Work & commute · Bear Creek

Work & commute in Bear Creek, MI

Most working residents leave Bear Creek for work: only 14% work in town. The top destinations are Petoskey (28%), Little Traverse (6%) and Resort (4%). Half commute less than 6 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2021 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

14%

340 of 2,501 working residents

Typical commute

6 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

20 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 2,161 Bear Creek residents head out of town to work, 340 work right here, and 2,378 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Bear Creek.

2,161live here, work elsewhere

340live and work here

2,378work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Bear Creek goes to work

Petoskey5.3 mi away

28%701

Bear Creek (in town)right here

14%340

Little Traverse6 mi away

6%148

Resort5.7 mi away

4%111

Harbor Springs6.9 mi away

3%66

Boyne City10.9 mi away

2%58

Charlevoix17.3 mi away

2%55

Traverse City53.6 mi away

2%46

Gaylord25.4 mi away

2%43

Boyne Valley14.4 mi away

2%43

Everywhere elseother towns and states

36%890

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

How far

How far Bear Creek commutes

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

61%

12%

23%

61%Under 10 mi

12%10–24 mi

5%25–50 mi

23%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Bear Creek is balanced between jobs and homes

1.09jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.09 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Bear Creek are

2,718 jobs are based in Bear Creek. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Bear Creek’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Bear Creek

2,718 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)21%

Trade, transport & utilities22%

Services (health, schools, offices…)57%

$1,250 a month or less14%

$1,251–$3,333 a month36%

Over $3,333 a month49%

Jobs Bear Creek residents hold

2,501 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)16%

Trade, transport & utilities20%

Services (health, schools, offices…)63%

$1,250 a month or less17%

$1,251–$3,333 a month32%

Over $3,333 a month51%

−14%

Jobs based in Bear Creek, 2011 → 2021: 3,171 → 2,718. 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.