Work & commute · Alpine

Work & commute in Alpine, MI

Most working residents leave Alpine for work: only 5% work in town. The top destinations are Grand Rapids (24%), Walker (10%) and Wyoming (6%). Half commute less than 10 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2021 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

320 of 6,320 working residents

Typical commute

10 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

21 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 6,000 Alpine residents head out of town to work, 320 work right here, and 4,276 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Alpine.

6,000live here, work elsewhere

320live and work here

4,276work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Alpine goes to work

Grand Rapids9.2 mi away

24%1,547

Walker5.8 mi away

10%616

Wyoming13.2 mi away

6%371

Kentwood15.3 mi away

5%329

Alpine (in town)right here

5%320

Plainfield6.4 mi away

5%294

Cascade17.7 mi away

4%274

Grandville12.4 mi away

2%142

Grand Rapids10.2 mi away

2%103

Sparta5.7 mi away

2%100

Everywhere elseother towns and states

35%2,224

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

How far

How far Alpine commutes

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

51%

28%

16%

51%Under 10 mi

28%10–24 mi

5%25–50 mi

16%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Alpine is a commuter town

0.73jobs per working resident

A commuter town

0.73 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Alpine are

4,596 jobs are based in Alpine. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Alpine’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Alpine

4,596 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)42%

Trade, transport & utilities33%

Services (health, schools, offices…)25%

$1,250 a month or less16%

$1,251–$3,333 a month30%

Over $3,333 a month54%

Jobs Alpine residents hold

6,320 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)27%

Trade, transport & utilities21%

Services (health, schools, offices…)53%

$1,250 a month or less15%

$1,251–$3,333 a month34%

Over $3,333 a month51%

−5%

Jobs based in Alpine, 2011 → 2021: 4,826 → 4,596. 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.