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Work & commute in Marion · A commuter town

97% of Marion’s working residents leave town for work

Most working residents leave Marion for work: only 3% work in town. The top destinations are Charlevoix (23%), Charlevoix (15%) and Petoskey (7%). Half commute less than 10 miles.

Work in town
3%
17 of 620 working residents
Typical commute
10 mi
half travel less, straight-line
Time each way
18 min
Less than MI (24 min)
Work from home
14%
More than MI (14%)
Jobs based here
245
A commuter town

What kind of work town is Marion?

Read from the numbers below. The page puts what stands out first.

★ What stands out · The commute map

23% of working residents work in Charlevoix

A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.

Charlevoix: 144 residents work here (23%)East Jordan: 21 residents work here (3%)Boyne CityPetoskey: 46 residents work here (7%)Traverse City: 14 residents work here (2%)EvelineWilsonBanksBear Creek: 19 residents work here (3%)Hayes: 17 residents work here (3%)South Arm: 17 residents work here (3%)Charlevoix: 90 residents work here (15%)Resort: 14 residents work here (2%)MarionNorwoodCharlevoixCharlevoixPetoskeyEast JordanBear CreekHayesMarion
1
Charlevoix4.4 mi away
23%144
2
Charlevoix4.3 mi away
15%90
3
Petoskey14.7 mi away
7%46
4
East Jordan8.6 mi away
3%21
5
Bear Creek18.9 mi away
3%19
6
Hayes7.7 mi away
3%17
7
South Arm7.8 mi away
3%17
8
Marion (in town)right here
3%17
9
Traverse City38.1 mi away
2%14
10
Resort13.2 mi away
2%14
Everywhere elseother towns and states
36%221
The top trips

Where Marion clocks in

Lines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.

Time on the road

About 18 minutes each way, quicker than most of Michigan

From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.

A year of commuting
137 hours

Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.7 full days in the car, bus or train.

Average commute minutes, one way

Marion18 min
Michigan24 min
U.S.26 min
Working from home
14%

of Marion workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.

About 1 in 10

How Marion ranks on commute time →

The jobs

Marion makes things: 39% of its jobs are in goods

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

Jobs based in MarionJobs Marion residents hold

What kind of work

Goods: factories, building, farms39%21%
Trade, transport & utilities2%17%
Services: health, schools, offices59%61%

What it pays

$1,250 a month or less11%15%
$1,251–$3,333 a month46%34%
Over $3,333 a month43%51%

Who does it

29 or younger20%17%
30 to 5456%54%
55 and older24%29%
+182%

Jobs based in Marion, 2011 → 2021: 87 → 245. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.

Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2021.

Next door

15% of Marion works in a bordering town

The biggest share goes to Charlevoix (15%). Darker towns draw more of Marion’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.

Day and night

Marion quiets down on a workday

On a workday 603 residents head out to work, 17 work right here, and 228 people come in from elsewhere.

603live here, work elsewhere
17live and work here
228work here, live elsewhere
Night and day
At night1,700
Workday1,300
1,700live here− 600head out to work+ 230come in to work= 1,300on a workday

About 1,300 people are in Marion on a workday afternoon, 22% fewer than live here.

Job hub or commuter town?
0.40jobs per workerCommuter townJob hub

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

Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2021, primary jobs.

How far

Half of Marion commutes less than 10 miles

Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

10 mi25 mi45 miCharlevoix: 23% · 4.4 miCharlevoix: 15% · 4.3 miPetoskey: 7% · 14.7 miEast Jordan: 3% · 8.6 miBear Creek: 3% · 18.9 miHayes: 3% · 7.7 miSouth Arm: 3% · 7.8 miTraverse City: 2% · 38.1 miResort: 2% · 13.2 miCharlevoix 23%Charlevoix 15%Petoskey 7%East Jordan 3%Bear Creek 3%Marion
MarionTop destinations (size = commuters)
49%Under 10 mi306 residents
25%10–24 mi154 residents
9%25–50 mi54 residents
17%Over 50 mi105 residents

About 17% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.

Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2021.

How to read these numbers

What this data can and can’t tell you

  • Every worker, home to work. The 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 says. A 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 surveys. Flows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2021. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: the Census American Community Survey.
  • Straight lines. Distances are as the crow flies between home and work. Roads, rivers and traffic make the real trip longer.
Beyond the commute

More of Marion

Marion home →

Commuter talk

Getting to work from Marion, from the people who make the trip.

Town Square →
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Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2021, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer.

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