Work & commute · Alma

Work & commute in Alma, MI

About one in 4 of Alma’s working residents works in town. The top destinations are Mount Pleasant (7%), St. Louis (6%) and Ithaca (4%). Half commute less than 16 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2021 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

24%

707 of 2,935 working residents

Typical commute

16 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

19 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

11%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 2,228 Alma residents head out of town to work, 707 work right here, and 4,150 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Alma.

2,228live here, work elsewhere

707live and work here

4,150work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Alma goes to work

Alma (in town)right here

24%707

Mount Pleasant16 mi away

7%213

St. Louis2.7 mi away

6%188

Ithaca7 mi away

4%113

Chippewa14.2 mi away

4%108

Pine River3 mi away

3%98

Midland26.8 mi away

2%67

Saginaw35.1 mi away

2%58

Union15.6 mi away

2%55

Lansing46.5 mi away

2%53

Everywhere elseother towns and states

43%1,275

Lines run between town centers; a thicker line means more commuters. The top 10 towns each way.

How far

How far Alma commutes

Straight-line distance from home to work, for every working resident. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

41%

18%

19%

22%

41%Under 10 mi

18%10–24 mi

19%25–50 mi

22%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Alma is a job hub

1.65jobs per working resident

A job hub

1.7 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Alma are

4,857 jobs are based in Alma. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Alma’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Alma

4,857 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)14%

Trade, transport & utilities17%

Services (health, schools, offices…)69%

$1,250 a month or less13%

$1,251–$3,333 a month37%

Over $3,333 a month50%

Jobs Alma residents hold

2,935 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)18%

Trade, transport & utilities17%

Services (health, schools, offices…)66%

$1,250 a month or less16%

$1,251–$3,333 a month38%

Over $3,333 a month46%

−5%

Jobs based in Alma, 2011 → 2021: 5,122 → 4,857. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.

About these numbers

How to read this page

Every worker, home to workThe Census links each worker’s home block to their main job’s block, for jobs covered by unemployment insurance. That’s most jobs, but not the self-employed.

Where the employer saysA job counts where the employer reports it. Some big employers report one address for many sites, which can make a few commutes look longer than they are.

Two surveysFlows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2021. Commute time and working from home: the Census American Community Survey.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2021, primary jobs; American Community Survey 5-year estimates.