Work & commute · Birmingham

Work & commute in Birmingham, MI

Most working residents leave Birmingham for work: only 9% work in town. The top destinations are Troy (9%), Detroit (9%) and Southfield (8%). Half commute less than 9 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2021 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

785 of 8,633 working residents

Typical commute

9 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

20 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

26%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 7,848 Birmingham residents head out of town to work, 785 work right here, and 13,443 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Birmingham.

7,848live here, work elsewhere

785live and work here

13,443work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Birmingham goes to work

Troy4.5 mi away

9%791

Birmingham (in town)right here

9%785

Detroit12.6 mi away

9%780

Southfield5.3 mi away

8%667

Warren10.4 mi away

5%392

Royal Oak4.1 mi away

4%355

Auburn Hills9.1 mi away

4%339

Farmington Hills9.1 mi away

4%338

Bloomfield3.7 mi away

3%226

Dearborn16 mi away

2%215

Everywhere elseother towns and states

43%3,745

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

How far

How far Birmingham commutes

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

55%

33%

55%Under 10 mi

33%10–24 mi

5%25–50 mi

7%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Birmingham is a job hub

1.65jobs per working resident

A job hub

1.6 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Birmingham are

14,228 jobs are based in Birmingham. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Birmingham’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Birmingham

14,228 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)6%

Trade, transport & utilities17%

Services (health, schools, offices…)76%

$1,250 a month or less17%

$1,251–$3,333 a month28%

Over $3,333 a month55%

Jobs Birmingham residents hold

8,633 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)11%

Trade, transport & utilities16%

Services (health, schools, offices…)73%

$1,250 a month or less11%

$1,251–$3,333 a month14%

Over $3,333 a month76%

+3%

Jobs based in Birmingham, 2011 → 2021: 13,868 → 14,228. 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.