Work & commute · Kent

Work & commute in Kent, MI

Most working residents leave Kent for work: only 3% work in town. The top destinations are Grand Rapids (17%), Walker (8%) and Tyrone (6%). Half commute less than 19 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2021 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

13 of 455 working residents

Typical commute

19 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

24 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 442 Kent residents head out of town to work, 13 work right here, and 382 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Kent.

442live here, work elsewhere

13live and work here

382work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Kent goes to work

Grand Rapids18.9 mi away

17%76

Walker15.8 mi away

8%36

Tyrone2.3 mi away

6%26

Sparta4.6 mi away

5%24

Plainfield12.7 mi away

5%24

Kentwood24.9 mi away

4%20

Wyoming23.2 mi away

4%19

Cascade26.2 mi away

4%19

Alpine10.1 mi away

2%11

Grandville22.4 mi away

2%8

Everywhere elseother towns and states

42%192

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

How far

How far Kent commutes

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

17%

54%

11%

18%

17%Under 10 mi

54%10–24 mi

11%25–50 mi

18%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Kent is balanced between jobs and homes

0.87jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (0.87 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Kent are

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

Jobs based in Kent

395 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)17%

Trade, transport & utilities27%

Services (health, schools, offices…)56%

$1,250 a month or less24%

$1,251–$3,333 a month25%

Over $3,333 a month51%

Jobs Kent residents hold

455 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)33%

Trade, transport & utilities21%

Services (health, schools, offices…)46%

$1,250 a month or less16%

$1,251–$3,333 a month32%

Over $3,333 a month52%

−13%

Jobs based in Kent, 2011 → 2021: 456 → 395. 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.