Photo: rossograph · CC BY-SA 4.0Traverse City draws 21,595 commuters a day, with 4.0 jobs for every working resident
Employers in Traverse City report 24,319 jobs for 6,054 working residents. Traverse City grades C+ for jobs and income and A+ for walkability. For a town this walkable, transit is thin: about 0.3 trips an hour at the evening peak near the typical resident, next to 7.2 in Detroit.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Traverse City: the gist
Traverse City fills up on a workday
Traverse City has 24,319 jobs, 4.0 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 34,000 people are in town, more than double the 16,000 who live here. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Traverse City are quick
The average trip to work takes 17 minutes, against 24 across Michigan. That’s about 54 hours a year less on the road than the typical Michigan worker. 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.
Traverse City’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Traverse City is better than 44% of U.S. towns, #446 of 701 in Michigan. Job access by car holds Traverse City’s grade up (ahead of 60% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (5.2%, U.S. 5.2%).
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, Traverse City could be anywhere from C to B+.
Traverse City by day and by night
On a workday 3,330 residents head out to work and 2,724 work right here.
About 34,000 people are in Traverse City on a workday afternoon, 115% more 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.
About 17 minutes each way, quicker than most of Michigan
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Traverse City workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 6,184 commuters (the 19% 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.
The towns that send workers to Traverse City
Where Traverse City clocks in
14% of workers
2% 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.
What Traverse City’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Traverse City, 2011 → 2021: 19,170 → 24,319. 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 Traverse City’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The distance from Traverse City to work
About 22% 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.
In Traverse City, walking beats the bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Traverse City is among the most walkable U.S. towns, #2 of 701 in Michigan. Both inputs place Traverse City 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 7,673 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 89% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 52% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 0.3 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 46% 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). 8.6% of Traverse City households have no vehicle (Michigan 7.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Traverse City’s commuters take a bus or train.
Traverse City is 1,448th of 2,109 U.S. towns of 11,000 to 21,000 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,446 | Knik-Fairview AK | 19,972 | $96K | 9.2% | 4.3% | — | C+ |
| 1,447 | South Rock Island Township IL | 18,056 | $70K | 12.4% | 6.0% | 10% | C+ |
| 1,448 | Traverse City MI | 15,832 | $74K | 12.3% | 5.2% | 45% | C+ |
| 1,449 | Frankfort IN | 16,837 | $57K | 12.9% | 3.0% | 34% | C+ |
| 1,450 | Auburn IN | 14,068 | $69K | 9.8% | 5.9% | 22% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 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 Traverse City, the top three, the last and three more from Michigan.
The towns next door employ 20% of Traverse City
The biggest share goes to Garfield Township (14%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Traverse City workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Traverse City | – | C+ | A+ | 17 min | $74,087 |
| Garfield Township | 14% | C+ | A | 17 min | $66,082 |
| Peninsula Township | 1% | A | B | 20 min | $137,787 |
| East Bay Township | 3% | B | B− | 20 min | $85,291 |
| Elmwood Township | 2% | A− | C+ | 21 min | $94,417 |
| Greilickville | under 1% | — | — | 18 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Greilickville: 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 Traverse City’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 Traverse City: questions
What is the median household income in Traverse City?
$74,087 (±$7,199) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Traverse City?
12.3%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Traverse City?
17 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 19% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Traverse City work?
45% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Garfield Township (14%, 2 mi), East Bay Township (3%, 6 mi), Elmwood Township (2%, 6 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Is Traverse City walkable?
Traverse City is among the most walkable U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 14.2 out of 20, and 17% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Traverse City without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 9% of households have no car. 52% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Traverse City, from the people who make the trip.
More of Traverse City
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.