Work & commute · Southfield

Work & commute in Southfield, MI

Most working residents leave Southfield for work: only 11% work in town. The top destinations are Detroit (20%), Troy (5%) and Warren (4%). Half commute less than 12 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2021 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

11%

3,190 of 28,957 working residents

Typical commute

12 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

24 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

17%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 25,767 Southfield residents head out of town to work, 3,190 work right here, and 85,224 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Southfield.

25,767live here, work elsewhere

3,190live and work here

85,224work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Southfield goes to work

Detroit10.2 mi away

20%5,745

Southfield (in town)right here

11%3,190

Troy9.5 mi away

5%1,560

Warren12 mi away

4%1,246

Dearborn11.4 mi away

4%1,236

Farmington Hills6 mi away

4%1,121

Auburn Hills13.8 mi away

3%921

Livonia7.9 mi away

3%921

Novi11.6 mi away

2%639

Royal Oak5.8 mi away

2%584

Everywhere elseother towns and states

41%11,794

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

How far

How far Southfield commutes

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

40%

47%

40%Under 10 mi

47%10–24 mi

5%25–50 mi

8%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Southfield is a job hub

3.05jobs per working resident

A job hub

3.1 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Southfield are

88,414 jobs are based in Southfield. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Southfield’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Southfield

88,414 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)8%

Trade, transport & utilities11%

Services (health, schools, offices…)81%

$1,250 a month or less12%

$1,251–$3,333 a month24%

Over $3,333 a month64%

Jobs Southfield residents hold

28,957 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)12%

Trade, transport & utilities17%

Services (health, schools, offices…)71%

$1,250 a month or less15%

$1,251–$3,333 a month26%

Over $3,333 a month59%

−10%

Jobs based in Southfield, 2011 → 2021: 97,750 → 88,414. 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.