Work & commute · Lansing

Work & commute in Lansing, MI

Most working residents leave Lansing for work: only 5% work in town. The top destinations are Lansing (31%), Delta (10%) and East Lansing (9%). Half commute less than 5 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2021 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

168 of 3,673 working residents

Typical commute

5 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

18 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

20%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 3,505 Lansing residents head out of town to work, 168 work right here, and 5,556 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Lansing.

3,505live here, work elsewhere

168live and work here

5,556work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Lansing goes to work

Lansing2.1 mi away

31%1,124

Delta3.7 mi away

10%379

East Lansing5.4 mi away

9%321

Lansing (in town)right here

5%168

Meridian8.6 mi away

4%151

Delhi8.2 mi away

3%92

Alaiedon11 mi away

1%53

Mason13.1 mi away

1%52

Blackman31.6 mi away

1%50

Detroit79.5 mi away

1%45

Everywhere elseother towns and states

34%1,238

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

How far

How far Lansing commutes

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

67%

20%

67%Under 10 mi

6%10–24 mi

8%25–50 mi

20%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Lansing 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 Lansing are

5,724 jobs are based in Lansing. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Lansing’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Lansing

5,724 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)6%

Trade, transport & utilities18%

Services (health, schools, offices…)75%

$1,250 a month or less18%

$1,251–$3,333 a month30%

Over $3,333 a month52%

Jobs Lansing residents hold

3,673 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)12%

Trade, transport & utilities17%

Services (health, schools, offices…)70%

$1,250 a month or less16%

$1,251–$3,333 a month30%

Over $3,333 a month53%

−40%

Jobs based in Lansing, 2011 → 2021: 9,608 → 5,724. 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.