Work & commute · Forest

Work & commute in Forest, MI

Most working residents leave Forest for work: only 1% work in town. The top destinations are Petoskey (6%), Tuscarora (5%) and Mentor (5%). Half commute less than 31 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2021 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

5 of 341 working residents

Typical commute

31 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

26 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

10%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 336 Forest residents head out of town to work, 5 work right here, and 138 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Forest.

336live here, work elsewhere

5live and work here

138work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Forest goes to work

Petoskey34.1 mi away

6%21

Tuscarora17.9 mi away

5%18

Mentor17.2 mi away

5%18

Cheboygan25.4 mi away

4%15

Walker5.3 mi away

4%14

Bear Creek28.9 mi away

4%14

Onaway6.4 mi away

4%12

Allis6.4 mi away

3%10

Gaylord25.9 mi away

2%8

Alpena45.1 mi away

2%8

Everywhere elseother towns and states

60%203

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.

14%

24%

31%

14%Under 10 mi

24%10–24 mi

31%25–50 mi

31%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Forest is a commuter town

0.42jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Forest are

143 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

143 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)51%

Trade, transport & utilities41%

Services (health, schools, offices…)8%

$1,250 a month or less5%

$1,251–$3,333 a month28%

Over $3,333 a month67%

Jobs Forest residents hold

341 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)16%

Trade, transport & utilities24%

Services (health, schools, offices…)60%

$1,250 a month or less15%

$1,251–$3,333 a month41%

Over $3,333 a month43%

+258%

Jobs based in Forest, 2011 → 2021: 40 → 143. 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.