Work & commute · Cato

Work & commute in Cato, MI

Most working residents leave Cato for work: only 12% work in town. The top destinations are Grand Rapids (11%), Greenville (5%) and Lansing (3%). Half commute less than 34 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2021 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

12%

132 of 1,106 working residents

Typical commute

34 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

31 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 974 Cato residents head out of town to work, 132 work right here, and 821 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Cato.

974live here, work elsewhere

132live and work here

821work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Cato goes to work

Cato (in town)right here

12%132

Grand Rapids36.9 mi away

11%127

Greenville16.4 mi away

5%58

Lansing60.4 mi away

3%33

Cascade37.5 mi away

2%27

Mount Pleasant27.8 mi away

2%24

Wyoming42.4 mi away

2%22

Rockford24 mi away

2%21

Plainfield29.2 mi away

2%21

Walker37.9 mi away

2%20

Everywhere elseother towns and states

56%621

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

How far

How far Cato commutes

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

16%

21%

37%

26%

16%Under 10 mi

21%10–24 mi

37%25–50 mi

26%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Cato is balanced between jobs and homes

0.86jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (0.86 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Cato are

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

Jobs based in Cato

953 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)36%

Trade, transport & utilities21%

Services (health, schools, offices…)43%

$1,250 a month or less16%

$1,251–$3,333 a month33%

Over $3,333 a month51%

Jobs Cato residents hold

1,106 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)27%

Trade, transport & utilities21%

Services (health, schools, offices…)51%

$1,250 a month or less20%

$1,251–$3,333 a month31%

Over $3,333 a month49%

+62%

Jobs based in Cato, 2011 → 2021: 590 → 953. 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.