Work & commute · Golden

Work & commute in Golden, MI

Most working residents leave Golden for work: only 11% work in town. The top destinations are Hart (13%), Hart (9%) and Grand Rapids (6%). Half commute less than 30 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2021 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

11%

63 of 593 working residents

Typical commute

30 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

26 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 530 Golden residents head out of town to work, 63 work right here, and 182 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Golden.

530live here, work elsewhere

63live and work here

182work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Golden goes to work

Hart4.1 mi away

13%78

Golden (in town)right here

11%63

Hart5.9 mi away

9%54

Grand Rapids64.3 mi away

6%34

Muskegon33.5 mi away

5%29

Shelby8.4 mi away

3%17

Whitehall20.8 mi away

3%16

Ludington18.5 mi away

2%14

Kentwood70.4 mi away

2%10

Pere Marquette16.7 mi away

2%10

Everywhere elseother towns and states

45%268

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

How far

How far Golden commutes

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

37%

11%

14%

37%

37%Under 10 mi

11%10–24 mi

14%25–50 mi

37%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Golden is a commuter town

0.41jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Golden are

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

Jobs based in Golden

245 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)24%

Trade, transport & utilities21%

Services (health, schools, offices…)55%

$1,250 a month or less26%

$1,251–$3,333 a month48%

Over $3,333 a month26%

Jobs Golden residents hold

593 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)32%

Trade, transport & utilities20%

Services (health, schools, offices…)48%

$1,250 a month or less18%

$1,251–$3,333 a month39%

Over $3,333 a month43%

+48%

Jobs based in Golden, 2011 → 2021: 165 → 245. 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.