Work & commute · Grand Haven

Work & commute in Grand Haven, MI

Most working residents leave Grand Haven for work: only 8% work in town. The top destinations are Grand Haven (18%), Holland (7%) and Grand Rapids (7%). Half commute less than 15 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2021 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

664 of 7,950 working residents

Typical commute

15 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

21 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

15%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 7,286 Grand Haven residents head out of town to work, 664 work right here, and 4,049 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Grand Haven.

7,286live here, work elsewhere

664live and work here

4,049work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Grand Haven goes to work

Grand Haven4.2 mi away

18%1,428

Grand Haven (in town)right here

8%664

Holland13.5 mi away

7%535

Grand Rapids27.1 mi away

7%521

Holland16.6 mi away

5%406

Muskegon16.2 mi away

5%387

Zeeland15.5 mi away

4%315

Norton Shores12 mi away

4%284

Spring Lake4.6 mi away

3%265

Olive8.8 mi away

3%209

Everywhere elseother towns and states

37%2,936

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

How far

How far Grand Haven commutes

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

36%

34%

17%

13%

36%Under 10 mi

34%10–24 mi

17%25–50 mi

13%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Grand Haven is a commuter town

0.59jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Grand Haven are

4,713 jobs are based in Grand Haven. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Grand Haven’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Grand Haven

4,713 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)69%

Trade, transport & utilities14%

Services (health, schools, offices…)17%

$1,250 a month or less13%

$1,251–$3,333 a month37%

Over $3,333 a month50%

Jobs Grand Haven residents hold

7,950 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)31%

Trade, transport & utilities15%

Services (health, schools, offices…)54%

$1,250 a month or less16%

$1,251–$3,333 a month27%

Over $3,333 a month57%

+4%

Jobs based in Grand Haven, 2011 → 2021: 4,521 → 4,713. 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.