Work & commute · Saranac

Work & commute in Saranac, MI

Most working residents leave Saranac for work: only 3% work in town. The top destinations are Grand Rapids (13%), Cascade (8%) and Boston (6%). Half commute less than 20 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2021 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

17 of 617 working residents

Typical commute

20 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

24 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

14%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 600 Saranac residents head out of town to work, 17 work right here, and 220 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Saranac.

600live here, work elsewhere

17live and work here

220work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Saranac goes to work

Grand Rapids22.7 mi away

13%83

Cascade14.4 mi away

8%47

Boston3.2 mi away

6%38

Lowell7 mi away

5%33

Kentwood19.6 mi away

5%33

Wyoming25.3 mi away

4%26

Caledonia17.1 mi away

4%23

Ada14.5 mi away

3%21

Lansing36 mi away

3%20

Ionia7.6 mi away

3%17

Everywhere elseother towns and states

45%276

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

How far

How far Saranac commutes

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

20%

49%

17%

14%

20%Under 10 mi

49%10–24 mi

17%25–50 mi

14%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Saranac is a commuter town

0.38jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Saranac are

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

Jobs based in Saranac

237 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)4%

Trade, transport & utilities9%

Services (health, schools, offices…)87%

$1,250 a month or less18%

$1,251–$3,333 a month32%

Over $3,333 a month50%

Jobs Saranac residents hold

617 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)31%

Trade, transport & utilities15%

Services (health, schools, offices…)54%

$1,250 a month or less16%

$1,251–$3,333 a month26%

Over $3,333 a month59%

−42%

Jobs based in Saranac, 2011 → 2021: 410 → 237. 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.