Photo: Fogonthedowns at English Wikipedia · CC BY-SA 3.0Grand Rapids has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.5 for each
Only 2% work in Grand Rapids; the top destination outside it is Bowling Green (18%, 11 miles). There are 225 jobs in Grand Rapids for 455 working residents. 7% of workers have no commute at all, next to 13% for Ohio as a whole.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Grand Rapids stands out on work
Time on the road from Grand Rapids: about 28 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Grand Rapids workers work from home, vs 13% across Ohio. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 381 commuters (the 7% who work from home are left out). Across Ohio: 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.
A workday in Grand Rapids: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 446 residents head out to work, 9 work right here, and 216 people come in from elsewhere.
About 700 people are in Grand Rapids on a workday afternoon, 25% 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 2023, primary jobs.
Where Grand Rapids goes to work
Where Grand Rapids clocks in
18% of workers
15% of workers
4% 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.
Factories, building and farms: 32% of the jobs in Grand Rapids
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Grand Rapids, 2013 → 2023: 289 → 225. 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 2023.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Grand Rapids’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How many miles Grand Rapids commutes
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 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
The towns around Grand Rapids
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Grand Rapids workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Rapids | – | — | — | 28 min | $76,250 |
| Grand Rapids Township | under 2% | B | C | 25 min | $76,574 |
| Providence Township | under 2% | B | D | 27 min | $97,675 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Grand Rapids’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 2023, 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 Grand Rapids: questions
What is the median household income in Grand Rapids?
$76,250 (±$9,587) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $71,389 across Ohio and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Grand Rapids?
12.0%, against 13.3% across Ohio and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Grand Rapids?
28 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Ohio and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Grand Rapids work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Bowling Green (18%, 11 mi), Toledo (15%, 23 mi), Maumee (4%, 16 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Grand Rapids without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Grand Rapids, from the people who make the trip.
More of Grand Rapids
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, 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.