First Methodist Episcopal Church of Pokagon · Photo: Michael Tomko · CC BY-SA 3.0Most of Pokagon Township commutes out: there are 0.6 jobs for every working resident
The two grades for Pokagon Township are B− for jobs and income and B− for walkability. Pokagon Township has 487 jobs, against 852 working residents. Only 3% work in Pokagon Township; the top destination outside it is Dowagiac (8%, 4 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Pokagon Township, in brief
Inside Pokagon Township’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Pokagon Township is better than 45% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Pokagon Township’s grade up (9.0%, U.S. 12.5%); unemployment pulls it down (5.2%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on 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 rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Pokagon Township could be anywhere from C− to A.
The towns that employ Pokagon Township’s residents
Where Pokagon Township clocks in
8% of workers
8% 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.
Who works in Pokagon Township, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 830 residents head out to work, 22 work right here, and 465 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,700 people are in Pokagon Township on a workday afternoon, 18% 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 Pokagon Township: what the 487 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Pokagon Township, 2011 → 2021: 171 → 487. 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 Pokagon Township’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily trip from Pokagon Township: about 23 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Pokagon Township workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 931 commuters (the 8% 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.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Pokagon Township
About 22% 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.
In Pokagon Township, most people drive to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Pokagon Township is more walkable than 48% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 5.1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.8% across Michigan, on an EPA index of 5.0.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,013 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). 5.7% of Pokagon Township households have no vehicle (Michigan 7.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Pokagon Township’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 1,500 to 2,800, Pokagon Township ranks 2,389th of 5,148 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 89 | Caledonia MI | 1,778 | $106K | 3.7% | 0.5% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 124 | Village of Grosse Pointe Shores MI | 2,533 | $190K | 2.7% | 3.5% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 201 | Wheatfield Township MI | 1,659 | $117K | 1.9% | 2.7% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,387 | Covington OH | 2,635 | $60K | 5.3% | 7.1% | 13% | B− |
| 2,388 | Ganges Township MI | 2,676 | $78K | 13.0% | 4.4% | 6% | B− |
| 2,389 | Pokagon Township MI | 2,084 | $72K | 9.0% | 5.2% | 3% | B− |
| 2,390 | Stockton NY | 1,999 | $74K | 6.6% | 3.6% | 3% | B− |
| 2,391 | Blaine TN | 2,212 | $77K | 8.9% | 8.0% | 3% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,148 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 Pokagon Township, the top three, the last and three more from Michigan.
15% of Pokagon Township works in a bordering town
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Pokagon Township workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pokagon Township | – | B− | B− | 23 min | $72,022 |
| Dowagiac | 8% | D | A− | 23 min | $48,166 |
| Howard Township | under 3% | B+ | C− | 26 min | $79,226 |
| Silver Creek Township | 2% | B | C | 21 min | $80,894 |
| LaGrange Township | 5% | C | B+ | 23 min | $58,786 |
| Berrien Township | under 3% | B | C | 24 min | $79,148 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Dowagiac. Darker towns draw more of Pokagon 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 Pokagon Township: questions
What is the median household income in Pokagon Township?
$72,022 (±$23,174) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Pokagon Township?
9.0%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Pokagon Township?
23 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Pokagon Township work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Dowagiac (8%, 4 mi), South Bend (8%, 19 mi), Niles (6%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Is Pokagon Township walkable?
Pokagon Township is more walkable than 48% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 5.0 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Pokagon 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 Pokagon Township, from the people who make the trip.
More of Pokagon 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.