Photo: Dwight Burdette · CC BY 3.0Most of Waterloo Township commutes out: there are 0.2 jobs for every working resident
Waterloo Township grades C+ for jobs and income and C− for walkability. There are 186 jobs in Waterloo Township, against 922 working residents. Only 3% work in Waterloo Township; the top destination outside it is Chelsea (14%, 10 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Waterloo Township: the figures worth knowing
Waterloo Township is a place people come home to
There are 186 jobs based in Waterloo Township, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Waterloo Township has about 2,300 people in it, 25% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Waterloo Township workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 32 minutes each way, against 24 across Michigan. Over a year that’s about 245 hours of commuting, 61 more than the state’s typical 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; with 922 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Where Waterloo Township’s Jobs & income grade comes from
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Waterloo Township is better than 43% of U.S. towns, #460 of 701 in Michigan. The poverty rate holds Waterloo Township’s grade up (7.4%, U.S. 12.5%); unemployment pulls it down (6.3%, 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, Waterloo Township could be anywhere from C− to B+.
Waterloo Township by day and by night
On a workday 891 residents head out to work, 31 work right here, and 155 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,300 people are in Waterloo Township on a workday afternoon, 25% fewer 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 32 minutes to work from Waterloo Township
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Waterloo Township workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,116 commuters (the 16% 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.
Where Waterloo Township’s working residents head each day
Where Waterloo Township clocks in
14% of workers
9% of workers
6% 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.
Making and building: 40% of jobs based in Waterloo Township
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Waterloo Township, 2011 → 2021: 74 → 186. 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 Waterloo Township’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The distance from Waterloo Township to work
About 17% 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.
Waterloo Township is a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Waterloo Township is more walkable than 17% of U.S. towns, #526 of 701 in Michigan. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 1.9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.8% across Michigan, on an EPA index of 3.5.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,326 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). 2.3% of Waterloo Township households have no vehicle (Michigan 7.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Waterloo Township’s commuters take a bus or train.
Waterloo Township next to U.S. towns of 2,100 to 4,000: 2,585th of 4,618 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 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 22 | Franklin MI | 3,134 | $194K | 2.8% | 2.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 137 | Village of Grosse Pointe Shores MI | 2,533 | $190K | 2.7% | 3.5% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 232 | Milton Township MI | 3,187 | $119K | 3.2% | 2.3% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,583 | Hodgenville KY | 3,378 | $58K | 19.1% | 0.0% | 7% | C+ |
| 2,584 | Harrison Township IN | 2,268 | $61K | 13.4% | 1.5% | 7% | C+ |
| 2,585 | Waterloo Township MI | 2,995 | $75K | 7.4% | 6.3% | 3% | C+ |
| 2,586 | Cato NY | 2,401 | $80K | 11.8% | 5.0% | 4% | C+ |
| 2,587 | Milford Township OH | 3,634 | $84K | 11.5% | 6.3% | 5% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,618 | 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 Waterloo Township, the top three, the last and three more from Michigan.
Work in the towns next to Waterloo Township
The biggest share goes to Grass Lake Township (4%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Waterloo Township workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Waterloo Township | – | C+ | C− | 32 min | $74,500 |
| Grass Lake Township | 4% | A | B | 25 min | $95,692 |
| Lyndon Township | under 3% | A− | D− | 34 min | $122,568 |
| Henrietta Township | under 3% | B− | D− | 29 min | $81,339 |
| Sylvan Township | under 3% | A | B− | 26 min | $102,656 |
| Stockbridge Township | under 3% | B+ | C+ | 35 min | $79,821 |
| Leoni Township | 2% | B | C | 23 min | $76,605 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Waterloo 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 Waterloo Township: questions
What is the median household income in Waterloo Township?
$74,500 (±$16,510) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Waterloo Township?
7.4%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Waterloo Township?
32 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 16% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Waterloo Township work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Chelsea (14%, 10 mi), Jackson (9%, 14 mi), Scio Township (6%, 18 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Is Waterloo Township walkable?
Waterloo Township is more walkable than 17% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 3.5 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Waterloo Township without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Waterloo Township, from the people who make the trip.
More of Waterloo 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.