West Ishpeming has 0.4 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
Home is the office for 4% of workers, where Michigan as a whole has 14%. Employers in West Ishpeming report 446 jobs, and 997 of its residents work somewhere. Only 4% stay in West Ishpeming for work; outside it, Marquette is the main destination (27%, 16 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in West Ishpeming: the figures worth knowing
Fewer jobs are based in West Ishpeming than ten years ago
Jobs counted in West Ishpeming fell from 2,076 in 2011 to 446 in 2021, −79%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. The jobs ↓
West Ishpeming makes and builds things
35% of the jobs based in West Ishpeming are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs West Ishpeming residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 21%. The jobs ↓
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 997 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Goods jobs make up 35% of work in West Ishpeming
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in West Ishpeming, 2011 → 2021: 2,076 → 446. 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 West Ishpeming’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How many people are in West Ishpeming by day
On a workday 953 residents head out to work, 44 work right here, and 402 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,300 people are in West Ishpeming on a workday afternoon, 19% 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.
Where the trip to work from West Ishpeming ends
Where West Ishpeming clocks in
27% of workers
24% 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.
Each way, about 21 minutes from West Ishpeming
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of West Ishpeming workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,283 commuters (the 4% 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 distance from West Ishpeming to work
About 20% 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.
West Ishpeming and its neighbors: 24% work next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | West Ishpeming workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| West Ishpeming | – | — | — | 21 min | $95,129 |
| Ishpeming | 24% | D | A− | 19 min | $52,754 |
| Tilden Township | under 2% | C− | C− | 23 min | $67,596 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Ishpeming. Darker towns draw more of West Ishpeming’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 West Ishpeming: questions
What is the median household income in West Ishpeming?
$95,129 (±$23,712) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in West Ishpeming?
5.0%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from West Ishpeming?
21 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in West Ishpeming work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Marquette (27%, 16 mi), Ishpeming (24%, 2 mi), Ishpeming Township (7%, 10 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Can you get around West Ishpeming without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from West Ishpeming, from the people who make the trip.
More of West Ishpeming
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.