Work & commute · Ferndale

Work & commute in Ferndale, MI

Most working residents leave Ferndale for work: only 5% work in town. The top destinations are Detroit (20%), Troy (8%) and Southfield (7%). Half commute less than 9 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2021 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

504 of 9,428 working residents

Typical commute

9 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

23 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

28%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 8,924 Ferndale residents head out of town to work, 504 work right here, and 6,807 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Ferndale.

8,924live here, work elsewhere

504live and work here

6,807work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Ferndale goes to work

Detroit5.5 mi away

20%1,856

Troy8.6 mi away

8%761

Southfield6.6 mi away

7%635

Warren5.9 mi away

6%584

Ferndale (in town)right here

5%504

Royal Oak3.5 mi away

4%404

Dearborn10.9 mi away

4%366

Farmington Hills12.6 mi away

3%312

Auburn Hills15.9 mi away

3%246

Birmingham7.3 mi away

2%218

Everywhere elseother towns and states

38%3,542

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

How far

How far Ferndale commutes

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

57%

34%

57%Under 10 mi

34%10–24 mi

4%25–50 mi

5%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Ferndale is balanced between jobs and homes

0.78jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (0.78 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Ferndale are

7,311 jobs are based in Ferndale. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Ferndale’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Ferndale

7,311 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)31%

Trade, transport & utilities20%

Services (health, schools, offices…)49%

$1,250 a month or less15%

$1,251–$3,333 a month29%

Over $3,333 a month57%

Jobs Ferndale residents hold

9,428 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)13%

Trade, transport & utilities16%

Services (health, schools, offices…)71%

$1,250 a month or less10%

$1,251–$3,333 a month21%

Over $3,333 a month69%

+9%

Jobs based in Ferndale, 2011 → 2021: 6,727 → 7,311. 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.