Work & commute · Odessa

Work & commute in Odessa, MI

Most working residents leave Odessa for work: only 16% work in town. The top destinations are Grand Rapids (9%), Ionia (4%) and Lansing (3%). Half commute less than 23 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2021 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

16%

245 of 1,525 working residents

Typical commute

23 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

27 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 1,280 Odessa residents head out of town to work, 245 work right here, and 1,110 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Odessa.

1,280live here, work elsewhere

245live and work here

1,110work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Odessa goes to work

Odessa (in town)right here

16%245

Grand Rapids28 mi away

9%142

Ionia12.3 mi away

4%54

Lansing30.2 mi away

3%53

Kentwood23.4 mi away

3%50

Cascade18.7 mi away

3%47

Hastings13.1 mi away

2%36

Thornapple18.9 mi away

2%33

Wyoming29.1 mi away

2%32

Boston8.2 mi away

2%31

Everywhere elseother towns and states

53%802

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

How far

How far Odessa commutes

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

23%

31%

28%

18%

23%Under 10 mi

31%10–24 mi

28%25–50 mi

18%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Odessa is balanced between jobs and homes

0.89jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (0.89 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Odessa are

1,355 jobs are based in Odessa. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Odessa’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Odessa

1,355 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)50%

Trade, transport & utilities19%

Services (health, schools, offices…)31%

$1,250 a month or less18%

$1,251–$3,333 a month30%

Over $3,333 a month52%

Jobs Odessa residents hold

1,525 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)31%

Trade, transport & utilities20%

Services (health, schools, offices…)49%

$1,250 a month or less13%

$1,251–$3,333 a month33%

Over $3,333 a month54%

+30%

Jobs based in Odessa, 2011 → 2021: 1,040 → 1,355. 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.