Photo: Lrgjr72 · CC BY-SA 4.0Rochester’s household incomes are higher than in 85% of U.S. towns
At home: 27% of workers have no commute at all (Michigan 14%). 4.2% of residents live below the poverty line, against 13.2% across Michigan. The two grades for Rochester are A+ for jobs and income and B for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Rochester stands out on work
Rochester trades workers with the towns around it
Rochester has about as many jobs (7,160) as working residents (6,064), but they are mostly different people: 5,559 residents leave for work each day while 6,655 people come in. Only 7% of the jobs in Rochester are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
A lot of Rochester works from home
27% of Rochester workers work from home, against 14% across Michigan. 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.
Jobs & income in Rochester: the grade in detail
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Rochester is better than 96% of U.S. towns, #25 of 701 in Michigan. All four inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Rochester’s grade. It also does well on household income and the poverty rate and unemployment.
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, poverty and unemployment, Rochester could be anywhere from A to A+.
How many people are in Rochester by day
On a workday 5,559 residents head out to work, 505 work right here, and 6,655 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 (1.18 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.
About 25 minutes each way for Rochester’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Rochester workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 5,007 commuters (the 27% 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.
10% of working residents work in Troy
Where Rochester clocks in
10% of workers
10% 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.
Rochester is a services town
7,160 jobs are based in Rochester.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Rochester, 2011 → 2021: 6,500 → 7,160. 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 Rochester’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How many miles Rochester commutes
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.
Driving is how Rochester gets around
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Rochester is more walkable than 63% of U.S. towns, #172 of 701 in Michigan. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 3.8% across Michigan.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 6,878 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). 5.3% of Rochester households have no vehicle (Michigan 7.0%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Rochester’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Rochester ranks: 178th of 2,354 U.S. towns of 9,000 to 17,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 11 | Ada Township MI | 14,769 | $168K | 2.0% | 0.7% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 21 | Grosse Pointe Farms MI | 9,735 | $161K | 2.5% | 1.9% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 176 | Stansbury Park UT | 11,242 | $127K | 2.5% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 177 | Lake Tapps WA | 12,798 | $148K | 4.6% | 1.8% | 2% | A+ |
| 178 | Rochester MI | 12,824 | $112K | 4.2% | 2.5% | 8% | A+ |
| 179 | Lisbon WI | 11,150 | $124K | 3.2% | 3.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 180 | Hartland Township MI | 16,108 | $109K | 3.1% | 2.1% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,354 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 Rochester, the top three, the last and three more from Michigan.
How Rochester compares with the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Rochester Hills (6%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Rochester workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rochester | – | A+ | B | 25 min | $111,750 |
| Rochester Hills | 6% | A | B | 24 min | $120,694 |
| Shelby Township | 3% | A− | B− | 25 min | $91,012 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Rochester’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 Rochester: questions
What is the median household income in Rochester?
$111,750 (±$16,572) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Rochester?
4.2%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Rochester?
25 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 27% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Rochester work?
8% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Troy (10%, 7 mi), Auburn Hills (10%, 6 mi), Rochester Hills (6%, 3 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Is Rochester walkable?
Rochester is more walkable than 63% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 8.7 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Rochester without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Rochester, from the people who make the trip.
More of Rochester
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.