Williamston Downtown Historic District · Photo: kennethaw88 · CC BY 4.0Williamston at work: jobs, income and the commute
Only 8% work in Williamston; the top destination outside it is Lansing (19%, 14 miles). Williamston grades B for jobs and income and B+ for walkability. Working residents average 26 minutes each way, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Williamston, in brief
The figures behind Williamston’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Williamston is better than 56% of U.S. towns, #346 of 701 in Michigan. Job access by car holds Williamston’s grade up (ahead of 69% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($71,379, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on the poverty rate.
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 rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Williamston could be anywhere from C− to A.
In Williamston, 36% of jobs are in factories, building or farming
2,000 jobs are based in Williamston.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Williamston, 2011 → 2021: 1,963 → 2,000. 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 Williamston’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily flow of workers through Williamston
On a workday 1,448 residents head out to work, 123 work right here, and 1,877 people come in from elsewhere.
About 4,200 people are in Williamston on a workday afternoon, 11% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.27 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.
Where Williamston’s working residents head each day
Where Williamston clocks in
19% 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.
Williamston’s commute takes about 26 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Williamston workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,549 commuters (the 17% 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.
Near or far: the trip to work from Williamston
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.
For most of Williamston, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Williamston is more walkable than 69% of U.S. towns, #141 of 701 in Michigan. Both inputs place Williamston near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,864 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 18% 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 0.3 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 46% 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). 6.3% of Williamston households have no vehicle (Michigan 7.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Williamston’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 4,153 U.S. towns of 2,700 to 5,100, Williamston comes 1,853rd on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 24 | Franklin MI | 3,134 | $194K | 2.8% | 2.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 113 | Vergennes Township MI | 4,968 | $113K | 1.5% | 0.9% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 117 | Ann Arbor Township MI | 4,506 | $165K | 7.2% | 0.5% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,851 | Milford NY | 2,748 | $73K | 6.8% | 1.8% | 8% | B |
| 1,852 | Paradise Hills NM | 4,591 | $73K | 11.1% | 4.3% | 1% | B |
| 1,853 | Williamston MI | 3,810 | $71K | 9.2% | 4.3% | 8% | B |
| 1,854 | Irwin PA | 3,759 | $60K | 13.5% | 2.7% | 3% | B |
| 1,855 | Chelan WA | 4,494 | $83K | 8.4% | 1.6% | 35% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 4,153 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Williamston, the top three, the last and three more from Michigan.
Work in the towns next to Williamston
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Williamston workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Williamston | – | B | B+ | 26 min | $71,379 |
| Williamstown Township | under 2% | A | C+ | 23 min | $114,792 |
| Wheatfield Township | under 2% | A | C+ | 22 min | $116,500 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Williamston’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 Williamston: questions
What is the median household income in Williamston?
$71,379 (±$22,395) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Williamston?
9.2%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Williamston?
26 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 17% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Williamston work?
8% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Lansing (19%, 14 mi), East Lansing (9%, 11 mi), Meridian Township (6%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Is Williamston walkable?
Williamston is more walkable than 69% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 7.4 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Williamston without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Williamston, from the people who make the trip.
More of Williamston
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.