Photo: David Coats · CC BY-SA 3.0Earning a living in Onaway
4% of workers have no commute at all; Michigan has 14%. About one in seven work in Onaway itself; outside it, Allis Township draws the most (5%, 7 miles). The trip to work takes 29 minutes on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Onaway and work: the main findings
Fewer jobs are based in Onaway than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Onaway fell from 557 in 2011 to 345 in 2021, −38%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. The jobs ↓
Many jobs in Onaway pay little
27% of the jobs based in Onaway pay $1,250 a month or less, under $15,000 a year. The jobs ↓
Few Onaway workers work from home
Only 4% of workers work from home, against 14% across Michigan. Almost everyone here travels to a job. 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 305 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Jobs in Onaway: what the 345 are
345 jobs are based in Onaway.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Onaway, 2011 → 2021: 557 → 345. 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 Onaway’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Getting to work from Onaway takes about 29 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Onaway workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 206 commuters (the 4% 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.
Who leaves, who stays, who comes in
On a workday 254 residents head out to work, 51 work right here, and 294 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 (1.13 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.
Where Onaway’s working residents head each day
Where Onaway clocks in
4% of workers
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.
Near or far: the trip to work from Onaway
About 26% 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.
Onaway and its neighbors
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Onaway workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Onaway | – | — | — | 29 min | $41,622 |
| Allis Township | 5% | — | — | 33 min | — |
| North Allis Township | under 3% | — | — | 25 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Allis Township and North Allis Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Allis Township. Darker towns draw more of Onaway’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 Onaway: questions
What is the median household income in Onaway?
$41,622 (±$2,269) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Onaway?
23.4%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Onaway?
29 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Onaway work?
17% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Allis Township (5%, 7 mi), Petoskey (4%, 35 mi), Cheboygan (4%, 23 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Can you get around Onaway without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 20% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Onaway, from the people who make the trip.
More of Onaway
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.