Work & commute · Big Rapids

Work & commute in Big Rapids, MI

Most working residents leave Big Rapids for work: only 7% work in town. The top destinations are Big Rapids (24%), Grand Rapids (9%) and Reed City (3%). Half commute less than 39 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2021 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

99 of 1,366 working residents

Typical commute

39 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

19 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 1,267 Big Rapids residents head out of town to work, 99 work right here, and 1,675 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Big Rapids.

1,267live here, work elsewhere

99live and work here

1,675work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Big Rapids goes to work

Big Rapids1.7 mi away

24%328

Grand Rapids50.2 mi away

9%126

Big Rapids (in town)right here

7%99

Reed City13.3 mi away

3%36

Mecosta5.2 mi away

2%25

Wyoming55.5 mi away

2%24

Lansing81.8 mi away

2%24

Evart19 mi away

2%23

Mount Pleasant36.8 mi away

2%21

Walker48.9 mi away

1%20

Everywhere elseother towns and states

47%640

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

How far

How far Big Rapids commutes

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

34%

22%

35%

34%Under 10 mi

9%10–24 mi

22%25–50 mi

35%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Big Rapids is balanced between jobs and homes

1.30jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.30 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Big Rapids are

1,774 jobs are based in Big Rapids. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Big Rapids’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Big Rapids

1,774 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)2%

Trade, transport & utilities50%

Services (health, schools, offices…)48%

$1,250 a month or less23%

$1,251–$3,333 a month43%

Over $3,333 a month34%

Jobs Big Rapids residents hold

1,366 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)18%

Trade, transport & utilities16%

Services (health, schools, offices…)66%

$1,250 a month or less19%

$1,251–$3,333 a month33%

Over $3,333 a month48%

+38%

Jobs based in Big Rapids, 2011 → 2021: 1,286 → 1,774. 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.