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Commuting Patterns for Residents in the Michigan Works! Northeast Consortium Area Varied by County

January 09, 2025

According to recently released data from the 2023 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates, there were more than 4.6 million workers in Michigan age 16 and over. The Michigan Works! Northeast Consortium area accounted for just 53,100 of the total, or 1.1 percent.

Statewide, 71.9 percent of workers were employed within the county they lived, while 26.4 percent worked outside of the county they resided. The remaining 1.7 percent worked in a different state. These shares varied slightly by sex, with females more likely to work within the county they reside (74.9 percent) than males (69.2 percent).

Commuting patterns among the counties of the Michigan Works! Northeast Consortium area varied widely due to their rural nature. Alpena County had the greatest share of residents who also worked within the county at 89.1 percent. This was followed by Otsego County at 82.9 percent. All other counties in the region had at least 60 percent of their employed residents working within the same county as they lived, except for Alcona County, where only 48.4 percent of their workers commuted to jobs within the county.

Crawford County saw the greatest difference in the share of males and females who worked and lived within the same county. The share of female residents who worked within the county measured 72.8 percent while the share of male residents measured 62.1 percent, a difference of 10.7 percentage points. Montmorency County had the smallest difference at 0.7 percent. There was a greater share of females who worked and lived within the same county than males within each county in the region. 

The shares of residents working and living within the same county had a direct impact on commute times. Alpena County also had the shortest average travel time to work at just under 18 minutes followed by Otsego County at 20 minutes. Alcona County had the greatest average travel time to work at 28 minutes. Statewide, the average travel time to work was 24 minutes.

Alpena County had the shortest mean travel time to work in Northeast Michigan.

Average Travel Time To Work (in Minutes) Among Michigan Works! Northeast Consortium Counties

Source: 2023 5-Year Estimates, American Community Survey, U.S. Census Bureau

Labor Market News

Author:

Nick Gandhi

Economic Analyst

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