Work & commute · Soo

Work & commute in Soo, MI

Most working residents leave Soo for work: only 6% work in town. The top destinations are Sault Ste. Marie (55%), Kinross (7%) and Bay Mills (3%). Half commute less than 5 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2021 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

71 of 1,115 working residents

Typical commute

5 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

17 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 1,044 Soo residents head out of town to work, 71 work right here, and 394 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Soo.

1,044live here, work elsewhere

71live and work here

394work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Soo goes to work

Sault Ste. Marie16.6 mi away

55%618

Kinross23.8 mi away

7%75

Soo (in town)right here

6%71

Bay Mills30.8 mi away

3%39

Dafter13.9 mi away

2%17

Bruce7.2 mi away

1%15

Superior24.6 mi away

1%13

Marquette154.5 mi away

1%10

Petoskey74.7 mi away

1%9

Cheboygan46 mi away

1%9

Everywhere elseother towns and states

21%239

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

How far

How far Soo commutes

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

65%

12%

21%

65%Under 10 mi

12%10–24 mi

2%25–50 mi

21%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Soo is a commuter town

0.42jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Soo are

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

Jobs based in Soo

465 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)31%

Trade, transport & utilities14%

Services (health, schools, offices…)55%

$1,250 a month or less18%

$1,251–$3,333 a month32%

Over $3,333 a month50%

Jobs Soo residents hold

1,115 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)12%

Trade, transport & utilities17%

Services (health, schools, offices…)71%

$1,250 a month or less14%

$1,251–$3,333 a month30%

Over $3,333 a month56%

+42%

Jobs based in Soo, 2011 → 2021: 328 → 465. 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.