Work & commute · Bedford

Work & commute in Bedford, MI

Most working residents leave Bedford for work: only 4% work in town. The top destinations are Battle Creek (35%), Emmett (5%) and Kalamazoo (3%). Half commute less than 11 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2021 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

157 of 3,489 working residents

Typical commute

11 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

19 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

10%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 3,332 Bedford residents head out of town to work, 157 work right here, and 1,907 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Bedford.

3,332live here, work elsewhere

157live and work here

1,907work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Bedford goes to work

Battle Creek5.8 mi away

35%1,208

Emmett9.6 mi away

5%159

Bedford (in town)right here

4%157

Kalamazoo19.3 mi away

3%112

Portage22.1 mi away

3%105

Springfield4.1 mi away

3%89

Marshall15.8 mi away

2%87

Comstock13.4 mi away

2%77

Lansing41.4 mi away

2%57

Kalamazoo19.9 mi away

1%43

Everywhere elseother towns and states

40%1,395

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

How far

How far Bedford commutes

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

49%

19%

14%

17%

49%Under 10 mi

19%10–24 mi

14%25–50 mi

17%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Bedford is a commuter town

0.59jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Bedford are

2,064 jobs are based in Bedford. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Bedford’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Bedford

2,064 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)15%

Trade, transport & utilities9%

Services (health, schools, offices…)76%

$1,250 a month or less5%

$1,251–$3,333 a month24%

Over $3,333 a month71%

Jobs Bedford residents hold

3,489 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)29%

Trade, transport & utilities17%

Services (health, schools, offices…)53%

$1,250 a month or less16%

$1,251–$3,333 a month31%

Over $3,333 a month53%

−0%

Jobs based in Bedford, 2011 → 2021: 2,068 → 2,064. 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.