A job hub: Walker has 2.1 jobs per working resident, and 22,774 people come in to work
Jobs and income earn Walker A−; getting around on foot earns it B+. There are 23,990 jobs in Walker, and 11,292 of its residents work somewhere. About one in ten work in Walker itself; outside it, Grand Rapids draws the most (28%, 6 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Walker apart on work
A lot of Walker works one town over
41% of working residents work in a town that borders Walker: Grand Rapids (28%), Wyoming (7%) and Grandville (4%). Next door ↓
Walker is where the jobs are
Walker has 23,990 jobs, 2.1 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 39,000 people are in town, 49% more than the 26,000 who live here. Day and night ↓
Walker makes and builds things
41% of the jobs based in Walker are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Walker residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 24%. The jobs ↓
Walker has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Walker went from 17,251 in 2011 to 23,990 in 2021, +39%. The jobs ↓
Most Walker residents work close to home
60% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home. 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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
What’s behind Walker’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Walker is better than 78% of U.S. towns, #169 of 701 in Michigan. Job access by car is its strongest input (ahead of 88% of U.S. towns); household income ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns ($76,360, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate and unemployment.
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, Walker could be anywhere from B to A.
Who commutes out of Walker, and who commutes in
On a workday 10,076 residents head out to work and 1,216 work right here.
About 39,000 people are in Walker on a workday afternoon, 49% 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.
Making and building: 41% of jobs based in Walker
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Walker, 2011 → 2021: 17,251 → 23,990. 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 Walker’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The distance from Walker to work
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.
Where Walker’s workforce comes from
Where Walker clocks in
5% 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.
Each way, about 20 minutes from Walker
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Walker workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 12,361 commuters (the 10% 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.
Most trips from Walker start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Walker is more walkable than 68% of U.S. towns, #149 of 701 in Michigan. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 3.8% across Michigan.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 13,733 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 69% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 8% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 9.5 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 93% 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). 3.3% of Walker households have no vehicle (Michigan 7.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Walker’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Walker is 599th among 1,576 U.S. towns of 18,000 to 35,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Mountain Brook AL | 21,661 | $201K | 3.2% | 1.2% | 8% | A+ |
| 3 | Lake Forest IL | 19,731 | $235K | 3.5% | 1.8% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 34 | Northville Township MI | 31,399 | $151K | 3.1% | 2.9% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 70 | Oakland Township MI | 20,631 | $167K | 2.7% | 3.0% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 109 | Cascade Township MI | 20,201 | $136K | 4.6% | 2.6% | 14% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 597 | Happy Valley OR | 28,916 | $122K | 7.7% | 4.8% | 4% | A− |
| 598 | Greenfield IN | 26,544 | $76K | 5.3% | 3.3% | 20% | A− |
| 599 | Walker MI | 25,881 | $76K | 7.6% | 2.9% | 11% | A− |
| 600 | Forest Lake MN | 20,952 | $93K | 7.0% | 4.3% | 14% | A− |
| 601 | Shaker Heights OH | 28,466 | $104K | 8.4% | 4.6% | 8% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,576 | Nogales AZ | 19,495 | $43K | 28.0% | 15.7% | 37% | 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 Walker, the top three, the last and three more from Michigan.
41% of Walker works in a town next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Walker workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Walker | – | A− | B+ | 20 min | $76,360 |
| Grand Rapids | 28% | B− | A+ | 19 min | $69,108 |
| Grandville | 4% | A | A− | 18 min | $78,442 |
| Tallmadge Township | under 2% | A− | C− | 23 min | $100,721 |
| Alpine Township | 2% | B− | C+ | 21 min | $67,807 |
| Comstock Park | under 2% | — | — | 21 min | — |
| Wyoming | 7% | B | A− | 22 min | $73,677 |
Same-state neighbors only. Comstock Park: a Census-designated place inside a larger town, graded as part of it. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Grand Rapids. Darker towns draw more of Walker’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 Walker: questions
What is the median household income in Walker?
$76,360 (±$4,683) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Walker?
7.6%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Walker?
20 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Walker work?
11% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Grand Rapids (28%, 6 mi), Wyoming (7%, 8 mi), Kentwood (5%, 11 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Is Walker walkable?
Walker is more walkable than 68% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 10.5 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Walker without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. 8% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Walker, from the people who make the trip.
More of Walker
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.