Grand Rapids

City Commute Profile

Grand Rapids, MI

Where Grand Rapids’s 84,828 resident workers go each day — 34.5% work within the area; the top destination beyond it is Kentwood.

MichiganLODES 2021 data
Based on 2021 Census LODES data — the most recent available for Michigan.
77
Commute Score

77 / 100

How short the typical commute is here, on an absolute 0–100 scale (higher is shorter). How it’s calculated.

Grand Rapids at a glance
Employed Residents
84,828
Fewer than the city’s total population
Median home–work distance
6.0mi
Straight-line, not road distance
Work Locally
34.5%
Share working within the area
Work from home
13.9%
Residents who work from home (ACS)
Top destination outside city
Kentwood
Excludes local — most work in-city

These figures are for Grand Rapids proper — the Census place within its city limits — not the surrounding metro area. Metro-wide totals you’ll see elsewhere are larger because they bundle in neighboring cities and suburbs.

How Grand Rapids commutes

Every dot is a worker moving between home and job. Trace where the area pulls people in from — and where its residents head each day.

Grand Rapids

84,828 commutes, one dot at a time

Grand Rapids

Where 84,828 workers commute

Each dot ≈ 75 workers

Where residents work

Top destinations for people who live in Grand Rapids, by worker count.

1Grand Rapids0.0 mi29,230
2Kentwood6.0 mi6,733
3Wyoming4.8 mi5,748
4Walker4.5 mi3,759
5Forest Hills8.4 mi2,478
6Grandville6.4 mi1,736
7Allendale13.9 mi1,056
8Lansing58.5 mi1,052

Who commutes in

Top origin places for workers who travel into Grand Rapids.

1Grand Rapids0.0 mi29,230
2Wyoming4.8 mi7,837
3Kentwood6.0 mi5,923
4Walker4.5 mi3,278
5Forest Hills8.4 mi3,051
6Northview6.0 mi2,077
7Cutlerville8.3 mi1,646
8Grandville6.4 mi1,600

Top industries

The sectors that employ Grand Rapids’s workforce. Each bar is scaled to that sector’s share of all local jobs — the top sectors shown don’t add up to 100%.

Bar length = each sector’s share of all local jobs (0–100%)
HCHealth Care and Social Assistance28.2%
MFManufacturing12.0%
FIFinance and Insurance8.5%
EDEducational Services8.0%
ADAdministrative and Support and Waste Management and Remediation Services7.4%
RTRetail Trade6.8%
PTProfessional, Scientific, and Technical Services6.3%
AFAccommodation and Food Services6.1%
WSWholesale Trade3.5%

Grand Rapids city profile

Who lives in Grand Rapids — population, housing, and income, from the U.S. Census Bureau.

Population
198,535
Median age
32.3yrs
Median household income
$69,108
Median home value
$244,500
Median gross rent
$1,266/mo
Bachelor’s degree or higher
41.6%
Poverty rate
16.9%

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey (ACS) 2024 5-Year Estimates. Values shown as “—” are suppressed or unavailable for this place.

Connectivity

Internet options for Grand Rapids

The biggest home-internet providers in the area — tap any to compare local plans.

13 providers · 3 with fiber
Speed availabilityshare of homes a plan reaches
1 Gbps~all homes
2 Gbps100%
5 Gbps98%
8 Gbps
See all internet providers in Grand Rapids

FindBetterInternet is a CensusFlow partner site — we link out so you can compare local plans, and CensusFlow’s Census data stays independent. Provider data is from the FCC National Broadband Map (satellite + fixed wireless excluded).