Jobs and the daily commute in Palm River-Clair Mel
Working residents average 31 minutes each way, against 28 across Florida and 26 nationally. Palm River-Clair Mel grades B− for jobs and income and B+ for walkability. Only 5% work in Palm River-Clair Mel itself; outside it, Tampa draws the most (32%, 6 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Palm River-Clair Mel
A lot of Palm River-Clair Mel works one town over
41% of working residents work in a town that borders Palm River-Clair Mel: Tampa (32%), Brandon (7%) and Riverview (2%). Next door ↓
Short distances, slow trips
Half of Palm River-Clair Mel’s working residents have a job less than 9 miles away, yet the average commute still takes 31 minutes, longer than the Florida average of 28. Time on the road ↓
Palm River-Clair Mel has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Palm River-Clair Mel went from 10,181 in 2013 to 15,923 in 2023, +56%. The jobs ↓
Palm River-Clair Mel draws workers from far and wide
The 15,923 jobs in Palm River-Clair Mel are filled from a wide area. The ten biggest home towns of its workers supply 33%; the other 63% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Stores, warehouses and trucking
46% of the jobs in Palm River-Clair Mel are in trade, transport and utilities, against 22% of the jobs its residents hold. The jobs ↓
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 Palm River-Clair Mel
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Palm River-Clair Mel is better than 55% of U.S. towns, #305 of 638 in Florida. Job access by car holds Palm River-Clair Mel’s grade up (ahead of 90% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (13.1%, U.S. 12.5%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Palm River-Clair Mel could be anywhere from C+ to B+.
About 31 minutes to work from Palm River-Clair Mel
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Palm River-Clair Mel workers work from home, vs 16% across Florida. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 11,533 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.
71% of the jobs in Palm River-Clair Mel pay over $3,333 a month
15,923 jobs are based in Palm River-Clair Mel.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Palm River-Clair Mel, 2013 → 2023: 10,181 → 15,923. 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 Palm River-Clair Mel’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The places Palm River-Clair Mel commutes to
Where Palm River-Clair Mel clocks in
32% of workers
7% 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.
The daily flow of workers through Palm River-Clair Mel
On a workday 11,689 residents head out to work, 628 work right here, and 15,295 people come in from elsewhere.
About 31,000 people are in Palm River-Clair Mel on a workday afternoon, 13% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.29 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Near or far: the trip to work from Palm River-Clair Mel
About 17% 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.
Palm River-Clair Mel is a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Palm River-Clair Mel is more walkable than 67% of U.S. towns, #332 of 638 in Florida. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 3.6% across Florida.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 13,860 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 47% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 15% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 1.3 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 61% 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). 3.7% of Palm River-Clair Mel households have no vehicle (Florida 6.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Palm River-Clair Mel’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 1,544 U.S. towns of 19,000 to 38,000, Palm River-Clair Mel comes 971st on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Mountain Brook AL | 21,661 | $201K | 3.2% | 1.2% | 8% | A+ |
| 3 | Lake Forest IL | 19,731 | $235K | 3.5% | 1.8% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 85 | Palm Valley FL | 19,796 | $117K | 4.2% | 1.2% | 13% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 100 | Jacksonville Beach FL | 23,615 | $121K | 4.8% | 1.8% | 14% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 114 | Palmetto Bay FL | 24,886 | $142K | 5.8% | 2.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 969 | Fridley MN | 30,829 | $78K | 11.9% | 6.5% | 9% | B− |
| 970 | Ojus FL | 19,198 | $69K | 12.5% | 4.9% | 6% | B− |
| 971 | Palm River-Clair Mel FL | 27,844 | $72K | 13.1% | 4.7% | 5% | B− |
| 972 | Ansonia CT | 19,216 | $86K | 9.4% | 9.1% | 4% | B− |
| 973 | Balch Springs TX | 27,258 | $67K | 7.1% | 8.3% | 3% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,544 | Nogales AZ | 19,495 | $43K | 28.0% | 15.7% | 37% | 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 Palm River-Clair Mel, the top three, the last and three more from Florida.
Next door is work for 41% of Palm River-Clair Mel
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Palm River-Clair Mel workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Palm River-Clair Mel | – | B− | B+ | 31 min | $71,787 |
| Tampa | 32% | B− | A | 25 min | $75,475 |
| Progress Village | under 2% | B+ | C+ | 27 min | $88,694 |
| Brandon | 7% | B | B+ | 28 min | $79,685 |
| Riverview | 2% | B+ | B− | 35 min | $100,438 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Tampa. Darker towns draw more of Palm River-Clair Mel’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 Palm River-Clair Mel: questions
What is the median household income in Palm River-Clair Mel?
$71,787 (±$6,213) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $74,568 across Florida and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Palm River-Clair Mel?
13.1%, against 12.6% across Florida and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Palm River-Clair Mel?
31 minutes each way on average, against 28 across Florida and 26 nationally. 17% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Palm River-Clair Mel work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Tampa (32%, 6 mi), East Lake-Orient Park (7%, 6 mi), Brandon (7%, 5 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Palm River-Clair Mel walkable?
Palm River-Clair Mel is more walkable than 67% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 9.2 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Palm River-Clair Mel without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 15% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Palm River-Clair Mel, from the people who make the trip.
More of Palm River-Clair Mel
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.