Work & commute · Central Lake

Work & commute in Central Lake, MI

Most working residents leave Central Lake for work: only 10% work in town. The top destinations are Kearney (17%), Central Lake (12%) and East Jordan (10%). Half commute less than 15 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2021 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

10%

28 of 276 working residents

Typical commute

15 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

25 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 248 Central Lake residents head out of town to work, 28 work right here, and 209 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Central Lake.

248live here, work elsewhere

28live and work here

209work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Central Lake goes to work

Kearney7.8 mi away

17%47

Central Lake1.1 mi away

12%33

East Jordan9.2 mi away

10%27

Traverse City27.4 mi away

4%12

Charlevoix16.9 mi away

3%8

Forest Home5.8 mi away

3%7

Kalkaska23.1 mi away

3%7

Charlevoix16.9 mi away

3%7

Petoskey23.8 mi away

2%6

Clearwater17.8 mi away

2%6

Everywhere elseother towns and states

42%116

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

How far

How far Central Lake commutes

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

46%

20%

25%

46%Under 10 mi

20%10–24 mi

9%25–50 mi

25%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Central Lake 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 Central Lake are

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

Jobs based in Central Lake

237 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)44%

Trade, transport & utilities11%

Services (health, schools, offices…)45%

$1,250 a month or less21%

$1,251–$3,333 a month49%

Over $3,333 a month30%

Jobs Central Lake residents hold

276 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)29%

Trade, transport & utilities16%

Services (health, schools, offices…)55%

$1,250 a month or less20%

$1,251–$3,333 a month34%

Over $3,333 a month46%

+115%

Jobs based in Central Lake, 2011 → 2021: 110 → 237. 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.