Wayne has higher unemployment (10.3%) than 95% of U.S. towns
Only 5% work in Wayne itself; outside it, Detroit draws the most (8%, 16 miles). Jobs and income earn Wayne C; getting around on foot earns it B+. Measured by household income, Wayne is behind 76% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Wayne: the figures worth knowing
Wayne makes and builds things
57% of the jobs based in Wayne are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Wayne residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 19%. The jobs ↓
The jobs in Wayne pay better than its residents’ jobs
71% of the jobs based in Wayne pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), against 50% of the jobs Wayne residents hold. 96% of the jobs here are held by people who live outside Wayne. The jobs ↓
Wayne draws workers from far and wide
The 9,616 jobs in Wayne are filled from a wide area. The ten biggest home towns of its workers supply 37%; the other 59% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
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.
Wayne’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Wayne is better than 31% of U.S. towns, #541 of 701 in Michigan. Job access by car holds Wayne’s grade up (ahead of 91% of U.S. towns); 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 fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Wayne could be anywhere from C− to C+.
Making and building: 57% of jobs based in Wayne
9,616 jobs are based in Wayne.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Wayne, 2011 → 2021: 9,888 → 9,616. 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 Wayne’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where Wayne’s working residents head each day
Where Wayne clocks in
8% of workers
7% 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.
Wayne fills up on a workday
On a workday 6,734 residents head out to work, 379 work right here, and 9,237 people come in from elsewhere.
About 20,000 people are in Wayne on a workday afternoon, 15% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.35 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.
The trip to work from Wayne: about 27 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Wayne workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 6,870 commuters (the 9% 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.
Half of Wayne commutes less than 11 miles
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 Wayne, most people drive to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Wayne is more walkable than 67% of U.S. towns, #154 of 701 in Michigan. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.6% 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 7,527 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% 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). 10.6% of Wayne households have no vehicle (Michigan 7.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Wayne’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 12,000 to 23,000, Wayne ranks 1,597th of 1,999 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| 2 | Rogers MN | 15,606 | $159K | 1.9% | 1.2% | 10% | A+ |
| 3 | Trophy Club TX | 13,695 | $201K | 2.1% | 2.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5 | Ada Township MI | 14,769 | $168K | 2.0% | 0.7% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 17 | Southfield Township MI | 14,671 | $185K | 4.7% | 1.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 66 | Berkley MI | 15,145 | $116K | 4.5% | 2.2% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,595 | Anderson Creek NC | 13,927 | $87K | 14.6% | 7.1% | 4% | C |
| 1,596 | Park Forest IL | 21,079 | $61K | 17.6% | 8.7% | 3% | C |
| 1,597 | Wayne MI | 17,065 | $59K | 15.7% | 10.3% | 5% | C |
| 1,598 | Henry Township IN | 22,005 | $58K | 17.0% | 4.4% | 33% | C |
| 1,599 | Crawfordsville IN | 16,699 | $55K | 15.2% | 4.4% | 36% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 1,999 | 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 Wayne, the top three, the last and three more from Michigan.
The towns next door employ 11% of Wayne
The biggest share goes to Romulus (6%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Wayne’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 Wayne: questions
What is the median household income in Wayne?
$59,038 (±$5,456) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Wayne?
15.7%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Wayne?
27 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Wayne work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Detroit (8%, 16 mi), Livonia (8%, 8 mi), Dearborn (7%, 9 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Is Wayne walkable?
Wayne is more walkable than 67% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 8.2 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Wayne without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 11% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Wayne, from the people who make the trip.
More of Wayne
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.