Photo: rossograph · CC BY-SA 3.0Spring Lake has lower unemployment (1.8%) than 87% of U.S. towns
Commuters spend 23 minutes getting to work on average; the Michigan average is 24, the U.S. 26. Jobs and income earn Spring Lake A−; getting around on foot earns it A−. Only 6% work in Spring Lake; the top destination outside it is Grand Haven (12%, 2 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Spring Lake and work: the main findings
A lot of Spring Lake works one town over
25% of working residents work in a town that borders Spring Lake: Grand Haven (12%), Spring Lake Township (10%) and Grand Haven Township (3%). Next door ↓
The better-paid jobs are outside Spring Lake
63% of Spring Lake residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 37% of the jobs based in Spring Lake pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 94% leave town for their job. 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 939 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
The figures behind Spring Lake’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Spring Lake is better than 83% of U.S. towns, #118 of 701 in Michigan. Unemployment is its strongest input; the poverty rate ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (7.3%, U.S. 12.5%). 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 could be anywhere from B− to A+.
Jobs in Spring Lake: what the 1,109 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Spring Lake, 2011 → 2021: 1,091 → 1,109. 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’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The workday shuffle in and out of Spring Lake
On a workday 886 residents head out to work, 53 work right here, and 1,056 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 (1.18 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.
Where people from Spring Lake work
Where Spring Lake clocks in
12% of workers
10% of workers
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.
Spring Lake’s commute takes about 23 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Spring Lake workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,062 commuters (the 17% 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 many miles Spring Lake commutes
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.
Good to walk, short on transit: Spring Lake
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Spring Lake is more walkable than 84% of U.S. towns, #60 of 701 in Michigan. Both inputs place Spring Lake 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 1,286 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). 4.7% of Spring Lake households have no vehicle (Michigan 7.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Spring Lake’s commuters take a bus or train.
Spring Lake places 581st of 4,868 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 1,800 to 3,400
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 129 | Village of Grosse Pointe Shores MI | 2,533 | $190K | 2.7% | 3.5% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 216 | Milton Township MI | 3,187 | $119K | 3.2% | 2.3% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 579 | Lafayette Township NJ | 2,417 | $129K | 5.4% | 3.2% | 5% | A− |
| 580 | Harris Township OH | 2,864 | $89K | 7.6% | 0.0% | 7% | A− |
| 581 | Spring Lake MI | 2,504 | $88K | 7.3% | 1.8% | 6% | A− |
| 582 | Poland OH | 2,418 | $92K | 3.4% | 3.9% | 2% | A− |
| 583 | Yardley PA | 2,577 | $113K | 3.4% | 6.4% | 4% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,868 | 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 Spring Lake, the top three, the last and three more from Michigan.
25% of Spring Lake works in a bordering town
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Spring Lake workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Spring Lake | – | A− | A− | 23 min | $88,365 |
| Spring Lake Township | 10% | A | C | 23 min | $97,451 |
| Ferrysburg | under 3% | A− | C− | 21 min | $70,400 |
| Grand Haven | 12% | B | A | 17 min | $60,669 |
| Grand Haven Township | 3% | A | C | 21 min | $99,592 |
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’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: questions
What is the median household income in Spring Lake?
$88,365 (±$27,607) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Spring Lake?
7.3%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Spring Lake?
23 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 17% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Spring Lake work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Grand Haven (12%, 2 mi), Spring Lake Township (10%, 1 mi), Muskegon (8%, 11 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Is Spring Lake walkable?
Spring Lake is more walkable than 84% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 10.3 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Spring Lake without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Spring Lake, from the people who make the trip.
More of Spring Lake
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.