George and Martha Hitchcock House · Photo: rossograph · CC BY-SA 3.0Household incomes in Surrey Township trail those of 87% of U.S. towns
Surrey Township grades D for jobs and income and C for walkability. 23.7% of residents live below the poverty line, next to 13.2% for Michigan as a whole. 4% of workers have no commute at all, against 14% across Michigan.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Surrey Township: the figures worth knowing
Few Surrey 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 ↓
A big share show a job far from home
35% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
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.
Where Surrey Township’s Jobs & income grade comes from
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Surrey Township is better than 8% of U.S. towns, #677 of 701 in Michigan. Unemployment holds Surrey Township’s grade up (5.5%, U.S. 5.2%); the poverty rate pulls it down.
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, Surrey Township could be anywhere from D− to C.
Commuting from Surrey Township: about 23 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Surrey Township workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,456 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.
Short hops and long hauls from Surrey Township
About 35% 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.
Who works in Surrey Township, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 1,046 residents head out to work, 131 work right here, and 649 people come in from elsewhere.
About 3,300 people are in Surrey Township on a workday afternoon, 11% fewer than live here.
0.66 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.
8% of working residents work in Mount Pleasant
Where Surrey Township clocks in
8% of workers
4% 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.
In Surrey Township, 28% of jobs are in factories, building or farming
780 jobs are based in Surrey Township.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Surrey Township, 2011 → 2021: 1,008 → 780. 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 Surrey Township’s own residents hold wherever they work.
For most of Surrey Township, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Surrey Township is more walkable than 29% of U.S. towns, #410 of 701 in Michigan. Both inputs place Surrey 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 1,518 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). 6.2% of Surrey Township households have no vehicle (Michigan 7.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Surrey Township’s commuters take a bus or train.
U.S. towns of 2,600 to 5,000, and where Surrey Township sits
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 25 | Franklin MI | 3,134 | $194K | 2.8% | 2.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 116 | Vergennes Township MI | 4,968 | $113K | 1.5% | 0.9% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 120 | Ann Arbor Township MI | 4,506 | $165K | 7.2% | 0.5% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,993 | Sibley IA | 2,762 | $55K | 23.5% | 6.7% | 39% | D |
| 3,994 | Moira NY | 2,871 | $64K | 20.1% | 6.9% | 8% | D |
| 3,995 | Surrey Township MI | 3,704 | $51K | 23.7% | 5.5% | 11% | D |
| 3,996 | Jackson Township OH | 4,010 | $79K | 23.7% | 9.5% | 3% | D |
| 3,997 | Steubenville Township OH | 3,982 | $53K | 27.4% | 7.2% | 4% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 4,318 | 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 Surrey Township, the top three, the last and three more from Michigan.
The towns around Surrey Township
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Surrey Township workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Surrey Township | – | D | C | 23 min | $50,764 |
| Grant Township | 4% | C− | C+ | 24 min | $61,010 |
| Garfield Township | under 2% | D | D | 30 min | $68,556 |
| Lincoln Township | under 2% | D | B− | 36 min | $48,953 |
| Gilmore Township | under 2% | C+ | C− | 27 min | $80,625 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Grant Township. Darker towns draw more of Surrey 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 Surrey Township: questions
What is the median household income in Surrey Township?
$50,764 (±$9,988) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Surrey Township?
23.7%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Surrey Township?
23 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Surrey Township work?
11% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Mount Pleasant (8%, 19 mi), Clare (7%, 8 mi), Midland (4%, 38 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Is Surrey Township walkable?
Surrey Township is more walkable than 29% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 5.8 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Surrey Township without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Surrey Township, from the people who make the trip.
More of Surrey 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.