Sands Township has lower unemployment (1.5%) than 90% of U.S. towns
At home: 7% of workers have no commute at all (Michigan 14%). Jobs and income earn Sands Township B+; getting around on foot earns it C. Only 4% work in Sands Township; the top destination outside it is Marquette (41%, 9 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Sands Township at work: what stands out
Much of Sands Township works one town over
55% of working residents work in a town that borders Sands Township: Marquette (41%), Forsyth Township (4%) and Marquette Township (4%). Next door ↓
Commutes from Sands Township are quick
The average trip to work takes 18 minutes, against 24 across Michigan. That’s about 46 hours a year less on the road than the typical Michigan worker. 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; with 943 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Sands Township
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Sands Township is better than 65% of U.S. towns. Unemployment holds Sands Township’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 20% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
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, Sands Township could be anywhere from C+ to A−.
Time on the road from Sands Township: about 18 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Sands Township workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,000 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.
Sands Township by day and by night
On a workday 903 residents head out to work, 40 work right here, and 295 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,800 people are in Sands Township on a workday afternoon, 26% fewer than live here.
0.36 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2021, primary jobs.
Commuting out of Sands Township: the destinations
Where Sands Township clocks in
41% 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.
What work there is in Sands Township: 335 jobs
335 jobs are based in Sands Township.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Sands Township, 2011 → 2021: 203 → 335. 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 Sands Township’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far Sands Township goes to work
About 21% 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 Sands Township walk, bike or ride to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Sands Township is more walkable than 32% of U.S. towns. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.9% 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 1,074 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). 1.5% of Sands Township households have no vehicle (Michigan 7.0%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Sands Township’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Sands Township ranks: 1,417th of 4,995 U.S. towns of 1,700 to 3,200
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 19 | Franklin MI | 3,134 | $194K | 2.8% | 2.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 94 | Caledonia MI | 1,778 | $106K | 3.7% | 0.5% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 135 | Village of Grosse Pointe Shores MI | 2,533 | $190K | 2.7% | 3.5% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,415 | Paynesville MN | 2,591 | $75K | 5.6% | 2.4% | 34% | B+ |
| 1,416 | St. George ME | 2,595 | $89K | 7.7% | 0.0% | 22% | B+ |
| 1,417 | Sands Township MI | 2,363 | $87K | 7.5% | 1.5% | 4% | B+ |
| 1,418 | Amanda Township OH | 2,763 | $81K | 11.9% | 2.4% | 8% | B+ |
| 1,419 | Crescent Township PA | 2,369 | $82K | 4.8% | 6.6% | 2% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,995 | 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 Sands Township, the top three, the last and three more from Michigan.
The towns next door employ 55% of Sands Township
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Sands Township workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sands Township | – | B+ | C | 18 min | $87,443 |
| Forsyth Township | 4% | C | C− | 24 min | $62,018 |
| Richmond Township | under 2% | — | — | 28 min | — |
| Marquette Township | 4% | C+ | B | 11 min | $57,983 |
| Chocolay Township | 4% | C+ | C+ | 20 min | $87,167 |
| Harvey | under 2% | — | — | 16 min | — |
| Marquette | 41% | C | A | 13 min | $55,613 |
| Negaunee Township | 2% | C+ | C− | 21 min | $97,955 |
Same-state neighbors only. Richmond Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Harvey: a Census-designated place inside a larger town, graded as part of it. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Marquette. Darker towns draw more of Sands 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 Sands Township: questions
What is the median household income in Sands Township?
$87,443 (±$5,860) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Sands Township?
7.5%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Sands Township?
18 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Sands Township work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Marquette (41%, 9 mi), Ishpeming (7%, 12 mi), Chocolay Township (4%, 9 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Is Sands Township walkable?
Sands Township is more walkable than 32% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 6.7 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Sands Township without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Sands Township, from the people who make the trip.
More of Sands 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.