Guest, Sign inJoin
Work & commute in Sand Lake · A commuter town

100% of Sand Lake’s working residents leave town for work

Most working residents leave Sand Lake for work: only 0% work in town. The top destinations are Tawas City (8%), Plainfield (7%) and East Tawas (5%). Half commute less than 27 miles.

Work in town
0%
1 of 409 working residents
Typical commute
27 mi
half travel less, straight-line
Time each way
37 min
More than MI (24 min)
Work from home
12%
Less than MI (14%)
Jobs based here
33
A commuter town

What kind of work town is Sand Lake?

Read from the numbers below. The page puts what stands out first.

★ What stands out · The commute map

8% of working residents work in Tawas City

A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.

WhittemoreWest Branch: 15 residents work here (4%)Tawas City: 32 residents work here (8%)Standish: 10 residents work here (2%)East Tawas: 21 residents work here (5%)Rogers CityMidland: 11 residents work here (3%)Au Sable: 14 residents work here (3%)MoffattSecordWilberBaldwin: 17 residents work here (4%)Sherman: 9 residents work here (2%)Tawas: 16 residents work here (4%)OscodaMillsGrantPlainfield: 29 residents work here (7%)Sand LakeTawas CityPlainfieldEast TawasBaldwinTawasWest BranchSand Lake
1
Tawas City8.2 mi away
8%32
2
Plainfield8.4 mi away
7%29
3
East Tawas9.4 mi away
5%21
4
Baldwin9.5 mi away
4%17
5
Tawas4.5 mi away
4%16
6
West Branch28.5 mi away
4%15
7
Au Sable14.7 mi away
3%14
8
Midland56.2 mi away
3%11
9
Standish28.4 mi away
2%10
10
Sherman8.6 mi away
2%9
Everywhere elseother towns and states
57%235
The top trips

Where Sand Lake clocks in

Lines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.

Time on the road

About 37 minutes each way, longer than most of Michigan

From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.

A year of commuting
281 hours

Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 11.7 full days in the car, bus or train.

Average commute minutes, one way

Sand Lake37 min
Michigan24 min
U.S.26 min
Working from home
12%

of Sand Lake workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.

About 1 in 10
Day and night

Sand Lake quiets down on a workday

On a workday 408 residents head out to work, 1 work right here, and 32 people come in from elsewhere.

408live here, work elsewhere
1live and work here
32work here, live elsewhere
Night and day
At night1,300
Workday970
1,300live here− 410head out to work+ 32come in to work= 970on a workday

About 970 people are in Sand Lake on a workday afternoon, 28% fewer than live here.

Job hub or commuter town?
0.08jobs per workerCommuter townJob hub

0.08 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.

Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2021, primary jobs.

How far

Half of Sand Lake commutes less than 27 miles

Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

10 mi25 mi50 mi65 miTawas City: 8% · 8.2 miPlainfield: 7% · 8.4 miEast Tawas: 5% · 9.4 miBaldwin: 4% · 9.5 miTawas: 4% · 4.5 miWest Branch: 4% · 28.5 miAu Sable: 3% · 14.7 miMidland: 3% · 56.2 miStandish: 2% · 28.4 miSherman: 2% · 8.6 miTawas City 8%Plainfield 7%East Tawas 5%Baldwin 4%Sand Lake
Sand LakeTop destinations (size = commuters)
28%Under 10 mi114 residents
19%10–24 mi76 residents
14%25–50 mi57 residents
40%Over 50 mi162 residents

About 40% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.

Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2021.

The jobs

Sand Lake makes things: 36% of its jobs are in goods

33 jobs are based in Sand Lake. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Sand Lake’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Sand LakeJobs Sand Lake residents hold

What kind of work

Goods: factories, building, farms36%24%
Trade, transport & utilities18%27%
Services: health, schools, offices45%48%

What it pays

$1,250 a month or less42%21%
$1,251–$3,333 a month42%37%
Over $3,333 a month15%42%

Who does it

29 or younger24%22%
30 to 5452%48%
55 and older24%30%
+14%

Jobs based in Sand Lake, 2011 → 2021: 29 → 33. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.

Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2021.

Next door

Sand Lake and the towns next door

The biggest share goes to Tawas (4%). Darker towns draw more of Sand Lake’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.

How to read these numbers

What this data can and can’t tell you

  • Every worker, home to work. The 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 says. A 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 surveys. Flows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2021. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: the Census American Community Survey.
  • Straight lines. Distances are as the crow flies between home and work. Roads, rivers and traffic make the real trip longer.
Beyond the commute

More of Sand Lake

Sand Lake home →

Commuter talk

Getting to work from Sand Lake, from the people who make the trip.

Town Square →
Weigh in
Is the commute from Sand Lake worth it?

Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.

Ask neighbors

Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2021, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer.

Post to Sand Lake

We’ll email a one-tap link to publish your post. No password, and nothing is public until you click it.
Already a member? Sign in