Work & commute · Benton Harbor

Work & commute in Benton Harbor, MI

Most working residents leave Benton Harbor for work: only 7% work in town. The top destinations are Benton (17%), Lincoln (8%) and St. Joseph (7%). Half commute less than 12 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2021 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

210 of 2,863 working residents

Typical commute

12 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

18 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 2,653 Benton Harbor residents head out of town to work, 210 work right here, and 1,506 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Benton Harbor.

2,653live here, work elsewhere

210live and work here

1,506work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Benton Harbor goes to work

Benton2.6 mi away

17%495

Lincoln7.4 mi away

8%226

St. Joseph2.3 mi away

7%211

Benton Harbor (in town)right here

7%210

Grand Rapids71.1 mi away

6%181

St. Joseph3.5 mi away

4%110

Royalton6.6 mi away

3%83

Lansing104.8 mi away

2%47

South Bend, IN31.5 mi away

2%46

Dowagiac19.4 mi away

1%39

Everywhere elseother towns and states

42%1,215

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

How far

How far Benton Harbor commutes

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

49%

12%

31%

49%Under 10 mi

9%10–24 mi

12%25–50 mi

31%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Benton Harbor is a commuter town

0.60jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Benton Harbor are

1,716 jobs are based in Benton Harbor. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Benton Harbor’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Benton Harbor

1,716 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)14%

Trade, transport & utilities10%

Services (health, schools, offices…)76%

$1,250 a month or less16%

$1,251–$3,333 a month29%

Over $3,333 a month54%

Jobs Benton Harbor residents hold

2,863 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)25%

Trade, transport & utilities17%

Services (health, schools, offices…)59%

$1,250 a month or less28%

$1,251–$3,333 a month41%

Over $3,333 a month31%

−42%

Jobs based in Benton Harbor, 2011 → 2021: 2,942 → 1,716. 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.