Households in Sylvan Township earn less than those in 94% of U.S. towns
Poverty touches 20.5% of residents, next to 13.2% for Michigan as a whole. Sylvan Township grades D− for jobs and income and B− for walkability. For 3% of workers, the job is at home, against 14% across Michigan.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Sylvan Township: the figures worth knowing
A big share show a job far from home
39% 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 ↓
Sylvan Township is a place people come home to
There are 87 jobs based in Sylvan Township, about three for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Sylvan Township has about 760 people in it, 25% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Few Sylvan Township workers work from home
Only 3% 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; with 337 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
The four measures behind Sylvan Township’s grade
On income, poverty and job access, Sylvan Township is better than 2% of U.S. towns. All three inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Sylvan Township’s grade.
Unemployment (3.8%) is left out: Sylvan 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 firm grade. At either end of the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Sylvan Township stays D−.
How far Sylvan Township goes to work
About 39% 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.
The workday shuffle in and out of Sylvan Township
On a workday 332 residents head out to work, 5 work right here, and 82 people come in from elsewhere.
About 760 people are in Sylvan Township on a workday afternoon, 25% fewer than live here.
0.26 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.
Time on the road from Sylvan Township: about 25 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Sylvan Township workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 336 commuters (the 3% 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.
17% of working residents work in Evart
Where Sylvan Township clocks in
Lines 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.
Most jobs in Sylvan Township are in services
87 jobs are based in Sylvan Township.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Sylvan Township, 2011 → 2021: 18 → 87. 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 Sylvan Township’s own residents hold wherever they work.
In Sylvan Township, most people drive to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Sylvan Township is more walkable than 48% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 9.5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.8% across Michigan, on an EPA index of 3.7.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 345 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). 11.9% of Sylvan Township households have no vehicle (Michigan 7.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Sylvan Township’s commuters take a bus or train.
Sylvan Township and other U.S. towns of 700 to 1,400
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 72 | Dimondale MI | 1,183 | $111K | 3.2% | 4.6% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 172 | Petersburg MI | 1,152 | $83K | 1.8% | 1.7% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 216 | Freedom Township MI | 1,298 | $113K | 6.7% | 2.5% | 1% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,026 | Edina MO | 1,014 | $42K | 22.4% | 1.7% | 15% | D− |
| 3,027 | Erin TN | 1,207 | $36K | 21.9% | 6.9% | 15% | D− |
| 3,028 | Sylvan Township MI | 1,012 | $44K | 20.5% | 3.8% | 1% | D− |
| 3,029 | Burkesville KY | 1,389 | $34K | 28.9% | 1.4% | 33% | D− |
| 3,030 | Mansura LA | 1,260 | $22K | 52.2% | 30.2% | 8% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,133 | 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 Sylvan Township, the top three, the last and three more from Michigan.
Sylvan Township and its neighbors
The biggest share goes to Orient Township (2%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Sylvan Township workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sylvan Township | – | D− | B− | 25 min | $43,583 |
| Orient Township | 2% | — | — | 35 min | — |
| Middle Branch Township | under 2% | — | — | 24 min | — |
| Osceola Township | 1% | — | — | 27 min | — |
| Freeman Township | under 2% | D | C− | 36 min | $54,063 |
Same-state neighbors only. Orient Township and Middle Branch Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Osceola Township: not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Sylvan 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 Sylvan Township: questions
What is the median household income in Sylvan Township?
$43,583 (±$5,435) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Sylvan Township?
20.5%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Sylvan Township?
25 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 3% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Sylvan Township work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Evart (17%, 7 mi), Cadillac (6%, 26 mi), Reed City (5%, 19 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Is Sylvan Township walkable?
Sylvan Township is more walkable than 48% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 3.7 out of 20, and 10% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Sylvan Township without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 12% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Sylvan Township, from the people who make the trip.
More of Sylvan 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.