Photo: Traveler100 · CC BY-SA 3.0A job hub: Romulus has 3.2 jobs per working resident, and 30,197 people come in to work
31,491 jobs are based in Romulus; 9,931 of its residents have a job. Romulus grades B− for jobs and income and C for walkability. About one in seven stay in Romulus for work; outside it, Detroit is the main destination (10%, 18 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Romulus
Romulus has far more jobs than workers
Romulus has 31,491 jobs, 3.2 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 46,000 people are in town, 88% more than the 25,000 who live here. Day and night ↓
Stores, warehouses and trucking
56% of the jobs in Romulus are in trade, transport and utilities, against 25% of the jobs its residents hold. The jobs ↓
Romulus draws workers from far and wide
The 31,491 jobs in Romulus are filled from a wide area. The ten biggest home towns of its workers supply 32%; the other 64% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
The biggest group of Romulus’ workers comes from Detroit
2,252 of the people who work in Romulus live in Detroit, 18 miles away, more than from any other town. 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.
Jobs & income in Romulus: the grade in detail
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Romulus is better than 45% of U.S. towns, #433 of 701 in Michigan. Job access by car holds Romulus’ grade up (ahead of 92% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (6.7%, U.S. 5.2%).
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, Romulus could be anywhere from C to B.
A workday in Romulus: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 8,637 residents head out to work and 1,294 work right here.
About 46,000 people are in Romulus on a workday afternoon, 88% more 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.
The kinds of work in Romulus
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Romulus, 2011 → 2021: 28,690 → 31,491. 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 Romulus’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who travels to work in Romulus, and from where
Where Romulus clocks in
6% of workers
5% 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.
The daily trip from Romulus: about 25 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Romulus workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 10,215 commuters (the 9% 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.
Half of Romulus commutes less than 14 miles
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.
Most trips from Romulus start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Romulus is more walkable than 34% of U.S. towns, #376 of 701 in Michigan. Both inputs place Romulus near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 11,274 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). 7.0% of Romulus households have no vehicle (Michigan 7.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Romulus’ commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 17,000 to 33,000, Romulus ranks 1,171st of 1,642 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Mountain Brook AL | 21,661 | $201K | 3.2% | 1.2% | 8% | A+ |
| 3 | Lake Forest IL | 19,731 | $235K | 3.5% | 1.8% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 34 | Northville Township MI | 31,399 | $151K | 3.1% | 2.9% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 67 | Oakland Township MI | 20,631 | $167K | 2.7% | 3.0% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 109 | Cascade Township MI | 20,201 | $136K | 4.6% | 2.6% | 14% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,169 | Truckee CA | 17,278 | $130K | 9.0% | 6.6% | 40% | B− |
| 1,170 | Garden City MI | 26,280 | $67K | 10.7% | 8.0% | 5% | B− |
| 1,171 | Romulus MI | 24,547 | $69K | 13.5% | 6.7% | 13% | B− |
| 1,172 | North Tonawanda NY | 29,806 | $67K | 12.4% | 5.8% | 13% | B− |
| 1,173 | Southern Pines NC | 17,357 | $89K | 9.6% | 6.7% | 19% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,642 | Nogales AZ | 19,495 | $43K | 28.0% | 15.7% | 37% | 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 Romulus, the top three, the last and three more from Michigan.
Work in the towns next to Romulus
The biggest share goes to Taylor (3%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Romulus workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Romulus | – | B− | C | 25 min | $69,151 |
| Taylor | 3% | C | B | 22 min | $61,081 |
| Wayne | 2% | C | B+ | 27 min | $59,038 |
| Huron Township | under 2% | B+ | C− | 29 min | $92,832 |
| Van Buren Township | 2% | B− | C− | 24 min | $78,230 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Romulus’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 Romulus: questions
What is the median household income in Romulus?
$69,151 (±$8,013) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Romulus?
13.5%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Romulus?
25 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Romulus work?
13% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Detroit (10%, 18 mi), Dearborn (6%, 10 mi), Livonia (5%, 12 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Is Romulus walkable?
Romulus is more walkable than 34% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 6.4 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Romulus without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Romulus, from the people who make the trip.
More of Romulus
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.