Athens is a tiny village located in the state of Michigan. With a population of 956 people and just one neighborhood, Athens is the 489th largest community in Michigan. Much of the housing stock in Athens was built prior to World War II, making it one of the older and more historic villages in the country.
When you are in Athens, you'll notice that it is more blue-collar than most other communities in America. 53.74% of Athens’s employed work in blue-collar jobs, while America averages only 27.7% that do. Overall, Athens is a village of construction workers and builders, production and manufacturing workers, and professionals. There are especially a lot of people living in Athens who work in maintenance occupations (7.83%), healthcare (6.58%), and office and administrative support (6.41%).
A relatively large number of people in Athens telecommute to their jobs. Overall, about 13.24% of the workforce works from home. While this may seem like a small number, as a fraction of the total workforce it ranks among the highest in the country. These workers are often telecommuters who work in knowledge-based, white-collar professions. For example, Silicon Valley has large numbers of people who telecommute. Other at-home workers may be self-employed people who operate small businesses out of their homes.
Residents will find that the village is relatively quiet. This is because it is not over-populated, and it has fewer college students, renters, and young children - all of whom can be noisy at times. So, if you're looking for a relatively peaceful place to live, Athens is worth considering.
One downside of living in Athens is that it can take a long time to commute to work. In Athens, the average commute to work is 30.95 minutes, which is quite a bit higher than the national average.
Athens is a small village, and as such doesn't have a public transit system that people use to get to and from their jobs every day.
The citizens of Athens have a very low rate of college education: just 8.56% of people over 25 have a bachelor's degree or advanced degree, compared to a national average of 21.84% for all cities.
The per capita income in Athens in 2022 was $28,711, which is middle income relative to Michigan, and lower middle income relative to the rest of the US. This equates to an annual income of $114,844 for a family of four. However, Athens contains both very wealthy and poor people as well.
The people who call Athens home describe themselves as belonging to a variety of racial and ethnic groups. The greatest number of Athens residents report their race to be White, followed by Native American. Important ancestries of people in Athens include German, Irish, English, European, and Italian.
The most common language spoken in Athens is English. Other important languages spoken here include Polish and Italian.
When you see a neighborhood for the first time, the most important thing is often the way it looks, like its homes and its setting. Some places look the same, but they only reveal their true character after living in them for a while because they contain a unique mix of occupational or cultural groups. This neighborhood is very unique in some important ways, according to NeighborhoodScout's exclusive exploration and analysis.
Did you know that the neighborhood has more Canadian ancestry people living in it than nearly any neighborhood in America? It's true! In fact, 1.0% of this neighborhood's residents have Canadian ancestry.
How wealthy a neighborhood is, from very wealthy, to middle income, to low income is very formative with regard to the personality and character of a neighborhood. Equally important is the rate of people, particularly children, who live below the federal poverty line. In some wealthy gated communities, the areas immediately surrounding can have high rates of childhood poverty, which indicates other social issues. NeighborhoodScout's analysis reveals both aspects of income and poverty for this neighborhood.
The neighbors in the neighborhood in Athens are lower-middle income, making it a below average income neighborhood. NeighborhoodScout's research shows that this neighborhood has an income lower than 69.6% of U.S. neighborhoods. With 16.4% of the children here below the federal poverty line, this neighborhood has a higher rate of childhood poverty than 62.7% of U.S. neighborhoods.
The old saying "you are what you eat" is true. But it is also true that you are what you do for a living. The types of occupations your neighbors have shape their character, and together as a group, their collective occupations shape the culture of a place.
In the neighborhood, 41.3% of the working population is employed in manufacturing and laborer occupations. The second most important occupational group in this neighborhood is executive, management, and professional occupations, with 27.2% of the residents employed. Other residents here are employed in sales and service jobs, from major sales accounts, to working in fast food restaurants (16.3%), and 13.5% in clerical, assistant, and tech support occupations.
The most common language spoken in the neighborhood is English, spoken by 98.5% of households. Some people also speak Polish (2.2%).
Boston's Beacon Hill blue-blood streets, Brooklyn's Orthodox Jewish enclaves, Los Angeles' Persian neighborhoods. Each has its own culture derived primarily from the ancestries and culture of the residents who call these neighborhoods home. Likewise, each neighborhood in America has its own culture – some more unique than others – based on lifestyle, occupations, the types of households – and importantly – on the ethnicities and ancestries of the people who live in the neighborhood. Understanding where people came from, who their grandparents or great-grandparents were, can help you understand how a neighborhood is today.
In the neighborhood in Athens, MI, residents most commonly identify their ethnicity or ancestry as German (19.4%). There are also a number of people of Irish ancestry (13.2%), and residents who report English roots (11.7%), and some of the residents are also of Mexican ancestry (2.5%), along with some Scottish ancestry residents (2.2%), among others.
Even if your neighborhood is walkable, you may still have to drive to your place of work. Some neighborhoods are located where many can get to work in just a few minutes, while others are located such that most residents have a long and arduous commute. The greatest number of commuters in neighborhood spend between 15 and 30 minutes commuting one-way to work (40.1% of working residents), which is shorter than the time spent commuting to work for most Americans.
Here most residents (83.6%) drive alone in a private automobile to get to work. In addition, quite a number also carpool with coworkers, friends, or neighbors to get to work (6.4%) . In a neighborhood like this, as in most of the nation, many residents find owning a car useful for getting to work.