Most of Wolf Lake commutes out: there are 0.2 jobs for every working resident
There are 491 jobs in Wolf Lake; 2,011 of its residents have a job. Only 3% work in Wolf Lake; the top destination outside it is Muskegon (18%, 7 miles). Working from home is the commute for 5% of workers; Michigan has 14%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Wolf Lake apart
Wolf Lake is a place people come home to
There are 491 jobs based in Wolf Lake, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Wolf Lake has about 3,100 people in it, 33% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Wolf Lake has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Wolf Lake went from 347 in 2011 to 491 in 2021, +41%. 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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Wolf Lake by day and by night
On a workday 1,957 residents head out to work, 54 work right here, and 437 people come in from elsewhere.
About 3,100 people are in Wolf Lake on a workday afternoon, 33% 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.
In Wolf Lake, services account for most jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Wolf Lake, 2011 → 2021: 347 → 491. 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 Wolf Lake’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where Wolf Lake’s working residents head each day
Where Wolf Lake clocks in
18% 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.
Commuting from Wolf Lake: about 23 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Wolf Lake workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,947 commuters (the 5% 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 commute from Wolf Lake, by distance
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.
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 Wolf Lake: questions
What is the median household income in Wolf Lake?
$51,637 (±$10,743) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Wolf Lake?
14.1%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Wolf Lake?
23 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Wolf Lake work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Muskegon (18%, 7 mi), Norton Shores (7%, 8 mi), Egelston Township (6%, 2 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Can you get around Wolf Lake without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Wolf Lake, from the people who make the trip.
More of Wolf Lake
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.