Otsego has lower unemployment (2.3%) than 80% of U.S. towns
Working from home is the commute for 3% of workers (Michigan 14%). Jobs and income earn Otsego A−; getting around on foot earns it B. Only 7% work in Otsego itself; outside it, Kalamazoo draws the most (9%, 14 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Otsego
Otsego trades workers with the towns around it
Otsego has about as many jobs (1,560) as working residents (1,814), but they are mostly different people: 1,691 residents leave for work each day while 1,437 people come in. Only 8% of the jobs in Otsego are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Otsego makes and builds things
51% of the jobs based in Otsego are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Otsego residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 31%. The jobs ↓
Few Otsego workers work from home
Only 3% 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.
Otsego’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Otsego is better than 78% of U.S. towns, #159 of 701 in Michigan. Unemployment holds Otsego’s grade up; household income pulls it down ($74,156, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on the poverty rate and job access by car.
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, Otsego could be anywhere from B− to A.
Who commutes out of Otsego, and who commutes in
On a workday 1,691 residents head out to work, 123 work right here, and 1,437 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 (0.86 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.
Making and building: 51% of jobs based in Otsego
1,560 jobs are based in Otsego.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Otsego, 2011 → 2021: 1,758 → 1,560. 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 Otsego’s own residents hold wherever they work.
A commute of about 20 minutes in Otsego
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Otsego workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,590 commuters (the 3% 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 places Otsego commutes to
Where Otsego clocks in
9% of workers
7% 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.
Miles to work from Otsego
About 16% 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.
Most trips from Otsego start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Otsego is more walkable than 62% of U.S. towns, #182 of 701 in Michigan. Both inputs place Otsego near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,636 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). 3.3% of Otsego households have no vehicle (Michigan 7.0%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Otsego’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 4,283 U.S. towns of 2,800 to 5,500, Otsego comes 917th on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 27 | Franklin MI | 3,134 | $194K | 2.8% | 2.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 121 | Vergennes Township MI | 4,968 | $113K | 1.5% | 0.9% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 127 | Ann Arbor Township MI | 4,506 | $165K | 7.2% | 0.5% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 915 | Lolo MT | 4,314 | $86K | 5.3% | 0.8% | 7% | A− |
| 916 | Rosedale WA | 4,208 | $159K | 2.5% | 6.5% | 1% | A− |
| 917 | Otsego MI | 4,045 | $74K | 5.3% | 2.3% | 7% | A− |
| 918 | Wallburg NC | 3,255 | $88K | 2.4% | 4.8% | 2% | A− |
| 919 | Centerville PA | 3,223 | $71K | 4.5% | 1.1% | 3% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,283 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Otsego, the top three, the last and three more from Michigan.
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 Otsego: questions
What is the median household income in Otsego?
$74,156 (±$7,774) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Otsego?
5.3%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Otsego?
20 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 3% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Otsego work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Kalamazoo (9%, 14 mi), Allegan (7%, 9 mi), Portage (6%, 19 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Is Otsego walkable?
Otsego is more walkable than 62% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 7.3 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Otsego without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Otsego, from the people who make the trip.
More of Otsego
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.