Photo: Charles W. Chapman · CC BY-SA 4.0Households in White Cloud earn less than those in 93% of U.S. towns
About one in ten stay in White Cloud for work; outside it, Grand Rapids is the main destination (8%, 42 miles). Below the poverty line: 15.1% of residents, against 13.2% across Michigan. Jobs and income earn White Cloud D; getting around on foot earns it A.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets White Cloud apart on work
Jobs in White Cloud have more than doubled in ten years
Jobs based in White Cloud went from 317 in 2011 to 872 in 2021, +175%. The jobs ↓
White Cloud’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside White Cloud is Grand Rapids, 42 miles away as the crow flies. 8% of working residents (38) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
White Cloud is where the jobs are
White Cloud has 872 jobs, 1.8 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
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 474 working residents, small shifts move the shares; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
What’s behind White Cloud’s Jobs & income grade
The poverty rate holds White Cloud’s grade up; household income pulls it down ($45,192, U.S. $80,734).
Unemployment (7.0%) is left out: White Cloud’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
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 and poverty, White Cloud could be anywhere from D− to C−.
The 872 jobs based in White Cloud
872 jobs are based in White Cloud.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in White Cloud, 2011 → 2021: 317 → 872. 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 White Cloud’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Miles to work from White Cloud
About 23% 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.
Who works in White Cloud, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 433 residents head out to work, 41 work right here, and 831 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,900 people are in White Cloud on a workday afternoon, 26% more than live here.
1.8 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.
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 White Cloud’s workers come from
Where White Cloud clocks in
Lines 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.
The trip to work from White Cloud: about 33 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of White Cloud workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 416 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.
In White Cloud, walking beats the bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, White Cloud is more walkable than 88% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 8.9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.8% across Michigan, on an EPA index of 8.5.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 462 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). 19.1% of White Cloud households have no vehicle (Michigan 7.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 2% of White Cloud’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 5,794 U.S. towns of 1,100 to 2,100, White Cloud comes 5,021st on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 99 | Caledonia MI | 1,778 | $106K | 3.7% | 0.5% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 164 | Dimondale MI | 1,183 | $111K | 3.2% | 4.6% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 204 | Wheatfield Township MI | 1,659 | $117K | 1.9% | 2.7% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 5,019 | Lake Park GA | 1,559 | $52K | 31.1% | 0.0% | 2% | D |
| 5,020 | Hart MI | 2,065 | $51K | 21.3% | 6.1% | 21% | D |
| 5,021 | White Cloud MI | 1,548 | $45K | 15.1% | 7.0% | 9% | D |
| 5,022 | Susquehanna Depot PA | 1,336 | $55K | 24.2% | 11.1% | 3% | D |
| 5,023 | Webster SD | 1,681 | $55K | 15.1% | 0.7% | 44% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 5,794 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 0% | 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 White Cloud, the top three, the last and three more from Michigan.
How White Cloud compares with the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Everett Township (5%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | White Cloud workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| White Cloud | – | D | A | 33 min | $45,192 |
| Wilcox Township | under 2% | D− | D | 36 min | $45,000 |
| Everett Township | 5% | D | D | 31 min | $56,875 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of White Cloud’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 White Cloud: questions
What is the median household income in White Cloud?
$45,192 (±$10,142) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in White Cloud?
15.1%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from White Cloud?
33 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 10% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in White Cloud work?
9% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Grand Rapids (8%, 42 mi), Newaygo (8%, 10 mi), Everett Township (5%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Is White Cloud walkable?
White Cloud is more walkable than 88% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 8.5 out of 20, and 9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around White Cloud without a car?
2% of commuters take transit and 19% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from White Cloud, from the people who make the trip.
More of White Cloud
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.