Work & commute · Pontiac

Work & commute in Pontiac, MI

Most working residents leave Pontiac for work: only 12% work in town. The top destinations are Auburn Hills (11%), Troy (6%) and Waterford (5%). Half commute less than 11 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2021 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

12%

2,253 of 19,087 working residents

Typical commute

11 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

21 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 16,834 Pontiac residents head out of town to work, 2,253 work right here, and 30,207 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Pontiac.

16,834live here, work elsewhere

2,253live and work here

30,207work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Pontiac goes to work

Pontiac (in town)right here

12%2,253

Auburn Hills2.8 mi away

11%2,080

Troy8.5 mi away

6%1,229

Waterford5.2 mi away

5%940

Detroit20.7 mi away

5%915

Southfield12.1 mi away

3%641

Rochester Hills6.6 mi away

3%576

Warren17.2 mi away

3%574

Bloomfield5 mi away

3%550

Orion7.5 mi away

2%402

Everywhere elseother towns and states

47%8,927

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

How far

How far Pontiac commutes

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

46%

33%

10%

46%Under 10 mi

33%10–24 mi

10%25–50 mi

10%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Pontiac is a job hub

1.70jobs per working resident

A job hub

1.7 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Pontiac are

32,460 jobs are based in Pontiac. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Pontiac’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Pontiac

32,460 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)19%

Trade, transport & utilities12%

Services (health, schools, offices…)69%

$1,250 a month or less9%

$1,251–$3,333 a month28%

Over $3,333 a month64%

Jobs Pontiac residents hold

19,087 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)17%

Trade, transport & utilities19%

Services (health, schools, offices…)64%

$1,250 a month or less20%

$1,251–$3,333 a month38%

Over $3,333 a month42%

+49%

Jobs based in Pontiac, 2011 → 2021: 21,720 → 32,460. 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.