Cleveland’s household incomes are lower than in 91% of U.S. towns
Only 3% work in Cleveland; the top destination outside it is Port Charlotte (14%, 8 miles). Below the poverty line: 9.5% of residents, next to 12.6% for Florida as a whole. The two grades for Cleveland are C− for jobs and income and B+ for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Cleveland: the gist
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Cleveland
On income, poverty and job access, Cleveland is better than 24% of U.S. towns, #543 of 638 in Florida. The poverty rate holds Cleveland’s grade up; household income pulls it down ($47,157, U.S. $80,734).
Unemployment (0.0%) is left out: Cleveland’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Cleveland could be anywhere from D to B.
Time on the road from Cleveland: about 18 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Cleveland workers work from home, vs 16% across Florida. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 679 commuters (the 17% who work from home are left out). Across Florida: 83% 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.
Cleveland on a workday afternoon
On a workday 1,209 residents head out to work, 35 work right here, and 786 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,300 people are in Cleveland on a workday afternoon, 16% fewer than live here.
0.66 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.
The towns that employ Cleveland’s residents
Where Cleveland clocks in
9% of workers
5% 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.
Jobs in Cleveland: what the 821 are
821 jobs are based in Cleveland.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Cleveland, 2013 → 2023: 632 → 821. 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 Cleveland’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far Cleveland’s workers travel
About 27% 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.
Most of Cleveland commutes by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Cleveland is more walkable than 72% of U.S. towns, #287 of 638 in Florida. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 6.3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 3.6% across Florida, on an EPA index of 7.0.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 820 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 20% 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). 5.2% of Cleveland households have no vehicle (Florida 6.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Cleveland’s commuters take a bus or train.
Cleveland is 3,514th of 4,797 U.S. towns of 1,900 to 3,600 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 61 | Geneva FL | 3,441 | $133K | 0.6% | 0.4% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 63 | Windermere FL | 3,344 | $178K | 1.3% | 2.5% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 93 | Atlantis FL | 2,140 | $117K | 3.6% | 3.9% | 7% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,512 | Otego NY | 2,694 | $78K | 8.5% | 9.5% | 10% | C− |
| 3,513 | Lincoln Township OH | 2,164 | $70K | 18.1% | 8.0% | 1% | C− |
| 3,514 | Cleveland FL | 2,683 | $47K | 9.5% | 0.0% | 3% | C− |
| 3,515 | South Rosemary NC | 2,475 | $47K | 19.8% | 2.2% | 1% | C− |
| 3,516 | Flora IN | 2,106 | $51K | 13.8% | 4.7% | 12% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,797 | Cibecue AZ | 2,228 | $26K | 57.2% | 13.3% | 12% | 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 Cleveland, the top three, the last and three more from Florida.
Cleveland and its neighbors
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Cleveland workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cleveland | – | C− | B+ | 18 min | $47,157 |
| Solana | under 2% | — | — | 18 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Solana: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Cleveland’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 Cleveland: questions
What is the median household income in Cleveland?
$47,157 (±$21,385) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,568 across Florida and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Cleveland?
9.5%, against 12.6% across Florida and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Cleveland?
18 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Florida and 26 nationally. 17% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Cleveland work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Port Charlotte (14%, 8 mi), Punta Gorda (9%, 6 mi), Fort Myers (5%, 25 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Cleveland walkable?
Cleveland is more walkable than 72% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 7.0 out of 20, and 6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Cleveland without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Cleveland, from the people who make the trip.
More of Cleveland
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.