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Work & commute in Butterfield · A commuter town

98% of Butterfield’s working residents leave town for work

Most working residents leave Butterfield for work: only 2% work in town. The top destinations are Clam Union (19%), Cadillac (13%) and McBain (6%). Half commute less than 16 miles.

Work in town
2%
3 of 192 working residents
Typical commute
16 mi
half travel less, straight-line
Time each way
32 min
More than MI (24 min)
Work from home
2%
Less than MI (14%)
Jobs based here
29
A commuter town

What kind of work town is Butterfield?

Read from the numbers below. The page puts what stands out first.

★ What stands out · The commute map

19% of working residents work in Clam Union

A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.

Lake City: 10 residents work here (5%)McBain: 12 residents work here (6%)Cadillac: 25 residents work here (13%)Traverse City: 5 residents work here (3%)CenterMoffattHaring: 7 residents work here (4%)BloomfieldButterfieldCaldwellClam Union: 36 residents work here (19%)EnterpriseWinterfieldRichlandRiverside: 9 residents work here (5%)Roscommon: 5 residents work here (3%)Lake: 8 residents work here (4%)HollandAetna: 12 residents work here (6%)Clam UnionCadillacMcBainAetnaLake CityRiversideButterfield
1
Clam Union8.6 mi away
19%36
2
Cadillac25.7 mi away
13%25
3
McBain16.6 mi away
6%12
4
Aetna6.2 mi away
6%12
5
Lake City14.3 mi away
5%10
6
Riverside12.7 mi away
5%9
7
Lake18.1 mi away
4%8
8
Haring23.7 mi away
4%7
9
Traverse City45.6 mi away
3%5
10
Roscommon10.2 mi away
3%5
Everywhere elseother towns and states
33%63
The top trips

Where Butterfield clocks in

Lines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.

Time on the road

About 32 minutes each way, longer than most of Michigan

From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.

A year of commuting
245 hours

Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.2 full days in the car, bus or train.

Average commute minutes, one way

Butterfield32 min
Michigan24 min
U.S.26 min
Working from home
2%

of Butterfield workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.

About 0 in 10
Day and night

Butterfield quiets down on a workday

On a workday 189 residents head out to work, 3 work right here, and 26 people come in from elsewhere.

189live here, work elsewhere
3live and work here
26work here, live elsewhere
Night and day
At night360
Workday190
360live here− 190head out to work+ 26come in to work= 190on a workday

About 190 people are in Butterfield on a workday afternoon, 46% fewer than live here.

Job hub or commuter town?
0.15jobs per workerCommuter townJob hub

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

Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2021, primary jobs.

How far

Half of Butterfield commutes less than 16 miles

Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

10 mi25 mi50 mi55 miClam Union: 19% · 8.6 miCadillac: 13% · 25.7 miMcBain: 6% · 16.6 miAetna: 6% · 6.2 miLake City: 5% · 14.3 miRiverside: 5% · 12.7 miLake: 4% · 18.1 miHaring: 4% · 23.7 miTraverse City: 3% · 45.6 miRoscommon: 3% · 10.2 miClam Union 19%McBain 6%Aetna 6%Lake City 5%Butterfield
ButterfieldTop destinations (size = commuters)
30%Under 10 mi57 residents
46%10–24 mi88 residents
8%25–50 mi16 residents
16%Over 50 mi31 residents

About 16% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.

Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2021.

The jobs

Butterfield makes things: 100% of its jobs are in goods

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

Jobs based in ButterfieldJobs Butterfield residents hold

What kind of work

Goods: factories, building, farms100%33%
Trade, transport & utilities0%21%
Services: health, schools, offices0%46%

What it pays

$1,250 a month or less7%20%
$1,251–$3,333 a month14%34%
Over $3,333 a month79%46%

Who does it

29 or younger31%18%
30 to 5438%59%
55 and older31%23%
−45%

Jobs based in Butterfield, 2011 → 2021: 53 → 29. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.

Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2021.

Next door

Butterfield and the towns next door

The biggest share goes to Aetna (6%). Darker towns draw more of Butterfield’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.

How to read these numbers

What this data can and can’t tell you

  • Every worker, home to work. The 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 says. A 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 surveys. Flows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2021. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: the Census American Community Survey.
  • Straight lines. Distances are as the crow flies between home and work. Roads, rivers and traffic make the real trip longer.
Beyond the commute

More of Butterfield

Butterfield home →

Commuter talk

Getting to work from Butterfield, from the people who make the trip.

Town Square →
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Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2021, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer.

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