McKinley School · Photo: kennethaw88 · CC BY 4.0Unemployment in Vassar (10.9%) is higher than in 96% of U.S. towns
For jobs and income Vassar is better than 14% of U.S. towns (D); for walkability it is more walkable than 38% of U.S. towns (C+). About one in ten work in Vassar; the top destination outside it is Frankenmuth (13%, 8 miles). Household incomes here are lower than in 75% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Vassar, in brief
Inside Vassar’s Jobs & income grade
Job access by car holds Vassar’s grade up; unemployment 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 rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Vassar could be anywhere from D to B−.
Time on the road from Vassar: about 30 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Vassar workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,014 commuters (the 6% 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 workday shuffle in and out of Vassar
On a workday 883 residents head out to work, 90 work right here, and 464 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,300 people are in Vassar on a workday afternoon, 16% fewer than live here.
0.57 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.
Where the trip to work from Vassar ends
Where Vassar clocks in
13% of workers
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.
Jobs in Vassar: what the 554 are
554 jobs are based in Vassar.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Vassar, 2011 → 2021: 680 → 554. 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 Vassar’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far it is to work from Vassar
About 26% 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.
Most trips from Vassar start in a car
How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 2.5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.8% across Michigan, on an EPA index of 5.7.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,081 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). 11.5% of Vassar households have no vehicle (Michigan 7.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Vassar’s commuters take a bus or train.
Vassar next to U.S. towns of 1,900 to 3,600: 4,005th of 4,797 on jobs and income
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 20 | Franklin MI | 3,134 | $194K | 2.8% | 2.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 127 | 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 |
| … | |||||||
| 4,003 | Butman Township MI | 2,137 | $62K | 11.7% | 3.2% | 3% | D |
| 4,004 | Parker AZ | 3,394 | $66K | 12.7% | 7.4% | 28% | D |
| 4,005 | Vassar MI | 2,685 | $59K | 14.8% | 10.9% | 9% | D |
| 4,006 | Eveleth MN | 3,381 | $51K | 14.8% | 5.7% | 11% | D |
| 4,007 | Maynardville TN | 2,723 | $46K | 21.7% | 6.4% | 9% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 4,797 | Cibecue AZ | 2,228 | $26K | 57.2% | 13.3% | 12% | 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 Vassar, the top three, the last and three more from Michigan.
Around Vassar: the bordering towns
The biggest share goes to Tuscola Township (2%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Vassar workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vassar | – | D | C+ | 30 min | $59,444 |
| Vassar Township | under 2% | C | D− | 35 min | $63,125 |
| Tuscola Township | 2% | B | C− | 27 min | $72,898 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Vassar’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 Vassar: questions
What is the median household income in Vassar?
$59,444 (±$13,652) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Vassar?
14.8%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Vassar?
30 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Vassar work?
9% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Frankenmuth (13%, 8 mi), Saginaw (8%, 19 mi), Saginaw Township (4%, 23 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Is Vassar walkable?
Vassar is more walkable than 38% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 5.7 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Vassar 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 Vassar, from the people who make the trip.
More of Vassar
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.