Eau Claire at work: jobs, income and the commute
The trip to work takes 19 minutes on average, where Michigan has 24 and the U.S. 26. Home is the office for 3% of workers, next to 14% for Michigan as a whole. Only 5% work in Eau Claire; the top destination outside it is Oronoko Township (10%, 6 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2021, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Eau Claire in brief
Few Eau Claire workers work from home
Only 3% of workers work from home, against 14% across Michigan. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
Commutes from Eau Claire are quick
The average trip to work takes 19 minutes, against 24 across Michigan. That’s about 38 hours a year less on the road than the typical Michigan worker. 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; with 243 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Eau Claire’s commute takes about 19 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Eau Claire workers work from home, vs 14% across Michigan. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 266 commuters (the 3% 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.
Who works in Eau Claire, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 232 residents head out to work, 11 work right here, and 285 people come in from elsewhere.
About 600 people are in Eau Claire on a workday afternoon, 10% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.22 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2021, primary jobs.
Where the trip to work from Eau Claire ends
Where Eau Claire clocks in
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.
A place that makes things: 31% of Eau Claire’s jobs are in goods
296 jobs are based in Eau Claire.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Eau Claire, 2011 → 2021: 101 → 296. 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 Eau Claire’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Eau Claire
About 21% 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.
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 Eau Claire: questions
What is the median household income in Eau Claire?
$72,619 (±$21,424) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $72,875 across Michigan and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Eau Claire?
15.5%, against 13.2% across Michigan and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Eau Claire?
19 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Michigan and 26 nationally. 3% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Eau Claire work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Oronoko Township (10%, 6 mi), St. Joseph (7%, 12 mi), Grand Rapids (6%, 75 mi) (Census LEHD 2021).
Can you get around Eau Claire without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Eau Claire, from the people who make the trip.
More of Eau Claire
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.