Work & commute · East Lansing

Work & commute in East Lansing, MI

Most working residents leave East Lansing for work: only 18% work in town. The top destinations are Lansing (16%), Meridian (4%) and Delta (3%). Half commute less than 22 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2021 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

18%

2,172 of 12,399 working residents

Typical commute

22 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

16 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

21%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 10,227 East Lansing residents head out of town to work, 2,172 work right here, and 27,802 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in East Lansing.

10,227live here, work elsewhere

2,172live and work here

27,802work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where East Lansing goes to work

East Lansing (in town)right here

18%2,172

Lansing4.6 mi away

16%1,955

Meridian3.6 mi away

4%517

Delta9.2 mi away

3%378

Blackman31.4 mi away

2%297

Detroit74.6 mi away

2%294

Jackson35.1 mi away

2%264

Troy68.9 mi away

2%226

Warren76.2 mi away

2%214

Lansing5.4 mi away

2%200

Everywhere elseother towns and states

47%5,882

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

How far

How far East Lansing commutes

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

46%

14%

36%

46%Under 10 mi

5%10–24 mi

14%25–50 mi

36%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

East Lansing is a job hub

2.42jobs per working resident

A job hub

2.4 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.

The jobs

What the jobs in East Lansing are

29,974 jobs are based in East Lansing. Here is what they are, next to the jobs East Lansing’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in East Lansing

29,974 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)2%

Trade, transport & utilities12%

Services (health, schools, offices…)86%

$1,250 a month or less12%

$1,251–$3,333 a month24%

Over $3,333 a month65%

Jobs East Lansing residents hold

12,399 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)12%

Trade, transport & utilities17%

Services (health, schools, offices…)71%

$1,250 a month or less15%

$1,251–$3,333 a month25%

Over $3,333 a month60%

+18%

Jobs based in East Lansing, 2011 → 2021: 25,350 → 29,974. 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.