Photo: CTJF83Talk · Public domainHousehold incomes in Clinton trail those of 74% of U.S. towns
Jobs and income earn Clinton C; getting around on foot earns it A. The poverty rate is 18.5% (Iowa 11.1%). Transit is limited for a town this walkable: about 2.7 trips an hour stop near the typical resident at the evening peak, against 7.1 in Des Moines.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The figures behind Clinton’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Clinton is better than 33% of U.S. towns, #105 of 140 in Iowa. Unemployment holds Clinton’s grade up (3.7%, U.S. 5.2%); the poverty rate pulls it down. It also does well on job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Clinton could be anywhere from C− to B−.
A workday in Clinton: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 5,876 residents head out to work, 4,996 work right here, and 6,682 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.07 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.
7% of working residents work in Davenport
Where Clinton clocks in
7% of workers
5% of workers
4% 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.
Goods, not services: 29% of the jobs in Clinton
11,678 jobs are based in Clinton.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Clinton, 2013 → 2023: 14,950 → 11,678. 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 Clinton’s own residents hold wherever they work.
A commute of about 19 minutes in Clinton
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Clinton workers work from home, vs 11% across Iowa. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 10,218 commuters (the 5% who work from home are left out). Across Iowa: 86% 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.
How far Clinton goes to work
About 23% 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.
Clinton is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Clinton is more walkable than 89% of U.S. towns, #9 of 140 in Iowa. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 4.8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, above the 4.4% across Iowa.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 10,804 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 82% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 65% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 2.7 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 74% 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). 9.8% of Clinton households have no vehicle (Iowa 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Clinton’s commuters take a bus or train.
Clinton places 1,273rd of 1,577 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 17,000 to 32,000
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 80 | Grimes IA | 17,405 | $120K | 4.4% | 1.9% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 403 | Johnston IA | 25,065 | $107K | 10.2% | 2.1% | 14% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 416 | Clive IA | 19,861 | $132K | 7.3% | 4.0% | 7% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,271 | Sevierville TN | 19,010 | $52K | 15.4% | 4.4% | 27% | C |
| 1,272 | Van Buren AR | 24,556 | $61K | 15.3% | 5.1% | 23% | C |
| 1,273 | Clinton IA | 24,049 | $60K | 18.5% | 3.7% | 46% | C |
| 1,274 | Laplace LA | 28,343 | $69K | 13.1% | 10.1% | 12% | C |
| 1,275 | Elko NV | 21,019 | $79K | 13.8% | 5.2% | 56% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 1,577 | 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 Clinton, the top three, the last and three more from Iowa.
The towns around Clinton
The biggest share goes to Camanche (5%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Clinton’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 Clinton: questions
What is the median household income in Clinton?
$60,230 (±$5,314) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $75,059 across Iowa and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Clinton?
18.5%, against 11.1% across Iowa and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Clinton?
19 minutes each way on average, against 20 across Iowa and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Clinton work?
46% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Davenport (7%, 27 mi), Camanche (5%, 4 mi), Cedar Rapids (4%, 74 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Clinton walkable?
Clinton is more walkable than 89% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 12.4 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Clinton without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 10% of households have no car. 65% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Clinton, from the people who make the trip.
More of Clinton
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.