Photo: Finetooth · CC BY-SA 3.0Household incomes in Clarkdale trail those of 91% of U.S. towns
18.6% of residents live below the poverty line, where Arizona as a whole has 12.5%. Clarkdale grades C− for jobs and income and B+ for walkability. For 12% of workers, the job is at home (Arizona 18%).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Clarkdale, in brief
Jobs in Clarkdale have more than doubled in ten years
Jobs based in Clarkdale went from 416 in 2013 to 845 in 2023, +103%. The jobs ↓
Clarkdale makes and builds things
53% of the jobs based in Clarkdale are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Clarkdale residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 14%. The jobs ↓
Clarkdale and Cottonwood trade workers both ways
Cottonwood is the top workplace for Clarkdale residents (16%) and also where the most people who work in Clarkdale come from (21% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
A big share show a job far from home
38% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Clarkdale
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Clarkdale is better than 19% of U.S. towns, #96 of 140 in Arizona. Unemployment holds Clarkdale’s grade up (2.7%, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($46,563, U.S. $80,734).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Clarkdale could be anywhere from D− to B−.
53% of the jobs in Clarkdale make or build things
845 jobs are based in Clarkdale.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Clarkdale, 2013 → 2023: 416 → 845. 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 Clarkdale’s own residents hold wherever they work.
16% of working residents work in Cottonwood
Where Clarkdale clocks in
16% of workers
15% of workers
9% 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.
Miles to work from Clarkdale
About 38% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.
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.
How a workday changes Clarkdale
On a workday 1,596 residents head out to work, 79 work right here, and 766 people come in from elsewhere.
About 4,000 people are in Clarkdale on a workday afternoon, 17% fewer than live here.
0.50 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Commuting from Clarkdale: about 22 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Clarkdale workers work from home, vs 18% across Arizona. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,978 commuters (the 12% who work from home are left out). Across Arizona: 82% 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.
Getting around Clarkdale: mostly by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Clarkdale is more walkable than 66% of U.S. towns, #38 of 140 in Arizona. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 3.9% across Arizona.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,247 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 74% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 16% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 1.2 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 60% 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). 2.4% of Clarkdale households have no vehicle (Arizona 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Clarkdale’s commuters take a bus or train.
Clarkdale next to U.S. towns of 3,400 to 6,500: 3,126th of 3,753 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 352 | Citrus Park AZ | 5,115 | $141K | 8.8% | 1.3% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,152 | Cave Creek AZ | 5,160 | $107K | 7.2% | 2.7% | 6% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,204 | Clifton AZ | 3,752 | $78K | 2.5% | 0.8% | 8% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,124 | Dimmitt TX | 4,069 | $46K | 18.1% | 2.6% | 17% | C− |
| 3,125 | Piedmont SC | 5,462 | $53K | 25.4% | 8.1% | 2% | C− |
| 3,126 | Clarkdale AZ | 4,806 | $47K | 18.6% | 2.7% | 5% | C− |
| 3,127 | Rensselaer IN | 5,681 | $60K | 15.3% | 5.8% | 29% | C− |
| 3,128 | Ste. Genevieve MO | 5,065 | $48K | 12.8% | 5.3% | 31% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,753 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Clarkdale, the top three, the last and three more from Arizona.
The towns next door employ 16% of Clarkdale
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Clarkdale workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clarkdale | – | C− | B+ | 22 min | $46,563 |
| Cottonwood | 16% | C− | B+ | 19 min | $48,448 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Cottonwood. Darker towns draw more of Clarkdale’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 Clarkdale: questions
What is the median household income in Clarkdale?
$46,563 (±$31,249) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $79,964 across Arizona and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Clarkdale?
18.6%, against 12.5% across Arizona and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Clarkdale?
22 minutes each way on average, against 25 across Arizona and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Clarkdale work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Cottonwood (16%, 4 mi), Phoenix (15%, 81 mi), Sedona (9%, 17 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Clarkdale walkable?
Clarkdale is more walkable than 66% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 9.5 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Clarkdale without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. 16% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Clarkdale, from the people who make the trip.
More of Clarkdale
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.