Work & commute · Grand Rapids

Work & commute in Grand Rapids, MI

About one in 3 of Grand Rapids’s working residents works in town. The top destinations are Kentwood (8%), Wyoming (7%) and Cascade (6%). Half commute less than 6 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2021 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

34%

27,591 of 81,704 working residents

Typical commute

6 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

19 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

14%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 54,113 Grand Rapids residents head out of town to work, 27,591 work right here, and 99,487 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Grand Rapids.

54,113live here, work elsewhere

27,591live and work here

99,487work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Grand Rapids goes to work

Grand Rapids (in town)right here

34%27,591

Kentwood6.2 mi away

8%6,297

Wyoming5.5 mi away

7%5,445

Cascade9.4 mi away

6%4,652

Walker5.6 mi away

4%3,616

Plainfield8.1 mi away

2%1,660

Grand Rapids4.6 mi away

2%1,624

Grandville6.4 mi away

2%1,614

Gaines11.1 mi away

2%1,300

Byron10.9 mi away

1%1,099

Everywhere elseother towns and states

33%26,806

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

How far

How far Grand Rapids commutes

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

68%

11%

15%

68%Under 10 mi

11%10–24 mi

5%25–50 mi

15%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Grand Rapids is a job hub

1.56jobs per working resident

A job hub

1.6 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Grand Rapids are

127,078 jobs are based in Grand Rapids. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Grand Rapids’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Grand Rapids

127,078 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)15%

Trade, transport & utilities12%

Services (health, schools, offices…)73%

$1,250 a month or less13%

$1,251–$3,333 a month28%

Over $3,333 a month58%

Jobs Grand Rapids residents hold

81,704 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)20%

Trade, transport & utilities18%

Services (health, schools, offices…)62%

$1,250 a month or less17%

$1,251–$3,333 a month31%

Over $3,333 a month52%

+8%

Jobs based in Grand Rapids, 2011 → 2021: 117,992 → 127,078. 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.