Household incomes in Wakefield are lower than in 80% of U.S. towns
For 3% of workers, the job is at home, next to 14% for Michigan as a whole. 15.0% of residents are in poverty, where Michigan as a whole has 13.2%. Wakefield grades D for jobs and income and B for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Wakefield and work: the main findings
Wakefield and Ironwood trade workers both ways
Ironwood is the top workplace for Wakefield residents (15%) and also where the most people who work in Wakefield come from (10% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Fewer than half of Wakefield workers earn over $40,000 a year
42% of Wakefield’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, wherever they work, and 23% earn $1,250 a month or less. The jobs ↓
Few Wakefield 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 593 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Why Wakefield gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty and job access, Wakefield is better than 7% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Wakefield’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down.
Unemployment (4.1%) is left out: Wakefield’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, Wakefield could be anywhere from D− to C−.
15% of working residents work in Ironwood
Where Wakefield clocks in
15% of workers
9% 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.
The 482 jobs based in Wakefield
482 jobs are based in Wakefield.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Wakefield, 2011 → 2021: 597 → 482. 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 Wakefield’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Each way, about 22 minutes from Wakefield
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Wakefield workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 654 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.
The daily flow of workers through Wakefield
On a workday 488 residents head out to work, 105 work right here, and 377 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.81 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2021, primary jobs.
Short hops and long hauls from Wakefield
About 24% 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.
Getting around Wakefield: mostly by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Wakefield is more walkable than 63% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 4.6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.8% across Michigan, on an EPA index of 6.6.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 673 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). 11.6% of Wakefield households have no vehicle (Michigan 7.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Wakefield’s commuters take a bus or train.
Wakefield is 5,032nd of 5,760 U.S. towns of 1,200 to 2,300 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Hewlett Harbor NY | 1,332 | $250K | 1.9% | 7.2% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 99 | Caledonia MI | 1,778 | $106K | 3.7% | 0.5% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 206 | Wheatfield Township MI | 1,659 | $117K | 1.9% | 2.7% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 249 | Sylvan Lake MI | 1,685 | $106K | 5.4% | 2.9% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 5,030 | Perry Township OH | 1,505 | $60K | 18.6% | 0.0% | 2% | D |
| 5,031 | Laurens IA | 1,217 | $49K | 15.0% | 6.3% | 42% | D |
| 5,032 | Wakefield MI | 1,689 | $56K | 15.0% | 4.1% | 18% | D |
| 5,033 | Kingston OH | 1,236 | $40K | 26.3% | 2.5% | 1% | D |
| 5,034 | Smethport PA | 1,359 | $60K | 19.2% | 6.8% | 21% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 5,760 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 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 Wakefield, the top three, the last and three more from Michigan.
The towns next door employ 13% of Wakefield
The biggest share goes to Wakefield Township (9%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Wakefield workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Wakefield | – | D | B | 22 min | $55,759 |
| Wakefield Township | 9% | — | — | 30 min | — |
| Bessemer Township | 4% | D− | C− | 22 min | $56,016 |
Same-state neighbors only. Wakefield Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Wakefield’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 Wakefield: questions
What is the median household income in Wakefield?
$55,759 (±$8,348) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Wakefield?
15.0%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Wakefield?
22 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 3% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Wakefield work?
18% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Ironwood (15%, 10 mi), Wakefield Township (9%, 6 mi), Bessemer (9%, 6 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Is Wakefield walkable?
Wakefield is more walkable than 63% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 6.6 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Wakefield 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 Wakefield, from the people who make the trip.
More of Wakefield
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.