With 0.2 jobs for every working resident, most of Westwood works elsewhere
There are 1,010 jobs in Westwood, and 4,173 of its residents work somewhere. The average commute takes 20 minutes each way, where Michigan has 24 and the U.S. 26. 16% of workers work from home; Michigan has 14%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Westwood stands out on work
Westwood and Kalamazoo trade workers both ways
Kalamazoo is the top workplace for Westwood residents (34%) and also where the most people who work in Westwood come from (18% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Westwood makes and builds things
46% of the jobs based in Westwood are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Westwood residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 20%. The jobs ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Westwood than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Westwood fell from 1,604 in 2011 to 1,010 in 2021, −37%. 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 ↓
Westwood is a place people come home to
There are 1,010 jobs based in Westwood, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Westwood has about 5,700 people in it, 36% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Most Westwood residents work close to home
64% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home, about two in three. 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.
34% of working residents work in Kalamazoo
Where Westwood clocks in
34% 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.
Westwood makes things: 46% of its jobs are in goods
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Westwood, 2011 → 2021: 1,604 → 1,010. 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 Westwood’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who leaves Westwood for work, and who comes in
On a workday 4,094 residents head out to work, 79 work right here, and 931 people come in from elsewhere.
About 5,700 people are in Westwood on a workday afternoon, 36% 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.
How many miles Westwood commutes
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.
A commute of about 20 minutes in Westwood
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Westwood workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,884 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.
Next door is work for 34% of Westwood
Jobs & commute next door
The biggest share goes to Kalamazoo. Darker towns draw more of Westwood’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 Westwood: questions
What is the median household income in Westwood?
$58,205 (±$8,569) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Westwood?
14.1%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Westwood?
20 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 16% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Westwood work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Kalamazoo (34%, 3 mi), Portage (9%, 8 mi), Kalamazoo Township (6%, 1 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Can you get around Westwood without a car?
5% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Westwood, from the people who make the trip.
More of Westwood
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.