Work & commute · Dowagiac

Work & commute in Dowagiac, MI

Most working residents leave Dowagiac for work: only 13% work in town. The top destinations are LaGrange (7%), Elkhart (5%) and Wayne (4%). Half commute less than 19 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2021 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

13%

270 of 2,144 working residents

Typical commute

19 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 1,874 Dowagiac residents head out of town to work, 270 work right here, and 1,654 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Dowagiac.

1,874live here, work elsewhere

270live and work here

1,654work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Dowagiac goes to work

Dowagiac (in town)right here

13%270

LaGrange5.1 mi away

7%152

Elkhart, IN21.6 mi away

5%106

Wayne4.4 mi away

4%94

Niles12.4 mi away

4%77

South Bend, IN22.7 mi away

3%69

Pokagon4.2 mi away

2%53

Kalamazoo33.6 mi away

2%50

Niles12.6 mi away

2%45

Ontwa13.5 mi away

2%45

Everywhere elseother towns and states

55%1,183

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

How far

How far Dowagiac commutes

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

32%

35%

12%

22%

32%Under 10 mi

35%10–24 mi

12%25–50 mi

22%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Dowagiac is balanced between jobs and homes

0.90jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (0.90 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Dowagiac are

1,924 jobs are based in Dowagiac. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Dowagiac’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Dowagiac

1,924 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)9%

Trade, transport & utilities16%

Services (health, schools, offices…)75%

$1,250 a month or less19%

$1,251–$3,333 a month43%

Over $3,333 a month38%

Jobs Dowagiac residents hold

2,144 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)29%

Trade, transport & utilities19%

Services (health, schools, offices…)52%

$1,250 a month or less20%

$1,251–$3,333 a month36%

Over $3,333 a month43%

−15%

Jobs based in Dowagiac, 2011 → 2021: 2,257 → 1,924. 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.