Work & commute · Watervliet

Work & commute in Watervliet, MI

Most working residents leave Watervliet for work: only 5% work in town. The top destinations are Benton (13%), Grand Rapids (6%) and St. Joseph (6%). Half commute less than 16 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2021 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

50 of 1,053 working residents

Typical commute

16 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

25 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

10%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 1,003 Watervliet residents head out of town to work, 50 work right here, and 528 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Watervliet.

1,003live here, work elsewhere

50live and work here

528work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Watervliet goes to work

Benton9.6 mi away

13%137

Grand Rapids60.6 mi away

6%60

St. Joseph14.1 mi away

6%59

Watervliet1 mi away

6%58

Watervliet (in town)right here

5%50

Coloma3.2 mi away

3%27

Lincoln18.4 mi away

2%25

Coloma3 mi away

2%25

St. Joseph14.9 mi away

2%24

South Haven13.9 mi away

2%21

Everywhere elseother towns and states

54%567

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

How far

How far Watervliet commutes

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

23%

37%

13%

27%

23%Under 10 mi

37%10–24 mi

13%25–50 mi

27%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Watervliet is a commuter town

0.55jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Watervliet are

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

Jobs based in Watervliet

578 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)6%

Trade, transport & utilities73%

Services (health, schools, offices…)21%

$1,250 a month or less21%

$1,251–$3,333 a month36%

Over $3,333 a month43%

Jobs Watervliet residents hold

1,053 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)26%

Trade, transport & utilities20%

Services (health, schools, offices…)54%

$1,250 a month or less21%

$1,251–$3,333 a month32%

Over $3,333 a month47%

+198%

Jobs based in Watervliet, 2011 → 2021: 194 → 578. 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.