Most of Saranac commutes out: there are 0.4 jobs for every working resident
Employers in Saranac report 237 jobs, against 617 working residents. Saranac grades C+ for jobs and income and C− for walkability. Only 3% stay in Saranac for work; outside it, Grand Rapids is the main destination (13%, 23 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Saranac and work: the main findings
Saranac’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Saranac is Grand Rapids, 23 miles away as the crow flies. 13% of working residents (83) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Saranac than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Saranac fell from 410 in 2011 to 237 in 2021, −42%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. The jobs ↓
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 617 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Why Saranac gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Saranac is better than 42% of U.S. towns. Job access by car holds Saranac’s grade up (ahead of 67% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (15.3%, U.S. 12.5%).
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, Saranac could be anywhere from C− to B+.
Short hops and long hauls from Saranac
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.
In Saranac, services account for most jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Saranac, 2011 → 2021: 410 → 237. 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 Saranac’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How many people are in Saranac by day
On a workday 600 residents head out to work, 17 work right here, and 220 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,000 people are in Saranac on a workday afternoon, 27% 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 Saranac’s working residents head each day
Where Saranac clocks in
8% 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.
Each way, about 24 minutes from Saranac
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Saranac workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 899 commuters (the 14% 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.
Saranac is a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Saranac is more walkable than 19% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Saranac 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 1,046 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). 14.4% of Saranac households have no vehicle (Michigan 7.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Saranac’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Saranac ranks: 2,506th of 5,877 U.S. towns of 1,000 to 1,900
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 93 | Caledonia MI | 1,778 | $106K | 3.7% | 0.5% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 152 | Dimondale MI | 1,183 | $111K | 3.2% | 4.6% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 187 | Wheatfield Township MI | 1,659 | $117K | 1.9% | 2.7% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,504 | Spencerville NM | 1,264 | $79K | 11.6% | 3.3% | 4% | C+ |
| 2,505 | Wilson WY | 1,113 | $142K | 14.6% | 2.9% | 3% | C+ |
| 2,506 | Saranac MI | 1,386 | $67K | 15.3% | 4.4% | 3% | C+ |
| 2,507 | Morristown MN | 1,023 | $83K | 15.1% | 5.1% | 2% | C+ |
| 2,508 | Monticello UT | 1,737 | $73K | 4.5% | 0.0% | 30% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5,877 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 0% | 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 Saranac, the top three, the last and three more from Michigan.
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 Saranac: questions
What is the median household income in Saranac?
$66,944 (±$13,442) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Saranac?
15.3%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Saranac?
24 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 14% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Saranac work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Grand Rapids (13%, 23 mi), Cascade Township (8%, 14 mi), Boston Township (6%, 3 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Is Saranac walkable?
Saranac is more walkable than 19% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 5.5 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Saranac without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 14% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Saranac, from the people who make the trip.
More of Saranac
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.