Photo: Tim Kiser (w:User:Malepheasant) · CC BY-SA 2.5Ontonagon’s household incomes are lower than in 88% of U.S. towns
Ontonagon grades D for jobs and income and A− for walkability. 10.4% of residents live below the poverty line (Michigan 13.2%). The average commute takes 17 minutes each way; Michigan averages 24, the U.S. 26.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Ontonagon, in a few figures
Ontonagon and Ontonagon Township trade workers both ways
Ontonagon Township is the top workplace for Ontonagon residents (41%) and also where the most people who work in Ontonagon come from (52% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Ontonagon than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Ontonagon fell from 713 in 2011 to 461 in 2021, −35%. 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 ↓
Commutes from Ontonagon are quick
The average trip to work takes 17 minutes, against 24 across Michigan. That’s about 54 hours a year less on the road than the typical Michigan worker. 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 416 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Ontonagon
On income, poverty and job access, Ontonagon is better than 10% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Ontonagon’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (near the bottom of U.S. towns).
Unemployment (3.6%) is left out: Ontonagon’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, Ontonagon could be anywhere from D− to C−.
41% of working residents work in Ontonagon Township
Where Ontonagon clocks in
41% of workers
5% 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.
Jobs in Ontonagon: what the 461 are
461 jobs are based in Ontonagon.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Ontonagon, 2011 → 2021: 713 → 461. 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 Ontonagon’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The trip to work from Ontonagon: about 17 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Ontonagon workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 432 commuters (the 16% 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.
The daily flow of workers through Ontonagon
On a workday 266 residents head out to work, 150 work right here, and 311 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 (1.11 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.
The commute from Ontonagon, by distance
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.
Ontonagon is easy on foot, hard by bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Ontonagon is more walkable than 83% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 10.9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.8% across Michigan, on an EPA index of 7.5.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 516 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). 8.7% of Ontonagon households have no vehicle (Michigan 7.0%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Ontonagon’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ontonagon places 3,979th of 4,866 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 900 to 1,700
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 124 | Dimondale MI | 1,183 | $111K | 3.2% | 4.6% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 151 | Wheatfield Township MI | 1,659 | $117K | 1.9% | 2.7% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 175 | Sylvan Lake MI | 1,685 | $106K | 5.4% | 2.9% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 3,977 | Honalo HI | 1,071 | $63K | 14.6% | 4.2% | 0% | D |
| 3,978 | Coleman MI | 1,252 | $48K | 22.3% | 3.7% | 7% | D |
| 3,979 | Ontonagon MI | 1,264 | $50K | 10.4% | 3.6% | 36% | D |
| 3,980 | Morris OK | 1,340 | $59K | 16.3% | 4.3% | 7% | D |
| 3,981 | Gold Hill OR | 1,317 | $56K | 22.0% | 1.2% | 4% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 4,866 | 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 Ontonagon, the top three, the last and three more from Michigan.
41% of Ontonagon works in a town next door
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Ontonagon workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Ontonagon | – | D | A− | 17 min | $50,164 |
| Ontonagon Township | 41% | C− | B+ | 25 min | $59,135 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Ontonagon Township. Darker towns draw more of Ontonagon’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 Ontonagon: questions
What is the median household income in Ontonagon?
$50,164 (±$5,721) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Ontonagon?
10.4%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Ontonagon?
17 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 16% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Ontonagon work?
36% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Ontonagon Township (41%, 3 mi), Baraga Township (5%, 36 mi), Houghton (4%, 39 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Is Ontonagon walkable?
Ontonagon is more walkable than 83% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 7.5 out of 20, and 11% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Ontonagon without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 9% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Ontonagon, from the people who make the trip.
More of Ontonagon
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.