Work & commute · Athens

Work & commute in Athens, MI

Most working residents leave Athens for work: only 7% work in town. The top destinations are Battle Creek (18%), Emmett (6%) and Coldwater (6%). Half commute less than 18 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2021 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

58 of 866 working residents

Typical commute

18 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

27 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 808 Athens residents head out of town to work, 58 work right here, and 398 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Athens.

808live here, work elsewhere

58live and work here

398work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Athens goes to work

Battle Creek12.3 mi away

18%152

Athens (in town)right here

7%58

Emmett12.8 mi away

6%55

Coldwater17.1 mi away

6%50

Marshall16.7 mi away

4%32

Kalamazoo20.9 mi away

3%29

Portage18.9 mi away

3%28

Burlington6.1 mi away

2%19

Union8.6 mi away

2%16

Jackson43.4 mi away

2%15

Everywhere elseother towns and states

48%412

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

How far

How far Athens commutes

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

13%

51%

10%

26%

13%Under 10 mi

51%10–24 mi

10%25–50 mi

26%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Athens is a commuter town

0.53jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Athens are

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

Jobs based in Athens

456 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)5%

Trade, transport & utilities12%

Services (health, schools, offices…)84%

$1,250 a month or less15%

$1,251–$3,333 a month25%

Over $3,333 a month59%

Jobs Athens residents hold

866 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)26%

Trade, transport & utilities21%

Services (health, schools, offices…)53%

$1,250 a month or less16%

$1,251–$3,333 a month31%

Over $3,333 a month53%

+97%

Jobs based in Athens, 2011 → 2021: 231 → 456. 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.