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Work & commute in Freeland · A commuter town

94% of Freeland’s working residents leave town for work

Most working residents leave Freeland for work: only 6% work in town. The top destinations are Midland (15%), Saginaw (14%) and Saginaw (10%). Half commute less than 11 miles.

Work in town
6%
181 of 2,844 working residents
Typical commute
11 mi
half travel less, straight-line
Time each way
19 min
Less than MI (24 min)
Work from home
18%
More than MI (14%)
Jobs based here
1,990
A commuter town

What kind of work town is Freeland?

Read from the numbers below. The page puts what stands out first.

★ What stands out · The commute map

15% of working residents work in Midland

A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.

Bay City: 101 residents work here (4%)Saginaw: 406 residents work here (14%)Midland: 424 residents work here (15%)Lansing: 52 residents work here (2%)Williams: 42 residents work here (1%)Saginaw: 293 residents work here (10%)BangorBridgeportBuena Vista: 53 residents work here (2%)Kochville: 83 residents work here (3%)MonitorIngersollTittabawassee: 249 residents work here (9%)Thomas: 46 residents work here (2%)FreelandMidlandSaginawSaginawTittabawasseeBay CityKochvilleFreeland
1
Midland9.5 mi away
15%424
2
Saginaw10.6 mi away
14%406
3
Saginaw6.6 mi away
10%293
4
Tittabawassee0.8 mi away
9%249
5
Bay City12.4 mi away
4%101
6
Kochville6.5 mi away
3%83
7
Buena Vista13.5 mi away
2%53
8
Lansing59.9 mi away
2%52
9
Thomas5.5 mi away
2%46
10
Williams7 mi away
1%42
Everywhere elseother towns and states
39%1,095
The top trips

Where Freeland clocks in

Lines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.

Time on the road

About 19 minutes each way, quicker than most of Michigan

From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.

A year of commuting
149 hours

Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.2 full days in the car, bus or train.

Average commute minutes, one way

Freeland19 min
Michigan24 min
U.S.26 min
Working from home
18%

of Freeland workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.

About 2 in 10
The jobs

What the 1,990 jobs in Freeland are

1,990 jobs are based in Freeland. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Freeland’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in FreelandJobs Freeland residents hold

What kind of work

Goods: factories, building, farms10%19%
Trade, transport & utilities21%17%
Services: health, schools, offices69%64%

What it pays

$1,250 a month or less21%15%
$1,251–$3,333 a month29%26%
Over $3,333 a month50%59%

Who does it

29 or younger28%19%
30 to 5452%60%
55 and older20%21%
+25%

Jobs based in Freeland, 2011 → 2021: 1,590 → 1,990. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.

Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2021.

Day and night

Freeland quiets down on a workday

On a workday 2,663 residents head out to work, 181 work right here, and 1,809 people come in from elsewhere.

2,663live here, work elsewhere
181live and work here
1,809work here, live elsewhere
Night and day
At night7,600
Workday6,700
7,600live here− 2,700head out to work+ 1,800come in to work= 6,700on a workday

About 6,700 people are in Freeland on a workday afternoon, 11% fewer than live here.

Job hub or commuter town?
0.70jobs per workerCommuter townJob hub

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

Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2021, primary jobs.

How far

Half of Freeland commutes less than 11 miles

Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

10 mi25 mi50 mi70 miMidland: 15% · 9.5 miSaginaw: 14% · 10.6 miSaginaw: 10% · 6.6 miTittabawassee: 9% · 0.8 miBay City: 4% · 12.4 miKochville: 3% · 6.5 miBuena Vista: 2% · 13.5 miLansing: 2% · 59.9 miThomas: 2% · 5.5 miWilliams: 1% · 7 miMidland 15%Saginaw 14%Saginaw 10%Tittabawassee 9%Bay City 4%Freeland
FreelandTop destinations (size = commuters)
41%Under 10 mi1,168 residents
29%10–24 mi829 residents
7%25–50 mi186 residents
23%Over 50 mi659 residents

About 23% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.

Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2021.

Next door

Freeland and the towns next door

The biggest share goes to Tittabawassee (9%). Darker towns draw more of Freeland’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.

10%+5–9%2–4%1%Under 1%

Average commute minutes, one way

Freeland19 min
Tittabawassee20 min
Ingersoll29 min
How to read these numbers

What this data can and can’t tell you

  • Every worker, home to work. The 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 says. A 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 surveys. Flows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2021. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: the Census American Community Survey.
  • Straight lines. Distances are as the crow flies between home and work. Roads, rivers and traffic make the real trip longer.
Beyond the commute

More of Freeland

Freeland home →

Commuter talk

Getting to work from Freeland, from the people who make the trip.

Town Square →
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Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2021, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer.

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