With 0.3 jobs for every working resident, most of Grand Rapids works elsewhere
Jobs and income earn Grand Rapids B+; getting around on foot earns it D. Grand Rapids has 994 jobs, against 3,379 working residents. Only 4% stay in Grand Rapids for work; outside it, Wisconsin Rapids is the main destination (31%, 4 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The short version on getting to work from Grand Rapids
Grand Rapids and Wisconsin Rapids trade workers both ways
Wisconsin Rapids is the top workplace for Grand Rapids residents (31%) and also where the most people who work in Grand Rapids come from (21% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Grand Rapids is a place people come home to
There are 994 jobs based in Grand Rapids, about three for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Grand Rapids has about 5,200 people in it, 31% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
How Grand Rapids earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Grand Rapids is better than 67% of U.S. towns, #239 of 362 in Wisconsin. Household income holds Grand Rapids’ grade up ($96,658, U.S. $80,734); job access by car pulls it down. It also does well on the poverty rate and unemployment.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Grand Rapids could be anywhere from C+ to A.
Commuting out of Grand Rapids: the destinations
Where Grand Rapids 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.
Grand Rapids by day and by night
On a workday 3,229 residents head out to work, 150 work right here, and 844 people come in from elsewhere.
About 5,200 people are in Grand Rapids on a workday afternoon, 31% 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.
Jobs in Grand Rapids: what the 994 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Grand Rapids, 2013 → 2023: 985 → 994. 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.
About 24 minutes each way for Grand Rapids’ commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Grand Rapids workers work from home, vs 13% across Wisconsin. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,415 commuters (the 6% who work from home are left out). Across Wisconsin: 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.
How far Grand Rapids goes to work
About 26% 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.
Grand Rapids is a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Grand Rapids is more walkable than 15% of U.S. towns, #335 of 362 in Wisconsin. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 4.8% across Wisconsin.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 3,630 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). 3.1% of Grand Rapids households have no vehicle (Wisconsin 6.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Grand Rapids’ commuters take a bus or train.
Grand Rapids is 1,249th of 3,111 U.S. towns of 5,300 to 10,300 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 18 | Fox Point WI | 6,583 | $141K | 2.5% | 0.4% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 29 | Elm Grove WI | 6,354 | $158K | 4.4% | 0.7% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 47 | Waukesha WI | 8,507 | $131K | 3.0% | 1.2% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,247 | Buckley WA | 5,688 | $125K | 9.3% | 4.5% | 8% | B+ |
| 1,248 | Berlin Township MI | 10,123 | $85K | 8.3% | 4.7% | 3% | B+ |
| 1,249 | Grand Rapids WI | 7,622 | $97K | 7.2% | 2.8% | 4% | B+ |
| 1,250 | Eldorado at Santa Fe NM | 5,619 | $107K | 8.4% | 2.1% | 7% | B+ |
| 1,251 | Terrace Heights WA | 10,041 | $83K | 14.4% | 0.5% | 5% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,111 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Grand Rapids, the top three, the last and three more from Wisconsin.
33% of Grand Rapids works in a bordering town
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Grand Rapids workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Grand Rapids | – | B+ | D | 24 min | $96,658 |
| Wisconsin Rapids | 31% | C− | A− | 20 min | $55,253 |
| Port Edwards | under 2% | C+ | C− | 25 min | $75,598 |
| Biron | 2% | — | — | 20 min | — |
| Grant | under 2% | B | D | 24 min | $89,167 |
| Saratoga | under 2% | B− | D | 31 min | $74,499 |
Same-state neighbors only. Biron: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Wisconsin Rapids. 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?
$96,658 (±$11,178) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $77,485 across Wisconsin and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Grand Rapids?
7.2%, against 10.6% across Wisconsin and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Grand Rapids?
24 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Wisconsin and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Grand Rapids work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Wisconsin Rapids (31%, 4 mi), Stevens Point (10%, 14 mi), Plover (5%, 12 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Grand Rapids walkable?
Grand Rapids is more walkable than 15% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 6.1 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Grand Rapids without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 3% 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. 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.