With 0.4 jobs for every working resident, most of Star Township works elsewhere
Only 2% stay in Star Township for work; outside it, Gaylord is the main destination (8%, 12 miles). There are 119 jobs in Star Township, and 329 of its residents work somewhere. Jobs and income earn Star Township C+; getting around on foot earns it C.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Star Township
Why Star Township gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty and job access, Star Township is better than 45% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Star Township’s grade up (6.1%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car pulls it down. It also does well on household income.
Unemployment (0.9%) is left out: Star Township’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
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 and poverty, Star Township could be anywhere from C to B.
About 34 minutes to work from Star Township
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 11 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Star Township workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 384 commuters (the 7% 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.
Star Township on a workday afternoon
On a workday 321 residents head out to work, 8 work right here, and 111 people come in from elsewhere.
About 880 people are in Star Township on a workday afternoon, 19% 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.
The places Star Township commutes to
Where Star Township clocks in
6% 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.
Goods jobs make up 53% of work in Star Township
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Star Township, 2011 → 2021: 107 → 119. 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 Star Township’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Half of Star Township commutes less than 21 miles
About 21% 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.
Driving is how Star Township gets around
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Star Township is more walkable than 34% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 4.2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.8% across Michigan, on an EPA index of 3.6.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 415 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). 4.9% of Star Township households have no vehicle (Michigan 7.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Star Township’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Star Township is 1,458th of 3,771 U.S. towns of 800 to 1,500
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 95 | Dimondale MI | 1,183 | $111K | 3.2% | 4.6% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 225 | Petersburg MI | 1,152 | $83K | 1.8% | 1.7% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 275 | Freedom Township MI | 1,298 | $113K | 6.7% | 2.5% | 1% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,456 | Ridgeville SC | 1,230 | $56K | 7.7% | 2.7% | 1% | C+ |
| 1,457 | Grant Township MI | 1,239 | $81K | 7.6% | 5.2% | <1% | C+ |
| 1,458 | Star Township MI | 1,086 | $86K | 6.1% | 0.9% | 2% | C+ |
| 1,459 | Gilboa NY | 1,169 | $88K | 6.4% | 4.3% | 7% | C+ |
| 1,460 | Orange Township OH | 1,132 | $80K | 8.8% | 7.5% | 4% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,771 | 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 Star Township, the top three, the last and three more from Michigan.
Star Township and its neighbors
The biggest share goes to Mancelona Township (6%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Star Township workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Star Township | – | C+ | C | 34 min | $85,750 |
| Hayes Township | under 3% | C | D− | 26 min | $77,629 |
| Chestonia Township | under 3% | — | — | 17 min | — |
| Warner Township | under 3% | — | — | 25 min | — |
| Mancelona Township | 6% | D | C+ | 28 min | $65,412 |
| Lakes of the North | under 3% | — | — | 40 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Chestonia Township and Warner Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Lakes of the North: a Census-designated place inside a larger town, graded as part of it. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Star 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 Star Township: questions
What is the median household income in Star Township?
$85,750 (±$11,357) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Star Township?
6.1%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Star Township?
34 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Star Township work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Gaylord (8%, 12 mi), Mancelona Township (6%, 7 mi), Kearney Township (5%, 11 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Is Star Township walkable?
Star Township is more walkable than 34% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 3.6 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Star Township without a car?
0% 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 Star Township, from the people who make the trip.
More of Star 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.