Clare Downtown Historic District · Photo: Magicpiano · CC BY-SA 4.0Clare’s household incomes are lower than in 95% of U.S. towns
For jobs and income Clare is better than 11% of U.S. towns (D); for walkability it is more walkable than 91% of U.S. towns (A). 18.9% of residents are in poverty, against 13.2% across Michigan. About one in seven stay in Clare for work; outside it, Mount Pleasant is the main destination (10%, 16 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Clare, in a few figures
Clare is where the jobs are
Clare has 1,931 jobs, 1.7 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Clare than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Clare fell from 2,815 in 2011 to 1,931 in 2021, −31%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. The jobs ↓
Fewer than half of Clare workers earn over $40,000 a year
44% of Clare’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, wherever they work, and 20% earn $1,250 a month or less. The jobs ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2021, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; 2021 is the newest year Michigan has published.
Inside Clare’s Jobs & income grade
Job access by car holds Clare’s grade up (ahead of 40% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($41,226, U.S. $80,734).
The commuting and job counts on this page are Census LEHD 2021: Michigan reports later than other states, so its newest year is two years behind.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Clare could be anywhere from D− to C+.
Clare by day and by night
On a workday 937 residents head out to work, 187 work right here, and 1,744 people come in from elsewhere.
About 4,100 people are in Clare on a workday afternoon, 24% 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 2021, primary jobs.
Jobs in Clare: what the 1,931 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Clare, 2011 → 2021: 2,815 → 1,931. 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 2021.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Clare’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Commuting in to Clare: where workers come from
Where Clare clocks in
10% of workers
6% 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.
A commute of about 27 minutes in Clare
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Clare workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,055 commuters (the 11% who work from home are left out). Across Michigan: 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.
Half of Clare commutes less than 16 miles
About 24% 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 2021.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Clare is easy on foot, hard by bus
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,192 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). 7.2% of Clare households have no vehicle (Michigan 7.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Clare’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 4,593 U.S. towns of 2,300 to 4,500, Clare comes 4,091st 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 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 24 | Franklin MI | 3,134 | $194K | 2.8% | 2.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 139 | Dexter MI | 4,461 | $107K | 0.8% | 2.1% | 9% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 148 | Village of Grosse Pointe Shores MI | 2,533 | $190K | 2.7% | 3.5% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,089 | Gunnison UT | 3,693 | $71K | 20.9% | 4.1% | 25% | D |
| 4,090 | Granger WA | 3,831 | $66K | 23.3% | 15.8% | 6% | D |
| 4,091 | Clare MI | 3,318 | $41K | 18.9% | 6.7% | 17% | D |
| 4,092 | Ranger TX | 2,335 | $34K | 23.3% | 3.5% | 12% | D |
| 4,093 | Elkland Township MI | 3,485 | $62K | 15.2% | 7.7% | 23% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 4,593 | 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 Clare, the top three, the last and three more from Michigan.
How Clare compares with the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Grant Township (7%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Clare workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clare | – | D | A | 27 min | $41,226 |
| Grant Township | 7% | C− | C+ | 24 min | $61,010 |
| Vernon Township | 2% | B− | D | 28 min | $80,706 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Clare’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 2021, 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 Clare: questions
What is the median household income in Clare?
$41,226 (±$11,305) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Clare?
18.9%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Clare?
27 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Clare work?
17% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Mount Pleasant (10%, 16 mi), Grant Township (7%, 3 mi), Midland (6%, 30 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Is Clare walkable?
Clare is more walkable than 91% of U.S. towns (Walkability A): an EPA walkability index of 8.9 out of 20, and 11% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Clare without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Clare, from the people who make the trip.
More of Clare
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2021, 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.