Pennfield Township has 0.2 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
Working from home is the commute for 5% of workers, where Michigan as a whole has 14%. 847 jobs are based in Pennfield Township, against 3,522 working residents. Jobs and income earn Pennfield Township B−; getting around on foot earns it C−.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Pennfield Township in brief
A lot of Pennfield Township works one town over
43% of working residents work in a town that borders Pennfield Township: Battle Creek (35%), Emmett Township (6%) and Bedford Township (2%). Next door ↓
Pennfield Township is a place people come home to
There are 847 jobs based in Pennfield Township, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Pennfield Township has about 6,000 people in it, 31% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Pennfield Township
55% of Pennfield Township residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 35% of the jobs based in Pennfield Township pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 96% leave town for their job. 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.
The figures behind Pennfield Township’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Pennfield Township is better than 51% of U.S. towns, #399 of 701 in Michigan. Job access by car holds Pennfield Township’s grade up (ahead of 59% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($66,119, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on unemployment.
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 rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Pennfield Township could be anywhere from C to A−.
A workday in Pennfield Township: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 3,388 residents head out to work, 134 work right here, and 713 people come in from elsewhere.
About 6,000 people are in Pennfield Township on a workday afternoon, 31% 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.
Jobs in Pennfield Township: what the 847 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Pennfield Township, 2011 → 2021: 942 → 847. 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 Pennfield Township’s own residents hold wherever they work.
35% of working residents work in Battle Creek
Where Pennfield Township clocks in
35% 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.
Time on the road from Pennfield Township: about 22 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Pennfield Township workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,914 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.
Miles to work from Pennfield Township
About 17% 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.
Few in Pennfield Township walk, bike or ride to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Pennfield Township is more walkable than 15% of U.S. towns, #549 of 701 in Michigan. Both inputs place Pennfield Township 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 4,102 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). 5.5% of Pennfield Township households have no vehicle (Michigan 7.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Pennfield Township’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Pennfield Township is 1,685th among 2,893 U.S. towns of 6,100 to 11,700
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 3 | Pimmit Hills VA | 6,589 | $173K | 1.6% | 1.3% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 35 | Grosse Pointe Farms MI | 9,735 | $161K | 2.5% | 1.9% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,683 | Greenfield NY | 8,067 | $86K | 15.6% | 3.4% | 5% | B− |
| 1,684 | St. Augustine Beach FL | 6,810 | $101K | 8.1% | 6.7% | 10% | B− |
| 1,685 | Pennfield Township MI | 8,681 | $66K | 9.9% | 3.8% | 4% | B− |
| 1,686 | North Fort Lewis WA | 6,337 | $70K | 12.5% | 16.1% | 1% | B− |
| 1,687 | Ormond-by-the-Sea FL | 7,146 | $79K | 10.0% | 4.6% | 5% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,893 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Pennfield Township, the top three, the last and three more from Michigan.
Next door is work for 43% of Pennfield Township
The biggest share goes to Battle Creek (35%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Pennfield Township workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pennfield Township | – | B− | C− | 22 min | $66,119 |
| Battle Creek | 35% | C− | B+ | 19 min | $55,693 |
| Brownlee Park | under 2% | — | — | 19 min | — |
| Bedford Township | 2% | C | D | 19 min | $67,695 |
| Convis Township | under 2% | C+ | D | 24 min | $70,707 |
| Emmett Township | 6% | B+ | C− | 19 min | $79,207 |
Same-state neighbors only. Brownlee Park: a Census-designated place inside a larger town, graded as part of it. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Pennfield 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 Pennfield Township: questions
What is the median household income in Pennfield Township?
$66,119 (±$7,520) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Pennfield Township?
9.9%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Pennfield Township?
22 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Pennfield Township work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Battle Creek (35%, 8 mi), Emmett Township (6%, 7 mi), Marshall (4%, 11 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Is Pennfield Township walkable?
Pennfield Township is more walkable than 15% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 5.0 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Pennfield 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 Pennfield Township, from the people who make the trip.
More of Pennfield 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.