Work & commute · Decatur

Work & commute in Decatur, MI

Most working residents leave Decatur for work: only 9% work in town. The top destinations are Decatur (11%), Portage (10%) and Paw Paw (7%). Half commute less than 22 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2021 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

59 of 631 working residents

Typical commute

22 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

23 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 572 Decatur residents head out of town to work, 59 work right here, and 499 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Decatur.

572live here, work elsewhere

59live and work here

499work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Decatur goes to work

Decatur2.6 mi away

11%70

Portage20.6 mi away

10%62

Paw Paw6.6 mi away

7%46

Antwerp10.6 mi away

7%46

Kalamazoo22.9 mi away

7%43

Lawrence7.4 mi away

3%18

Oshtemo18.6 mi away

3%17

Kalamazoo23.1 mi away

2%14

Grand Rapids61.2 mi away

2%13

Allegan30.1 mi away

1%9

Everywhere elseother towns and states

46%293

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

How far

How far Decatur commutes

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

28%

36%

13%

24%

28%Under 10 mi

36%10–24 mi

13%25–50 mi

24%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Decatur is balanced between jobs and homes

0.88jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (0.88 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Decatur are

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

Jobs based in Decatur

558 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)31%

Trade, transport & utilities17%

Services (health, schools, offices…)52%

$1,250 a month or less19%

$1,251–$3,333 a month39%

Over $3,333 a month41%

Jobs Decatur residents hold

631 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)26%

Trade, transport & utilities21%

Services (health, schools, offices…)53%

$1,250 a month or less19%

$1,251–$3,333 a month35%

Over $3,333 a month46%

+13%

Jobs based in Decatur, 2011 → 2021: 492 → 558. 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.