Work & commute · Forest

Work & commute in Forest, MI

Most working residents leave Forest for work: only 9% work in town. The top destinations are Cadillac (15%), Lake City (7%) and Traverse City (6%). Half commute less than 15 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2021 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

32 of 373 working residents

Typical commute

15 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

30 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 341 Forest residents head out of town to work, 32 work right here, and 241 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Forest.

341live here, work elsewhere

32live and work here

241work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Forest goes to work

Cadillac16.4 mi away

15%55

Forest (in town)right here

9%32

Lake City4.2 mi away

7%25

Traverse City34 mi away

6%21

Caldwell5.9 mi away

6%21

Haring13.1 mi away

5%20

Lake8.3 mi away

3%12

Riverside11.3 mi away

2%8

Garfield33.6 mi away

2%8

McBain12.9 mi away

2%7

Everywhere elseother towns and states

44%164

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

How far

How far Forest commutes

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

29%

33%

18%

20%

29%Under 10 mi

33%10–24 mi

18%25–50 mi

20%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Forest is a commuter town

0.73jobs per working resident

A commuter town

0.73 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Forest are

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

Jobs based in Forest

273 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)81%

Trade, transport & utilities8%

Services (health, schools, offices…)11%

$1,250 a month or less12%

$1,251–$3,333 a month37%

Over $3,333 a month51%

Jobs Forest residents hold

373 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)30%

Trade, transport & utilities19%

Services (health, schools, offices…)51%

$1,250 a month or less17%

$1,251–$3,333 a month42%

Over $3,333 a month40%

−62%

Jobs based in Forest, 2011 → 2021: 726 → 273. 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.