Work & commute · Lowell

Work & commute in Lowell, MI

Most working residents leave Lowell for work: only 9% work in town. The top destinations are Grand Rapids (17%), Kentwood (7%) and Cascade (7%). Half commute less than 15 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2021 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

161 of 1,852 working residents

Typical commute

15 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

25 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 1,691 Lowell residents head out of town to work, 161 work right here, and 2,004 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Lowell.

1,691live here, work elsewhere

161live and work here

2,004work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Lowell goes to work

Grand Rapids15.6 mi away

17%315

Lowell (in town)right here

9%161

Kentwood12.9 mi away

7%130

Cascade7.7 mi away

7%128

Ada7.6 mi away

5%93

Wyoming18.4 mi away

4%80

Caledonia12.3 mi away

3%64

Lowell3.1 mi away

3%51

Grand Rapids12.1 mi away

2%41

Vergennes3.3 mi away

2%38

Everywhere elseother towns and states

41%751

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

How far

How far Lowell commutes

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

27%

52%

12%

27%Under 10 mi

52%10–24 mi

9%25–50 mi

12%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Lowell is balanced between jobs and homes

1.17jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.17 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Lowell are

2,165 jobs are based in Lowell. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Lowell’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Lowell

2,165 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)53%

Trade, transport & utilities12%

Services (health, schools, offices…)35%

$1,250 a month or less16%

$1,251–$3,333 a month33%

Over $3,333 a month51%

Jobs Lowell residents hold

1,852 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)23%

Trade, transport & utilities19%

Services (health, schools, offices…)59%

$1,250 a month or less14%

$1,251–$3,333 a month30%

Over $3,333 a month56%

+2%

Jobs based in Lowell, 2011 → 2021: 2,118 → 2,165. 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.