Photo: John Phelan · CC BY-SA 3.0Clay has 0.3 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
1,231 jobs are based in Clay for 4,493 working residents. For jobs and income Clay is better than 50% of U.S. towns (B−); for walkability it is more walkable than 15% of U.S. towns (C−). Only 1% work in Clay itself; outside it, Birmingham draws the most (37%, 15 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Clay at work: what stands out
37% of Clay works in Birmingham
1,659 working residents, 37%, have their main job in Birmingham, 15 miles away. That’s 37 times as many as work in Clay itself. The commute map ↓
Clay is a place people come home to
There are 1,231 jobs based in Clay, about three for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Clay has about 6,900 people in it, 32% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Clay workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 32 minutes each way, against 26 across Alabama. Over a year that’s about 245 hours of commuting, 46 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
Clay’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
Job access by car holds Clay’s grade up (ahead of 76% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (17.3%, U.S. 12.5%). It also does well on household income.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Clay could be anywhere from C− to A−.
Out of Clay to work: where people go
Where Clay clocks in
37% of workers
7% of workers
6% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
How a workday changes Clay
On a workday 4,426 residents head out to work, 67 work right here, and 1,164 people come in from elsewhere.
About 6,900 people are in Clay on a workday afternoon, 32% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Time on the road from Clay: about 32 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Clay workers work from home, vs 9% across Alabama. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,454 commuters (the 6% who work from home are left out). Across Alabama: 88% drive alone, <1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
The kinds of work in Clay
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Clay, 2013 → 2023: 1,046 → 1,231. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.
Primary jobs covered by unemployment insurance (not the self-employed). Pay is monthly earnings. LEHD 2023.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Clay’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Half of Clay commutes less than 17 miles
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Few in Clay walk, bike or ride to work
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 4,759 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 40% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 1.0% of Clay households have no vehicle (Alabama 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Clay’s commuters take a bus or train.
Clay places 1,702nd of 2,878 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 7,000 to 14,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Ladue MO | 8,934 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 135 | Meadowbrook AL | 9,117 | $142K | 5.5% | 1.5% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 302 | Pike Road AL | 11,899 | $117K | 5.1% | 0.5% | 4% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 395 | Brook Highland AL | 8,146 | $80K | 4.6% | 0.6% | <1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,700 | Petal MS | 11,694 | $75K | 11.1% | 3.6% | 14% | B− |
| 1,701 | Oak Grove MO | 9,370 | $75K | 8.6% | 6.5% | 8% | B− |
| 1,702 | Clay AL | 10,198 | $82K | 17.3% | 4.6% | 1% | B− |
| 1,703 | Hiawatha IA | 7,432 | $66K | 13.7% | 4.0% | 10% | B− |
| 1,704 | Pineville NC | 11,851 | $69K | 13.8% | 5.2% | 5% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,878 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | D− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Clay, the top three, the last and three more from Alabama.
Next door to Clay
The biggest share goes to Trussville (7%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Clay workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clay | – | B− | C− | 32 min | $81,920 |
| Trussville | 7% | A+ | C | 27 min | $123,275 |
| Grayson Valley | under 2% | C | C− | 25 min | $64,597 |
| Pinson | under 2% | B− | D | 31 min | $76,410 |
| Center Point | under 2% | C | A− | 31 min | $56,417 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Clay’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Clay: questions
What is the median household income in Clay?
$81,920 (±$21,822) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $63,999 across Alabama and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Clay?
17.3%, against 15.6% across Alabama and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Clay?
32 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Alabama and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Clay work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Birmingham (37%, 15 mi), Trussville (7%, 4 mi), Hoover (6%, 24 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Clay walkable?
Clay is more walkable than 15% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 5.5 out of 20, and <1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Clay without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Clay, from the people who make the trip.
More of Clay
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 5-year estimates. Distances are straight lines between home and work; real drives run longer. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.