Photo: Galen Parks Smith (Gsmith) · CC BY 2.5Household incomes in Clinton trail those of 77% of U.S. towns
Clinton grades D for jobs and income and C for walkability. The poverty rate is 20.9%, against 18.9% across Louisiana. Only 7% stay in Clinton for work; outside it, Baton Rouge is the main destination (25%, 30 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Clinton: the gist
Clinton workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 48 minutes each way, against 26 across Louisiana. Over a year that’s about 368 hours of commuting, 169 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Clinton’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Clinton is Baton Rouge, 30 miles away as the crow flies. 25% of working residents (122) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Clinton is where the jobs are
Clinton has 836 jobs, 1.7 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
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; with 487 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
The figures behind Clinton’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, Clinton is better than 14% of U.S. towns. Job access by car holds Clinton’s grade up (ahead of 34% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down.
Unemployment (4.1%) is left out: Clinton’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, Clinton could be anywhere from D to B−.
About 48 minutes each way for Clinton’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 15.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Clinton workers work from home, vs 8% across Louisiana. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 395 commuters (the 5% who work from home are left out). Across Louisiana: 85% 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’s workers travel
About 18% 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 many people are in Clinton by day
On a workday 452 residents head out to work, 35 work right here, and 801 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,600 people are in Clinton on a workday afternoon, 28% more than live here.
1.7 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than 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 send workers to Clinton
Where Clinton clocks in
25% 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.
Mostly services: health care, schools and offices
836 jobs are based in Clinton.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Clinton, 2013 → 2023: 821 → 836. 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.
The commute in Clinton is mostly behind the wheel
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Clinton is more walkable than 34% of U.S. towns. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 3.3% across Louisiana.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 417 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 14.1% of Clinton households have no vehicle (Louisiana 8.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Clinton’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Clinton is 3,740th among 4,866 U.S. towns of 900 to 1,700
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 434 | Sorrento LA | 1,622 | $118K | 8.5% | 3.2% | 1% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 557 | Lockport Heights LA | 1,481 | $126K | 7.5% | 0.0% | 2% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 803 | Mathews LA | 1,598 | $87K | 6.0% | 1.6% | 4% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,738 | Butler Township OH | 1,193 | $59K | 26.2% | 2.6% | 1% | D |
| 3,739 | Monroe Township PA | 1,414 | $58K | 11.2% | 2.0% | 4% | D |
| 3,740 | Clinton LA | 1,265 | $58K | 20.9% | 4.1% | 7% | D |
| 3,741 | Archer City TX | 1,627 | $53K | 13.8% | 0.0% | 7% | D |
| 3,742 | Garfield Township MI | 1,027 | $70K | 15.7% | 6.6% | <1% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 4,866 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 0% | 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 Louisiana.
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?
$57,609 (±$16,053) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $60,756 across Louisiana and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Clinton?
20.9%, against 18.9% across Louisiana and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Clinton?
48 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Louisiana and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Clinton work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Baton Rouge (25%, 30 mi), Zachary (5%, 16 mi), Jackson (3%, 12 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Clinton walkable?
Clinton is more walkable than 34% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 7.0 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Clinton without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 14% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
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.