Photo: Bmburch · CC BY-SA 4.0Clawson has higher household incomes than 66% of U.S. towns
Below the poverty line: 5.9% of residents; Michigan has 13.2%. The two grades for Clawson are A− for jobs and income and A− for walkability. For 22% of workers, the job is at home, next to 14% for Michigan as a whole.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Clawson: the figures worth knowing
The better-paid jobs are outside Clawson
70% of Clawson residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, but only 45% of the jobs based in Clawson pay that much. Most residents work elsewhere: 96% leave town for their job. The jobs ↓
Home offices are common in Clawson
22% of Clawson workers work from home, against 14% across Michigan. Time on the road ↓
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.
Where Clawson’s Jobs & income grade comes from
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Clawson is better than 78% of U.S. towns, #160 of 701 in Michigan. Job access by car holds Clawson’s grade up (ahead of 95% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (4.9%, U.S. 5.2%). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate.
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, Clawson could be anywhere from B+ to A.
What the 3,481 jobs in Clawson are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Clawson, 2011 → 2021: 3,917 → 3,481. 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 Clawson’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 22 minutes to work from Clawson
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Clawson workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 5,009 commuters (the 22% 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.
How a workday changes Clawson
On a workday 5,573 residents head out to work, 234 work right here, and 3,247 people come in from elsewhere.
About 9,000 people are in Clawson on a workday afternoon, 21% fewer than live here.
0.60 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 2021, primary jobs.
15% of working residents work in Troy
Where Clawson clocks in
15% 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.
Short hops and long hauls from Clawson
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.
Clawson 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, Clawson is more walkable than 79% of U.S. towns, #88 of 701 in Michigan. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 3.3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 3.8% across Michigan.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 6,427 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). 4.1% of Clawson households have no vehicle (Michigan 7.0%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Clawson’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 2,507 U.S. towns of 8,000 to 15,000, Clawson comes 799th on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Ladue MO | 8,934 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 13 | Ada Township MI | 14,769 | $168K | 2.0% | 0.7% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 25 | Grosse Pointe Farms MI | 9,735 | $161K | 2.5% | 1.9% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 797 | Berwick ME | 8,436 | $95K | 4.2% | 2.5% | 6% | A− |
| 798 | Philipstown NY | 9,910 | $141K | 6.5% | 4.6% | 13% | A− |
| 799 | Clawson MI | 11,312 | $89K | 5.9% | 4.9% | 4% | A− |
| 800 | Emmaus PA | 12,514 | $84K | 7.3% | 3.3% | 7% | A− |
| 801 | Butler Township OH | 8,421 | $93K | 8.9% | 3.1% | 6% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,507 | Roma TX | 11,543 | $25K | 37.1% | 12.4% | 22% | 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 Clawson, the top three, the last and three more from Michigan.
Clawson and its neighbors: 20% work next door
The biggest share goes to Troy (15%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Clawson’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 Clawson: questions
What is the median household income in Clawson?
$88,636 (±$4,504) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Clawson?
5.9%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Clawson?
22 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 22% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Clawson work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Troy (15%, 3 mi), Detroit (11%, 11 mi), Warren (6%, 7 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Is Clawson walkable?
Clawson is more walkable than 79% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 9.6 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Clawson without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Clawson, from the people who make the trip.
More of Clawson
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.