Work & commute · Garfield

Work & commute in Garfield, MI

Most working residents leave Garfield for work: only 17% work in town. The top destinations are Traverse City (39%), East Bay (3%) and Blair (3%). Half commute less than 4 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2021 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

17%

1,333 of 7,648 working residents

Typical commute

4 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

17 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

13%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 6,315 Garfield residents head out of town to work, 1,333 work right here, and 10,079 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Garfield.

6,315live here, work elsewhere

1,333live and work here

10,079work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Garfield goes to work

Traverse City2.5 mi away

39%2,957

Garfield (in town)right here

17%1,333

East Bay6.3 mi away

3%238

Blair6.7 mi away

3%197

Suttons Bay18.6 mi away

2%188

Grand Rapids121.9 mi away

2%115

Elmwood7.1 mi away

1%113

Green Lake8 mi away

1%112

Long Lake5.7 mi away

1%102

Kalkaska20.6 mi away

1%66

Everywhere elseother towns and states

29%2,227

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

How far

How far Garfield commutes

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

67%

22%

67%Under 10 mi

7%10–24 mi

4%25–50 mi

22%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Garfield is balanced between jobs and homes

1.49jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.49 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Garfield are

11,412 jobs are based in Garfield. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Garfield’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Garfield

11,412 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)26%

Trade, transport & utilities27%

Services (health, schools, offices…)47%

$1,250 a month or less16%

$1,251–$3,333 a month33%

Over $3,333 a month51%

Jobs Garfield residents hold

7,648 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)15%

Trade, transport & utilities20%

Services (health, schools, offices…)65%

$1,250 a month or less16%

$1,251–$3,333 a month34%

Over $3,333 a month50%

−14%

Jobs based in Garfield, 2011 → 2021: 13,267 → 11,412. 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.