Photo: Royalbroil · CC BY-SA 3.0Earning a living in South Range
Commuters spend 11 minutes getting to work on average, next to 24 for Michigan and 26 for the U.S. Only 2% work in South Range; the top destination outside it is Houghton (34%, 5 miles). 213 jobs are based in South Range for 261 working residents.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in South Range
Most South Range residents work close to home
67% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home, about two in three. How far ↓
South Range and Houghton trade workers both ways
Houghton is the top workplace for South Range residents (34%) and also where the most people who work in South Range come from (14% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Commutes from South Range are quick
The average trip to work takes 11 minutes, against 24 across Michigan. That’s about 100 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 261 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Short hops and long hauls from South Range
About 23% 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.
Where South Range goes to work
Where South Range clocks in
34% of workers
16% 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.
About 11 minutes to work from South Range
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 3.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of South Range workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 214 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.
A workday in South Range: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 255 residents head out to work, 6 work right here, and 207 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 (0.82 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.
Factories, building and farms: 66% of the jobs in South Range
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in South Range, 2011 → 2021: 105 → 213. 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 South Range’s own residents hold wherever they work.
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 South Range: questions
What is the median household income in South Range?
$58,542 (±$12,311) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in South Range?
23.7%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from South Range?
11 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in South Range work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Houghton (34%, 5 mi), Hancock (16%, 5 mi), Adams Township (7%, 2 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Can you get around South Range without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from South Range, from the people who make the trip.
More of South Range
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.