Michigan Paper Company Mill Historic District · Photo: rossograph · CC BY-SA 4.0Unemployment in Plainwell (6.7%) is higher than in 80% of U.S. towns
4% of workers have no commute at all, where Michigan as a whole has 14%. For jobs and income Plainwell is better than 41% of U.S. towns (C+); for walkability it is more walkable than 75% of U.S. towns (A−). Only 6% work in Plainwell; the top destination outside it is Kalamazoo (12%, 12 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Plainwell and work: the main findings
Plainwell trades workers with the towns around it
Plainwell has about as many jobs (1,733) as working residents (1,756), but they are mostly different people: 1,658 residents leave for work each day while 1,635 people come in. Only 6% of the jobs in Plainwell are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Plainwell has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Plainwell went from 1,003 in 2011 to 1,733 in 2021, +73%. The jobs ↓
Few Plainwell 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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Income, poverty and work: Plainwell’s grade explained
Job access by car holds Plainwell’s grade up (ahead of 72% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down.
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, Plainwell could be anywhere from C− to A−.
A workday in Plainwell: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 1,658 residents head out to work, 98 work right here, and 1,635 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 (0.99 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.
Goods, not services: 31% of the jobs in Plainwell
1,733 jobs are based in Plainwell.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Plainwell, 2011 → 2021: 1,003 → 1,733. 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 Plainwell’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily trip from Plainwell: about 21 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Plainwell workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,563 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.
Where Plainwell’s working residents head each day
Where Plainwell clocks in
12% of workers
6% 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.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Plainwell
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.
Good to walk, short on transit: Plainwell
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,635 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). 6.2% of Plainwell households have no vehicle (Michigan 7.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 3% of Plainwell’s commuters take a bus or train.
Plainwell is 2,602nd of 4,318 U.S. towns of 2,600 to 5,000 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 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 25 | Franklin MI | 3,134 | $194K | 2.8% | 2.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 116 | Vergennes Township MI | 4,968 | $113K | 1.5% | 0.9% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 120 | Ann Arbor Township MI | 4,506 | $165K | 7.2% | 0.5% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,600 | Seminole Manor FL | 2,678 | $66K | 10.4% | 10.4% | 3% | C+ |
| 2,601 | Benton KY | 4,718 | $67K | 11.4% | 4.0% | 16% | C+ |
| 2,602 | Plainwell MI | 3,722 | $67K | 10.4% | 6.7% | 6% | C+ |
| 2,603 | Bath PA | 2,903 | $72K | 20.1% | 5.1% | 4% | C+ |
| 2,604 | Brandon VT | 4,173 | $64K | 14.2% | 0.8% | 17% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,318 | 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 Plainwell, the top three, the last and three more from Michigan.
Work in the towns next to Plainwell
The biggest share goes to Gun Plain Township (5%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Plainwell workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Plainwell | – | C+ | A− | 21 min | $66,525 |
| Gun Plain Township | 5% | B | C | 28 min | $89,346 |
| Otsego Township | 3% | B+ | B− | 19 min | $74,145 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Plainwell’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 Plainwell: questions
What is the median household income in Plainwell?
$66,525 (±$13,389) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Plainwell?
10.4%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Plainwell?
21 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Plainwell work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Kalamazoo (12%, 12 mi), Portage (6%, 18 mi), Allegan (6%, 12 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Is Plainwell walkable?
Plainwell is more walkable than 75% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 7.8 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Plainwell without a car?
3% 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 Plainwell, from the people who make the trip.
More of Plainwell
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.