Work & commute · Waterford

Work & commute in Waterford, MI

Most working residents leave Waterford for work: only 13% work in town. The top destinations are Troy (7%), Pontiac (6%) and Auburn Hills (6%). Half commute less than 12 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2021 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

13%

3,968 of 30,587 working residents

Typical commute

12 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

27 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

13%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 26,619 Waterford residents head out of town to work, 3,968 work right here, and 16,282 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Waterford.

26,619live here, work elsewhere

3,968live and work here

16,282work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Waterford goes to work

Waterford (in town)right here

13%3,968

Troy13.5 mi away

7%2,083

Pontiac5.2 mi away

6%1,882

Auburn Hills7.4 mi away

6%1,843

Southfield14.5 mi away

4%1,363

Farmington Hills12.2 mi away

3%1,069

Detroit24.1 mi away

3%1,024

Novi13.6 mi away

3%803

Bloomfield8.2 mi away

3%769

Rochester Hills11.6 mi away

2%739

Everywhere elseother towns and states

49%15,044

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

How far

How far Waterford commutes

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

40%

42%

10%

40%Under 10 mi

42%10–24 mi

10%25–50 mi

8%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Waterford is a commuter town

0.66jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Waterford are

20,250 jobs are based in Waterford. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Waterford’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Waterford

20,250 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)8%

Trade, transport & utilities22%

Services (health, schools, offices…)70%

$1,250 a month or less19%

$1,251–$3,333 a month32%

Over $3,333 a month49%

Jobs Waterford residents hold

30,587 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)16%

Trade, transport & utilities20%

Services (health, schools, offices…)64%

$1,250 a month or less14%

$1,251–$3,333 a month29%

Over $3,333 a month57%

+9%

Jobs based in Waterford, 2011 → 2021: 18,609 → 20,250. 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.