Work & commute · Whitefish

Work & commute in Whitefish, MI

Most working residents leave Whitefish for work: only 12% work in town. The top destinations are Sault Ste. Marie (14%), Trout Lake (6%) and McMillan (5%). Half commute less than 53 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2021 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

12%

14 of 117 working residents

Typical commute

53 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

20 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

24%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 103 Whitefish residents head out of town to work, 14 work right here, and 81 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Whitefish.

103live here, work elsewhere

14live and work here

81work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Whitefish goes to work

Sault Ste. Marie36.5 mi away

14%16

Whitefish (in town)right here

12%14

Trout Lake28.6 mi away

6%7

McMillan20.3 mi away

5%6

Iron Mountain150.7 mi away

3%4

Charlevoix89.6 mi away

3%3

St. Ignace53 mi away

3%3

Petoskey85.9 mi away

3%3

Cheboygan73.5 mi away

3%3

Chippewa18.2 mi away

3%3

Everywhere elseother towns and states

47%55

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

How far

How far Whitefish commutes

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

10%

32%

50%

10%Under 10 mi

7%10–24 mi

32%25–50 mi

50%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Whitefish 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 Whitefish are

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

Jobs based in Whitefish

95 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)0%

Trade, transport & utilities18%

Services (health, schools, offices…)82%

$1,250 a month or less31%

$1,251–$3,333 a month37%

Over $3,333 a month33%

Jobs Whitefish residents hold

117 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)6%

Trade, transport & utilities24%

Services (health, schools, offices…)70%

$1,250 a month or less25%

$1,251–$3,333 a month30%

Over $3,333 a month45%

−12%

Jobs based in Whitefish, 2011 → 2021: 108 → 95. 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.