains Township: questions
What is the median household income in North Plains Township?
$60,724 (±$8,474) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in North Plains Township?
22.8%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from North Plains Township?
27 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in North Plains Township work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Ionia (12%, 11 mi), Grand Rapids (5%, 39 mi), Lansing (4%, 30 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Is North Plains Township walkable?
North Plains Township is more walkable than 15% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 3.9 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around North Plains Township without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from North Plains Township, from the people who make the trip.
More of North Plains 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.