Work & commute · Berlin

Work & commute in Berlin, MI

Most working residents leave Berlin for work: only 3% work in town. The top destinations are Ionia (15%), Grand Rapids (8%) and Boston (4%). Half commute less than 23 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2021 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

22 of 795 working residents

Typical commute

23 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

22 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 773 Berlin residents head out of town to work, 22 work right here, and 939 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Berlin.

773live here, work elsewhere

22live and work here

939work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Berlin goes to work

Ionia5.5 mi away

15%116

Grand Rapids27.2 mi away

8%62

Boston6.6 mi away

4%31

Ionia8.4 mi away

4%29

Kentwood23.8 mi away

3%27

Cascade18.6 mi away

3%27

Portland11.7 mi away

3%26

Lansing31.5 mi away

3%26

Wyoming29.5 mi away

3%23

Berlin (in town)right here

3%22

Everywhere elseother towns and states

51%406

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

How far

How far Berlin commutes

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

30%

25%

30%

16%

30%Under 10 mi

25%10–24 mi

30%25–50 mi

16%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Berlin is balanced between jobs and homes

1.21jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.21 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Berlin are

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

Jobs based in Berlin

961 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)11%

Trade, transport & utilities48%

Services (health, schools, offices…)41%

$1,250 a month or less31%

$1,251–$3,333 a month41%

Over $3,333 a month29%

Jobs Berlin residents hold

795 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)32%

Trade, transport & utilities16%

Services (health, schools, offices…)52%

$1,250 a month or less13%

$1,251–$3,333 a month32%

Over $3,333 a month55%

−6%

Jobs based in Berlin, 2011 → 2021: 1,018 → 961. 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.