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Jobs & commute in Port Austin

Port Austin has 0.4 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out

For 7% of workers, the job is at home, where Michigan as a whole has 14%. There are 94 jobs in Port Austin, and 212 of its residents work somewhere. Only 5% work in Port Austin; the top destination outside it is Winsor Township (12%, 22 miles).

Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made

What stands out

Work in Port Austin, in a few figures

★ What stands out · How far

Close to home or a long way: work trips from Port Austin

10 mi25 mi50 mi80 miWinsor Township: 12% · 21.9 miBad Axe: 11% · 16.4 miColfax Township: 9% · 16.7 miPort Austin Township: 9% · 4.7 miSaginaw: 3% · 64.5 miFlint: 3% · 78.5 miSandusky: 2% · 43.8 miHuron Township: 1% · 9.5 miVerona Township: 1% · 15.8 miHume Township: 1% · 5.6 miWinsor Township 12%Bad Axe 11%Colfax Township 9%Port Austin Township 9%Saginaw 3%Port Austin
Port AustinTop destinations (size = commuters)
14%Under 10 mi29 residents
41%10–24 mi86 residents
5%25–50 mi11 residents
41%Over 50 mi86 residents

About 41% 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.

Day and night

Port Austin on a workday afternoon

On a workday 201 residents head out to work, 11 work right here, and 83 people come in from elsewhere.

201live here, work elsewhere
11live and work here
83work here, live elsewhere
Night and day
At night650
Workday530
650live here− 200head out to work+ 83come in to work= 530on a workday

About 530 people are in Port Austin on a workday afternoon, 18% fewer than live here.

Job hub or commuter town?
0.44jobs per workerCommuter townJob hub

Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2021, primary jobs.

The commute map

Where the trip to work from Port Austin ends

Port AustinHarbor BeachSandusky: 4 residents work here (2%)Bad Axe: 24 residents work here (11%)Saginaw: 6 residents work here (3%)Flint: 6 residents work here (3%)Caseville TownshipWinsor Township: 26 residents work here (12%)Macomb TownshipHuron Township: 3 residents work here (1%)Dwight TownshipVerona Township: 3 residents work here (1%)Lincoln TownshipOliver TownshipRubicon TownshipPort Austin Township: 19 residents work here (9%)Colfax Township: 20 residents work here (9%)Hume Township: 3 residents work here (1%)Winsor TownshipBad AxeColfax TownshipPort Austin TownshipSaginawFlintPort Austin
1
Winsor Township21.9 mi away
12%26
2
Bad Axe16.4 mi away
11%24
3
Colfax Township16.7 mi away
9%20
49%19
5
Saginaw64.5 mi away
3%6
6
Flint78.5 mi away
3%6
7
Sandusky43.8 mi away
2%4
8
Huron Township9.5 mi away
1%3
9
Verona Township15.8 mi away
1%3
10
Hume Township5.6 mi away
1%3
Everywhere elseother towns and states
46%98
The top trips

Where Port Austin clocks in

Lines 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 jobs

What Port Austin’s employers do

Jobs based in Port AustinJobs Port Austin residents hold

What kind of work

Goods: factories, building, farms0%29%
Trade, transport & utilities33%13%
Services: health, schools, offices67%58%

What it pays

$1,250 a month or less34%22%
$1,251–$3,333 a month35%35%
Over $3,333 a month31%43%

Who does it

29 or younger19%24%
30 to 5445%42%
55 and older36%34%
−30%

Jobs based in Port Austin, 2011 → 2021: 134 → 94. 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 Port Austin’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Time on the road

About 24 minutes to work from Port Austin

A year of commuting
182 hours

Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.6 full days in the car, bus or train.

Average commute minutes, one way

Port Austin24 min
Michigan24 min
U.S.26 min
Working from home
7%

of Port Austin workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.

About 1 in 10
How Port Austin gets to work
76%Drive alone
19%Carpool
3%Transit
2%Walk

Share of the 329 commuters (the 7% 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 to read these numbers

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.

How these figures and grades are made →

Jobs and commuting in Port Austin: questions

What is the median household income in Port Austin?

$60,288 (±$13,863) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.

What is the poverty rate in Port Austin?

20.8%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).

How long is the commute from Port Austin?

24 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.

Where do people who live in Port Austin work?

5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Winsor Township (12%, 22 mi), Bad Axe (11%, 16 mi), Colfax Township (9%, 17 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).

Can you get around Port Austin without a car?

3% of commuters take transit and 18% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.

Commuter talk

Getting to work from Port Austin, from the people who make the trip.

Town Square →
Ask neighbors
Beyond the commute

More of Port Austin

Port Austin home →

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.