Work & commute · Kalamazoo

Work & commute in Kalamazoo, MI

About one in 3 of Kalamazoo’s working residents works in town. The top destinations are Portage (12%), Oshtemo (5%) and Kalamazoo (4%). Half commute less than 5 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2021 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

33%

8,625 of 26,323 working residents

Typical commute

5 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

19 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

10%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 17,698 Kalamazoo residents head out of town to work, 8,625 work right here, and 35,198 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Kalamazoo.

17,698live here, work elsewhere

8,625live and work here

35,198work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Kalamazoo goes to work

Kalamazoo (in town)right here

33%8,625

Portage5.4 mi away

12%3,031

Oshtemo6 mi away

5%1,227

Kalamazoo3.1 mi away

4%962

Comstock6.1 mi away

3%887

Battle Creek18.4 mi away

3%709

Texas7.6 mi away

3%681

Grand Rapids47.5 mi away

2%493

Antwerp12.5 mi away

2%459

Gun Plain12.5 mi away

1%371

Everywhere elseother towns and states

34%8,878

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%

10%

17%

63%Under 10 mi

11%10–24 mi

10%25–50 mi

17%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Kalamazoo is a job hub

1.66jobs per working resident

A job hub

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Kalamazoo are

43,823 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

43,823 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)13%

Trade, transport & utilities12%

Services (health, schools, offices…)75%

$1,250 a month or less17%

$1,251–$3,333 a month26%

Over $3,333 a month57%

Jobs Kalamazoo residents hold

26,323 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)19%

Trade, transport & utilities17%

Services (health, schools, offices…)64%

$1,250 a month or less20%

$1,251–$3,333 a month32%

Over $3,333 a month48%

−9%

Jobs based in Kalamazoo, 2011 → 2021: 48,370 → 43,823. 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.