Most of Riley Township commutes out: there are 0.1 jobs for every working resident
Hardly any stay in Riley Township for work; outside it, Lansing is the main destination (22%, 13 miles). Employers in Riley Township report 89 jobs, against 847 working residents. The two grades for Riley Township are A− for jobs and income and D for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Riley Township in brief
Riley Township is a place people come home to
There are 89 jobs based in Riley Township, about one for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Riley Township has about 1,300 people in it, 37% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Riley Township and Lansing trade workers both ways
Lansing is the top workplace for Riley Township residents (22%) and also where the most people who work in Riley Township come from (13% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
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; with 847 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Riley Township
On income, poverty and job access, Riley Township is better than 80% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate is its strongest input (4.9%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (ahead of 56% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and job access by car.
Unemployment (3.6%) is left out: Riley Township’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
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 fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Riley Township could be anywhere from B+ to A.
Who leaves Riley Township for work, and who comes in
On a workday 839 residents head out to work, 8 work right here, and 81 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,300 people are in Riley Township on a workday afternoon, 37% 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.
Where Riley Township’s working residents head each day
Where Riley Township clocks in
22% of workers
7% 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.
Goods, not services: 46% of the jobs in Riley Township
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Riley Township, 2011 → 2021: 41 → 89. 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 Riley Township’s own residents hold wherever they work.
A commute of about 28 minutes in Riley Township
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Riley Township workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 736 commuters (the 16% 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 far it is to work from Riley 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 Riley Township walk, bike or ride to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Riley Township is more walkable than 9% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 1.0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.8% across Michigan, on an EPA index of 3.3.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 877 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 2.7% of Riley Township households have no vehicle (Michigan 7.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Riley Township’s commuters take a bus or train.
Riley Township places 722nd of 5,509 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 1,400 to 2,700
| # | 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 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 100 | Caledonia MI | 1,778 | $106K | 3.7% | 0.5% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 137 | Village of Grosse Pointe Shores MI | 2,533 | $190K | 2.7% | 3.5% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 213 | Wheatfield Township MI | 1,659 | $117K | 1.9% | 2.7% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 720 | Gale WI | 1,743 | $105K | 4.6% | 2.1% | 1% | A− |
| 721 | Fisher IL | 2,087 | $98K | 2.1% | 2.0% | 7% | A− |
| 722 | Riley Township MI | 2,028 | $95K | 4.9% | 3.6% | 1% | A− |
| 723 | Wright-Patterson AFB OH | 1,508 | $90K | 7.0% | 10.8% | 3% | A− |
| 724 | Virgil Township IL | 1,924 | $114K | 9.7% | 2.0% | 1% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,509 | 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 Riley Township, the top three, the last and three more from Michigan.
Next door to Riley Township
The biggest share goes to Watertown Township (2%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Riley Township workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Riley Township | – | A− | D | 28 min | $95,000 |
| Westphalia Township | under 2% | A− | C+ | 24 min | $92,065 |
| Bengal Township | under 2% | B+ | C | 24 min | $91,250 |
| Watertown Township | 2% | A | D | 21 min | $114,870 |
| Olive Township | 2% | A− | D− | 27 min | $101,500 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Riley 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 Riley Township: questions
What is the median household income in Riley Township?
$95,000 (±$15,789) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Riley Township?
4.9%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Riley Township?
28 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 16% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Riley Township work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Lansing (22%, 13 mi), Delta Township (7%, 11 mi), St. Johns (7%, 9 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Is Riley Township walkable?
Riley Township is more walkable than 9% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 3.3 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Riley Township without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Riley Township, from the people who make the trip.
More of Riley 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.