Work & commute · Kalamazoo

Work & commute in Kalamazoo, MI

Most working residents leave Kalamazoo for work: only 6% work in town. The top destinations are Kalamazoo (30%), Portage (10%) and Oshtemo (4%). Half commute less than 6 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2021 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

571 of 9,544 working residents

Typical commute

6 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

21 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 8,973 Kalamazoo residents head out of town to work, 571 work right here, and 6,386 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Kalamazoo.

8,973live here, work elsewhere

571live and work here

6,386work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Kalamazoo goes to work

Kalamazoo3.1 mi away

30%2,885

Portage8.2 mi away

10%1,000

Kalamazoo (in town)right here

6%571

Oshtemo4.8 mi away

4%425

Comstock7.8 mi away

4%342

Battle Creek19.9 mi away

3%260

Texas8.5 mi away

2%215

Antwerp12.5 mi away

2%159

Gun Plain10 mi away

2%159

Grand Rapids44.8 mi away

1%137

Everywhere elseother towns and states

36%3,391

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

How far

How far Kalamazoo commutes

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

63%

11%

15%

63%Under 10 mi

11%10–24 mi

11%25–50 mi

15%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Kalamazoo is a commuter town

0.73jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Kalamazoo are

6,957 jobs are based in Kalamazoo. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Kalamazoo’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Kalamazoo

6,957 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)17%

Trade, transport & utilities9%

Services (health, schools, offices…)75%

$1,250 a month or less12%

$1,251–$3,333 a month34%

Over $3,333 a month54%

Jobs Kalamazoo residents hold

9,544 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)22%

Trade, transport & utilities16%

Services (health, schools, offices…)61%

$1,250 a month or less17%

$1,251–$3,333 a month31%

Over $3,333 a month52%

+106%

Jobs based in Kalamazoo, 2011 → 2021: 3,378 → 6,957. 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.