Work & commute · Rochester

Work & commute in Rochester, MI

Most working residents leave Rochester for work: only 8% work in town. The top destinations are Troy (10%), Auburn Hills (10%) and Rochester Hills (6%). Half commute less than 11 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2021 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

505 of 6,064 working residents

Typical commute

11 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

25 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

27%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 5,559 Rochester residents head out of town to work, 505 work right here, and 6,655 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Rochester.

5,559live here, work elsewhere

505live and work here

6,655work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Rochester goes to work

Troy7.2 mi away

10%630

Auburn Hills6.3 mi away

10%591

Rochester (in town)right here

8%505

Rochester Hills2.6 mi away

6%390

Detroit21 mi away

6%389

Warren14.2 mi away

6%370

Sterling Heights8.6 mi away

4%236

Southfield16.3 mi away

3%192

Pontiac8.9 mi away

3%183

Shelby4.3 mi away

3%159

Everywhere elseother towns and states

40%2,419

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

How far

How far Rochester commutes

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

46%

38%

46%Under 10 mi

38%10–24 mi

9%25–50 mi

7%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Rochester is balanced between jobs and homes

1.18jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.18 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Rochester are

7,160 jobs are based in Rochester. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Rochester’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Rochester

7,160 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)12%

Trade, transport & utilities6%

Services (health, schools, offices…)82%

$1,250 a month or less19%

$1,251–$3,333 a month23%

Over $3,333 a month58%

Jobs Rochester residents hold

6,064 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)14%

Trade, transport & utilities16%

Services (health, schools, offices…)69%

$1,250 a month or less12%

$1,251–$3,333 a month19%

Over $3,333 a month69%

+10%

Jobs based in Rochester, 2011 → 2021: 6,500 → 7,160. 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.