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Work & commute in West Ishpeming · A commuter town

96% of West Ishpeming’s working residents leave town for work

Most working residents leave West Ishpeming for work: only 4% work in town. The top destinations are Marquette (27%), Ishpeming (24%) and Ishpeming (7%). Half commute less than 15 miles.

Work in town
4%
44 of 997 working residents
Typical commute
15 mi
half travel less, straight-line
Time each way
21 min
Less than MI (24 min)
Work from home
5%
Less than MI (14%)
Jobs based here
446
A commuter town

What kind of work town is West Ishpeming?

Read from the numbers below. The page puts what stands out first.

★ What stands out · The commute map

27% of working residents work in Marquette

A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.

Ishpeming: 236 residents work here (24%)Marquette: 273 residents work here (27%)Negaunee: 55 residents work here (6%)Grand Rapids: 13 residents work here (1%)TildenChocolay: 27 residents work here (3%)Marquette: 26 residents work here (3%)NegauneeBaraga: 13 residents work here (1%)Ely: 16 residents work here (2%)Forsyth: 31 residents work here (3%)Ishpeming: 67 residents work here (7%)West IshpemingMarquetteIshpemingIshpemingNegauneeForsythChocolayWest Ishpeming
1
Marquette15.9 mi away
27%273
2
Ishpeming2.4 mi away
24%236
3
Ishpeming9.6 mi away
7%67
4
Negaunee6 mi away
6%55
5
Forsyth22.2 mi away
3%31
6
Chocolay22.2 mi away
3%27
7
Marquette12.4 mi away
3%26
8
Ely6.5 mi away
2%16
9
Grand Rapids263.9 mi away
1%13
10
Baraga44.8 mi away
1%13
Everywhere elseother towns and states
24%240
The top trips

Where West Ishpeming clocks in

Lines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.

Next door

31% of West Ishpeming works in a bordering town

The biggest share goes to Ishpeming (24%). Darker towns draw more of West Ishpeming’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.

The jobs

West Ishpeming makes things: 35% of its jobs are in goods

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

Jobs based in West IshpemingJobs West Ishpeming residents hold

What kind of work

Goods: factories, building, farms35%21%
Trade, transport & utilities14%17%
Services: health, schools, offices51%62%

What it pays

$1,250 a month or less12%15%
$1,251–$3,333 a month20%30%
Over $3,333 a month68%55%

Who does it

29 or younger9%22%
30 to 5466%55%
55 and older25%23%
−79%

Jobs based in West Ishpeming, 2011 → 2021: 2,076 → 446. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.

Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2021.

Day and night

West Ishpeming quiets down on a workday

On a workday 953 residents head out to work, 44 work right here, and 402 people come in from elsewhere.

953live here, work elsewhere
44live and work here
402work here, live elsewhere
Night and day
At night2,900
Workday2,300
2,900live here− 950head out to work+ 400come in to work= 2,300on a workday

About 2,300 people are in West Ishpeming on a workday afternoon, 19% fewer than live here.

Job hub or commuter town?
0.45jobs per workerCommuter townJob hub

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

Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2021, primary jobs.

How far

Half of West Ishpeming commutes less than 15 miles

Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

10 mi25 mi50 mi80 miMarquette: 27% · 15.9 miIshpeming: 24% · 2.4 miIshpeming: 7% · 9.6 miNegaunee: 6% · 6 miForsyth: 3% · 22.2 miChocolay: 3% · 22.2 miMarquette: 3% · 12.4 miEly: 2% · 6.5 miGrand Rapids: 1% · 263.9 miBaraga: 1% · 44.8 miMarquette 27%Ishpeming 24%Ishpeming 7%Negaunee 6%Forsyth 3%West Ishpeming
West IshpemingTop destinations (size = commuters)
39%Under 10 mi393 residents
37%10–24 mi366 residents
4%25–50 mi40 residents
20%Over 50 mi197 residents

About 20% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.

Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2021.

Time on the road

About 21 minutes each way, quicker than most of Michigan

From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.

A year of commuting
160 hours

Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.7 full days in the car, bus or train.

Average commute minutes, one way

West Ishpeming21 min
Michigan24 min
U.S.26 min
Working from home
5%

of West Ishpeming workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.

About 0 in 10
How to read these numbers

What this data can and can’t tell you

  • Every worker, home to work. The 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 says. A 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 surveys. Flows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2021. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: the Census American Community Survey.
  • Straight lines. Distances are as the crow flies between home and work. Roads, rivers and traffic make the real trip longer.
Beyond the commute

More of West Ishpeming

West Ishpeming home →

Commuter talk

Getting to work from West Ishpeming, from the people who make the trip.

Town Square →
Weigh in
Is the commute from West Ishpeming worth it?

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Ask neighbors

Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2021, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer.

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