Most of Spencer Township commutes out: there are 0.1 jobs for every working resident
Home is the office for 4% of workers, against 14% across Michigan. Employers in Spencer Township report 120 jobs; 1,719 of its residents have a job. The two grades for Spencer Township are B for jobs and income and D for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Spencer Township in brief
Spencer Township is a place people come home to
There are 120 jobs based in Spencer Township, about one for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Spencer Township has about 2,700 people in it, 37% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Spencer Township workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 35 minutes each way, against 24 across Michigan. Over a year that’s about 268 hours of commuting, 84 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Spencer Township’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Spencer Township is Grand Rapids, 24 miles away as the crow flies. 16% of working residents (269) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Few Spencer Township workers work from home
Only 4% of workers work from home, against 14% across Michigan. Almost everyone here travels to a job. 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.
What’s behind Spencer Township’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Spencer Township is better than 65% of U.S. towns, #277 of 701 in Michigan. Unemployment holds Spencer Township’s grade up (2.9%, U.S. 5.2%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 40% 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, Spencer Township could be anywhere from C to A.
Spencer Township by day and by night
On a workday 1,688 residents head out to work, 31 work right here, and 89 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,700 people are in Spencer Township on a workday afternoon, 37% 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.
About 35 minutes each way, longer than most of Michigan
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 11 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Spencer Township workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,038 commuters (the 4% 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.
How far Spencer Township goes to work
About 16% 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.
16% of working residents work in Grand Rapids
Where Spencer Township clocks in
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.
A place that makes things: 31% of Spencer Township’s jobs are in goods
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Spencer Township, 2011 → 2021: 142 → 120. 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 Spencer Township’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Driving is how Spencer Township gets around
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Spencer Township is more walkable than 6% of U.S. towns, #642 of 701 in Michigan. Both inputs place Spencer Township 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 2,132 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). 3.3% of Spencer Township households have no vehicle (Michigan 7.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Spencer Township’s commuters take a bus or train.
Spencer Township places 1,457th of 4,039 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 3,000 to 5,800
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 26 | Franklin MI | 3,134 | $194K | 2.8% | 2.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 122 | Vergennes Township MI | 4,968 | $113K | 1.5% | 0.9% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 127 | Ann Arbor Township MI | 4,506 | $165K | 7.2% | 0.5% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,455 | Ravena NY | 3,253 | $77K | 5.8% | 4.4% | 5% | B |
| 1,456 | Spring City PA | 3,878 | $76K | 12.0% | 3.6% | 3% | B |
| 1,457 | Spencer Township MI | 4,288 | $83K | 6.9% | 2.9% | 2% | B |
| 1,458 | Perth NY | 3,506 | $92K | 12.4% | 0.9% | 5% | B |
| 1,459 | Goshen Township OH | 5,496 | $65K | 7.9% | 1.6% | 4% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 4,039 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Spencer Township, the top three, the last and three more from Michigan.
How Spencer Township compares with the towns next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Spencer Township workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spencer Township | – | B | D | 35 min | $82,571 |
| Oakfield Township | under 2% | B+ | C | 33 min | $103,411 |
| Nelson Township | under 2% | B | C− | 28 min | $66,735 |
| Montcalm Township | under 2% | C | D− | 25 min | $71,293 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Spencer 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 Spencer Township: questions
What is the median household income in Spencer Township?
$82,571 (±$13,432) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Spencer Township?
6.9%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Spencer Township?
35 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Spencer Township work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Grand Rapids (16%, 24 mi), Greenville (7%, 7 mi), Wyoming (5%, 30 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Is Spencer Township walkable?
Spencer Township is more walkable than 6% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 3.9 out of 20, and <1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Spencer Township without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Spencer Township, from the people who make the trip.
More of Spencer 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.