Photo: Heritage Preservation Department - MNHS · CC BY-SA 4.0Households in Clara City have lower incomes than those in 68% of U.S. towns
Below the poverty line: 7.3% of residents, next to 9.3% for Minnesota as a whole. Jobs and income earn Clara City C; getting around on foot earns it C+. For 4% of workers, the job is at home (Minnesota 18%).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Clara City
Commutes from Clara City are quick
The average trip to work takes 15 minutes, against 23 across Minnesota. That’s about 61 hours a year less on the road than the typical Minnesota worker. Time on the road ↓
Few Clara City workers work from home
Only 4% of workers work from home, against 18% across Minnesota. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Clara City than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Clara City fell from 525 in 2014 to 391 in 2024, −26%. 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 ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; with 613 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Clara City’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty and job access, Clara City is better than 33% of U.S. towns. The poverty rate holds Clara City’s grade up; job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 18% of U.S. towns).
Unemployment (2.2%) is left out: Clara City’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Clara City could be anywhere from C− to B−.
From Clara City, about 15 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Clara City workers work from home, vs 18% across Minnesota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 659 commuters (the 4% who work from home are left out). Across Minnesota: 84% drive alone, 2% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
What Clara City’s employers do
391 jobs are based in Clara City.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Clara City, 2014 → 2024: 525 → 391. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Clara City’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Clara City quiets down on a workday
On a workday 526 residents head out to work, 87 work right here, and 304 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,200 people are in Clara City on a workday afternoon, 16% fewer than live here.
0.64 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 2024, primary jobs.
22% of working residents work in Willmar
Where Clara City clocks in
22% 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.
The commute from Clara City, by distance
About 20% 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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Most trips from Clara City start in a car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Clara City is more walkable than 44% of U.S. towns. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.8% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 5.7% across Minnesota.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 686 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). 2.0% of Clara City households have no vehicle (Minnesota 6.7%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Clara City’s commuters take a bus or train.
Clara City next to U.S. towns of 1,000 to 1,900: 3,103rd of 5,877 on jobs and income
| # | 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% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 9 | Medicine Lake MN | 1,342 | $184K | 2.7% | 0.0% | 0% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 33 | Dellwood MN | 1,148 | $225K | 4.1% | 0.9% | 4% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 35 | Louisville Township MN | 1,361 | $143K | 1.1% | 0.9% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,101 | Buffington Township PA | 1,218 | $66K | 9.6% | 14.9% | 3% | C |
| 3,102 | Rossville KS | 1,088 | $54K | 8.3% | 8.8% | 3% | C |
| 3,103 | Clara City MN | 1,397 | $64K | 7.3% | 2.2% | 14% | C |
| 3,104 | Nevis Township MN | 1,179 | $70K | 6.7% | 2.3% | 2% | C |
| 3,105 | Licking Creek Township PA | 1,607 | $78K | 8.8% | 0.9% | 1% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 5,877 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 1% | 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 Clara City, the top three, the last and three more from Minnesota.
Clara City and its neighbors
The biggest share goes to Stoneham Township (6%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Clara City workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clara City | – | C | C+ | 15 min | $63,636 |
| Stoneham Township | 6% | — | — | 15 min | — |
| Rheiderland Township | under 2% | — | — | 16 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Stoneham Township and Rheiderland Township: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Clara City’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 2024, 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 Clara City: questions
What is the median household income in Clara City?
$63,636 (±$6,392) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $89,062 across Minnesota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Clara City?
7.3%, against 9.3% across Minnesota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Clara City?
15 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Minnesota and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Clara City work?
14% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Willmar (22%, 19 mi), Montevideo (7%, 17 mi), Stoneham Township (6%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Clara City walkable?
Clara City is more walkable than 44% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 7.8 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Clara City without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Clara City, from the people who make the trip.
More of Clara City
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.