Work & commute · Whitewater

Work & commute in Whitewater, MI

Most working residents leave Whitewater for work: only 2% work in town. The top destinations are Traverse City (32%), Garfield (13%) and East Bay (4%). Half commute less than 13 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2021 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

22 of 1,011 working residents

Typical commute

13 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

25 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 989 Whitewater residents head out of town to work, 22 work right here, and 398 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Whitewater.

989live here, work elsewhere

22live and work here

398work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Whitewater goes to work

Traverse City10.4 mi away

32%323

Garfield12.1 mi away

13%132

East Bay7.5 mi away

4%40

Elk Rapids9.2 mi away

4%36

Kalkaska8.8 mi away

3%33

Suttons Bay20.1 mi away

3%30

Acme4 mi away

3%28

Whitewater (in town)right here

2%22

Grand Rapids125.1 mi away

2%17

Lansing147.4 mi away

1%15

Everywhere elseother towns and states

33%335

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

How far

How far Whitewater commutes

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

21%

52%

22%

21%Under 10 mi

52%10–24 mi

6%25–50 mi

22%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Whitewater is a commuter town

0.42jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Whitewater are

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

Jobs based in Whitewater

420 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)55%

Trade, transport & utilities7%

Services (health, schools, offices…)38%

$1,250 a month or less21%

$1,251–$3,333 a month46%

Over $3,333 a month33%

Jobs Whitewater residents hold

1,011 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)20%

Trade, transport & utilities19%

Services (health, schools, offices…)61%

$1,250 a month or less16%

$1,251–$3,333 a month32%

Over $3,333 a month52%

+173%

Jobs based in Whitewater, 2011 → 2021: 154 → 420. 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.