Photo: rossograph · CC BY-SA 3.0At 2.2%, unemployment in Spring Lake Township is lower than in 82% of U.S. towns
About one in ten work in Spring Lake Township; the top destination outside it is Grand Haven (10%, 1 miles). The two grades for Spring Lake Township are A for jobs and income and C for walkability. Measured by household income, Spring Lake Township is ahead of 75% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Spring Lake Township and work: the main findings
Where Spring Lake Township’s Jobs & income grade comes from
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Spring Lake Township is better than 88% of U.S. towns, #70 of 701 in Michigan. All four inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Spring Lake Township’s grade. It also does well on household income and the poverty rate and job access by car.
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, Spring Lake Township could be anywhere from B+ to A+.
Spring Lake Township makes things: 62% of its jobs are in goods
4,547 jobs are based in Spring Lake Township.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Spring Lake Township, 2011 → 2021: 3,770 → 4,547. 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 Spring Lake Township’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How a workday changes Spring Lake Township
On a workday 5,669 residents head out to work, 584 work right here, and 3,963 people come in from elsewhere.
About 14,000 people are in Spring Lake Township on a workday afternoon, 11% fewer than live here.
0.73 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 Spring Lake Township: the destinations
Where Spring Lake Township clocks in
10% of workers
9% 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.
Time on the road from Spring Lake Township: about 23 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Spring Lake Township workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 6,656 commuters (the 13% 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.
Short hops and long hauls from Spring Lake Township
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.
Getting around Spring Lake Township: mostly by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Spring Lake Township is more walkable than 28% of U.S. towns, #426 of 701 in Michigan. Both inputs place Spring Lake 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 7,657 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). 2.3% of Spring Lake Township households have no vehicle (Michigan 7.0%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Spring Lake Township’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 11,000 to 21,000, Spring Lake Township ranks 428th of 2,109 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | A+ |
| 2 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| 3 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 7 | Ada Township MI | 14,769 | $168K | 2.0% | 0.7% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 24 | Southfield Township MI | 14,671 | $185K | 4.7% | 1.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 76 | Berkley MI | 15,145 | $116K | 4.5% | 2.2% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 426 | Lowell AR | 12,184 | $96K | 6.9% | 1.4% | 9% | A |
| 427 | Harrison OH | 13,795 | $100K | 6.9% | 1.5% | 12% | A |
| 428 | Spring Lake Township MI | 15,705 | $97K | 4.9% | 2.2% | 9% | A |
| 429 | Poland Township OH | 14,464 | $95K | 5.2% | 2.0% | 6% | A |
| 430 | Portsmouth RI | 17,474 | $117K | 4.9% | 3.1% | 16% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,109 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 Spring Lake Township, the top three, the last and three more from Michigan.
Next door is work for 21% of Spring Lake Township
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Spring Lake Township workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spring Lake Township | – | A | C | 23 min | $97,451 |
| Ferrysburg | under 3% | A− | C− | 21 min | $70,400 |
| Spring Lake | under 3% | A− | A− | 23 min | $88,365 |
| Grand Haven Township | 3% | A | C | 21 min | $99,592 |
| Crockery Township | under 3% | A | D− | 23 min | $89,700 |
| Grand Haven | 10% | B | A | 17 min | $60,669 |
| Fruitport Township | 3% | B | C | 21 min | $85,413 |
| Norton Shores | 5% | B | C+ | 20 min | $76,579 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Grand Haven. Darker towns draw more of Spring Lake 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 Spring Lake Township: questions
What is the median household income in Spring Lake Township?
$97,451 (±$7,175) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Spring Lake Township?
4.9%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Spring Lake Township?
23 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 13% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Spring Lake Township work?
9% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Grand Haven (10%, 1 mi), Muskegon (9%, 12 mi), Grand Rapids (7%, 28 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Is Spring Lake Township walkable?
Spring Lake Township is more walkable than 28% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 6.0 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Spring Lake Township without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Spring Lake Township, from the people who make the trip.
More of Spring Lake 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.