Work & commute · Leelanau

Work & commute in Leelanau, MI

About one in 4 of Leelanau’s working residents works in town. The top destinations are Traverse City (13%), Suttons Bay (9%) and Leland (5%). Half commute less than 22 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2021 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

28%

169 of 600 working residents

Typical commute

22 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

21 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

17%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 431 Leelanau residents head out of town to work, 169 work right here, and 239 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Leelanau.

431live here, work elsewhere

169live and work here

239work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Leelanau goes to work

Leelanau (in town)right here

28%169

Traverse City27.7 mi away

13%79

Suttons Bay11.2 mi away

9%53

Leland18.7 mi away

5%32

Garfield29.7 mi away

4%23

Bingham16.8 mi away

3%15

Grand Rapids151.6 mi away

2%12

Benzonia42.5 mi away

2%11

Lansing176.5 mi away

2%10

Kentwood156.9 mi away

1%5

Everywhere elseother towns and states

32%191

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

How far

How far Leelanau commutes

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

39%

16%

30%

39%Under 10 mi

16%10–24 mi

16%25–50 mi

30%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Leelanau is a commuter town

0.68jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Leelanau are

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

Jobs based in Leelanau

408 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)31%

Trade, transport & utilities13%

Services (health, schools, offices…)57%

$1,250 a month or less16%

$1,251–$3,333 a month37%

Over $3,333 a month47%

Jobs Leelanau residents hold

600 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)21%

Trade, transport & utilities20%

Services (health, schools, offices…)59%

$1,250 a month or less18%

$1,251–$3,333 a month37%

Over $3,333 a month45%

+11%

Jobs based in Leelanau, 2011 → 2021: 366 → 408. 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.