Photo: RomanKahler · CC BY-SA 4.0Almost no one in Norway’s labor force is looking for work
For 6% of workers, the job is at home, where Michigan as a whole has 14%. Norway grades C+ for jobs and income and A− for walkability. About one in seven work in Norway itself; outside it, Iron Mountain draws the most (39%, 7 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Norway: the gist
Commutes from Norway are quick
The average trip to work takes 14 minutes, against 24 across Michigan. That’s about 77 hours a year less on the road than the typical Michigan worker. Time on the road ↓
Most Norway residents work close to home
71% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home. How far ↓
39% of Norway works in Iron Mountain
457 working residents, 39%, have their main job in Iron Mountain, 7.3 miles away. That’s 3 times as many as work in Norway itself. The commute map ↓
Many jobs in Norway pay little
26% of the jobs based in Norway pay $1,250 a month or less, under $15,000 a year. The jobs ↓
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.
Norway’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Norway is better than 43% of U.S. towns, #458 of 701 in Michigan. Unemployment holds Norway’s grade up (hardly any, U.S. 5.2%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 16% of U.S. towns).
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, Norway could be anywhere from C− to B+.
Getting to work from Norway takes about 14 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Norway workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,315 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.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
Miles to work from Norway
About 18% 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.
Where Norway’s working residents head each day
Where Norway clocks in
39% of workers
9% 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 Norway
882 jobs are based in Norway.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Norway, 2011 → 2021: 1,010 → 882. 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 Norway’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Norway on a workday afternoon
On a workday 1,024 residents head out to work, 147 work right here, and 735 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,500 people are in Norway on a workday afternoon, 10% fewer than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.75 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.
Good to walk, short on transit: Norway
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Norway is more walkable than 83% of U.S. towns, #65 of 701 in Michigan. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 8.1% 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 1,403 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 Norway households have no vehicle (Michigan 7.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Norway’s commuters take a bus or train.
Norway next to U.S. towns of 2,000 to 3,800: 2,595th of 4,703 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 23 | Franklin MI | 3,134 | $194K | 2.8% | 2.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 133 | Village of Grosse Pointe Shores MI | 2,533 | $190K | 2.7% | 3.5% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 222 | Milton Township MI | 3,187 | $119K | 3.2% | 2.3% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,593 | Borrego Springs CA | 2,700 | $86K | 3.5% | 6.1% | 27% | C+ |
| 2,594 | Burlington CO | 3,164 | $74K | 9.2% | 2.8% | 49% | C+ |
| 2,595 | Norway MI | 2,815 | $64K | 13.9% | 0.0% | 13% | C+ |
| 2,596 | Sandycreek Township PA | 2,028 | $88K | 8.0% | 5.7% | 10% | C+ |
| 2,597 | Hartland VT | 3,398 | $86K | 8.5% | 5.9% | 11% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,703 | Cibecue AZ | 2,228 | $26K | 57.2% | 13.3% | 12% | 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 Norway, the top three, the last and three more from Michigan.
The towns around Norway
The biggest share goes to Breitung Township (9%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Norway workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Norway | – | C+ | A− | 14 min | $63,846 |
| Norway Township | under 1% | C+ | C | 21 min | $90,750 |
| Breitung Township | 9% | B− | C | 16 min | $72,343 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Norway’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 Norway: questions
What is the median household income in Norway?
$63,846 (±$22,656) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Norway?
13.9%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Norway?
14 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Norway work?
13% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Iron Mountain (39%, 7 mi), Kingsford (9%, 9 mi), Breitung Township (9%, 7 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Is Norway walkable?
Norway is more walkable than 83% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 7.8 out of 20, and 8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Norway 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 Norway, from the people who make the trip.
More of Norway
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.