Photo: Todd Van Hoosear · CC BY-SA 2.0Petoskey has 2.8 jobs for every working resident: 5,508 people commute in to work
About one in three work in Petoskey itself; outside it, Bear Creek Township draws the most (12%, 3 miles). There are 6,201 jobs in Petoskey; 2,198 of its residents have a job. Jobs and income earn Petoskey B; getting around on foot earns it A.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Petoskey at work: what stands out
Petoskey is where the jobs are
Petoskey has 6,201 jobs, 2.8 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 9,800 people are in town, 69% more than the 5,800 who live here. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Petoskey are quick
The average trip to work takes 15 minutes, against 24 across Michigan. That’s about 69 hours a year less on the road than the typical Michigan worker. Time on the road ↓
Most Petoskey residents work close to home
60% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home. How far ↓
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.
What’s behind Petoskey’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Petoskey is better than 61% of U.S. towns, #312 of 701 in Michigan. Unemployment holds Petoskey’s grade up (1.6%, U.S. 5.2%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 37% of U.S. towns). It also does well on the poverty rate.
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, Petoskey could be anywhere from C+ to A−.
The daily flow of workers through Petoskey
On a workday 1,505 residents head out to work and 693 work right here.
About 9,800 people are in Petoskey on a workday afternoon, 69% more 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.
About 15 minutes to work from Petoskey
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Petoskey workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,611 commuters (the 13% 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.
How many miles Petoskey commutes
About 24% 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.
The daily trip into Petoskey
Where Petoskey clocks in
12% 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.
The kinds of work in Petoskey
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Petoskey, 2011 → 2021: 7,987 → 6,201. 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 Petoskey’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Petoskey is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Petoskey is more walkable than 94% of U.S. towns, #11 of 701 in Michigan. Both inputs place Petoskey 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 3,004 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). 4.7% of Petoskey households have no vehicle (Michigan 7.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Petoskey’s commuters take a bus or train.
Petoskey is 1,520th of 3,527 U.S. towns of 4,000 to 7,800 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 48 | Northville MI | 6,013 | $146K | 2.8% | 2.1% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 117 | Vergennes Township MI | 4,968 | $113K | 1.5% | 0.9% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,518 | Genoa IL | 5,547 | $82K | 11.9% | 3.6% | 9% | B |
| 1,519 | Walton KY | 5,868 | $78K | 13.0% | 3.2% | 7% | B |
| 1,520 | Petoskey MI | 5,772 | $74K | 9.0% | 1.6% | 32% | B |
| 1,521 | Washingtonville NY | 5,640 | $95K | 8.2% | 5.6% | 7% | B |
| 1,522 | Fort Ann NY | 4,247 | $86K | 5.2% | 3.4% | 9% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 3,527 | 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 Petoskey, the top three, the last and three more from Michigan.
16% of Petoskey works in a town next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Petoskey workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Petoskey | – | B | A | 15 min | $74,196 |
| Bear Creek Township | 12% | B− | B | 20 min | $71,090 |
| Resort Township | 4% | B+ | B− | 20 min | $103,929 |
| Bay Shore | under 3% | — | — | 17 min | — |
| Bay View | under 3% | — | — | — | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Bay Shore and Bay View: Census-designated places inside larger towns, graded as part of them. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Bear Creek Township. Darker towns draw more of Petoskey’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 Petoskey: questions
What is the median household income in Petoskey?
$74,196 (±$9,297) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Petoskey?
9.0%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Petoskey?
15 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 13% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Petoskey work?
32% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Bear Creek Township (12%, 3 mi), Little Traverse Township (5%, 6 mi), Resort Township (4%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Is Petoskey walkable?
Petoskey is more walkable than 94% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 10.0 out of 20, and 12% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Petoskey without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Petoskey, from the people who make the trip.
More of Petoskey
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.