Work & commute · Royal Oak

Work & commute in Royal Oak, MI

Most working residents leave Royal Oak for work: only 8% work in town. The top destinations are Detroit (14%), Troy (10%) and Warren (7%). Half commute less than 10 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2021 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

2,149 of 28,144 working residents

Typical commute

10 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

24 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 25,995 Royal Oak residents head out of town to work, 2,149 work right here, and 26,277 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Royal Oak.

25,995live here, work elsewhere

2,149live and work here

26,277work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Royal Oak goes to work

Detroit9 mi away

14%3,967

Troy5.3 mi away

10%2,846

Royal Oak (in town)right here

8%2,149

Warren6.6 mi away

7%2,023

Southfield5.8 mi away

6%1,784

Dearborn13.8 mi away

4%1,057

Auburn Hills12.4 mi away

3%937

Farmington Hills11.4 mi away

3%891

Birmingham4.1 mi away

3%712

Sterling Heights8.1 mi away

3%709

Everywhere elseother towns and states

39%11,069

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

How far

How far Royal Oak commutes

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

52%

39%

52%Under 10 mi

39%10–24 mi

4%25–50 mi

5%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Royal Oak is balanced between jobs and homes

1.01jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.01 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Royal Oak are

28,426 jobs are based in Royal Oak. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Royal Oak’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Royal Oak

28,426 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)7%

Trade, transport & utilities9%

Services (health, schools, offices…)84%

$1,250 a month or less13%

$1,251–$3,333 a month30%

Over $3,333 a month57%

Jobs Royal Oak residents hold

28,144 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)13%

Trade, transport & utilities16%

Services (health, schools, offices…)71%

$1,250 a month or less10%

$1,251–$3,333 a month18%

Over $3,333 a month72%

−1%

Jobs based in Royal Oak, 2011 → 2021: 28,619 → 28,426. 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.