Work & commute · Wells

Work & commute in Wells, MI

Most working residents leave Wells for work: only 9% work in town. The top destinations are Escanaba (40%), Gladstone (8%) and Escanaba (6%). Half commute less than 6 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2021 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

147 of 1,628 working residents

Typical commute

6 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

15 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 1,481 Wells residents head out of town to work, 147 work right here, and 1,177 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Wells.

1,481live here, work elsewhere

147live and work here

1,177work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Wells goes to work

Escanaba5 mi away

40%653

Wells (in town)right here

9%147

Gladstone8.5 mi away

8%129

Escanaba4.8 mi away

6%97

Marquette54.1 mi away

4%72

Harris10.4 mi away

3%46

Spalding18.5 mi away

2%34

Iron Mountain42.8 mi away

2%27

Bark River7.7 mi away

1%13

Manistique46 mi away

1%11

Everywhere elseother towns and states

25%399

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

How far

How far Wells commutes

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

65%

24%

65%Under 10 mi

7%10–24 mi

5%25–50 mi

24%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Wells is balanced between jobs and homes

0.81jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (0.81 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Wells are

1,324 jobs are based in Wells. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Wells’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Wells

1,324 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)18%

Trade, transport & utilities10%

Services (health, schools, offices…)72%

$1,250 a month or less17%

$1,251–$3,333 a month37%

Over $3,333 a month46%

Jobs Wells residents hold

1,628 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)24%

Trade, transport & utilities20%

Services (health, schools, offices…)57%

$1,250 a month or less19%

$1,251–$3,333 a month30%

Over $3,333 a month51%

+264%

Jobs based in Wells, 2011 → 2021: 364 → 1,324. 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.