Work & commute · Oshtemo

Work & commute in Oshtemo, MI

Most working residents leave Oshtemo for work: only 8% work in town. The top destinations are Kalamazoo (27%), Portage (11%) and Kalamazoo (4%). Half commute less than 8 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2021 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

767 of 9,334 working residents

Typical commute

8 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

22 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

12%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 8,567 Oshtemo residents head out of town to work, 767 work right here, and 9,412 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Oshtemo.

8,567live here, work elsewhere

767live and work here

9,412work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Oshtemo goes to work

Kalamazoo6 mi away

27%2,512

Portage8.6 mi away

11%1,033

Oshtemo (in town)right here

8%767

Kalamazoo4.8 mi away

4%347

Texas5.5 mi away

3%311

Antwerp8 mi away

3%276

Comstock12 mi away

3%249

Battle Creek24.3 mi away

2%223

Grand Rapids46.6 mi away

2%162

Gun Plain13.1 mi away

2%145

Everywhere elseother towns and states

35%3,309

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

How far

How far Oshtemo commutes

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

59%

14%

13%

15%

59%Under 10 mi

14%10–24 mi

13%25–50 mi

15%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Oshtemo is balanced between jobs and homes

1.09jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.09 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Oshtemo are

10,179 jobs are based in Oshtemo. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Oshtemo’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Oshtemo

10,179 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)7%

Trade, transport & utilities30%

Services (health, schools, offices…)63%

$1,250 a month or less22%

$1,251–$3,333 a month37%

Over $3,333 a month41%

Jobs Oshtemo residents hold

9,334 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)21%

Trade, transport & utilities17%

Services (health, schools, offices…)62%

$1,250 a month or less18%

$1,251–$3,333 a month30%

Over $3,333 a month52%

+41%

Jobs based in Oshtemo, 2011 → 2021: 7,224 → 10,179. 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.