Photo: Myotus · CC BY 4.0Earning a living in Clarissa
The average commute takes 24 minutes each way, next to 23 for Minnesota and 26 for the U.S. Working from home is the commute for 7% of workers (Minnesota 18%). Only 7% work in Clarissa itself; outside it, Long Prairie draws the most (19%, 11 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The daily flow of workers through Clarissa
On a workday 221 residents head out to work, 16 work right here, and 138 people come in from elsewhere.
About 570 people are in Clarissa on a workday afternoon, 13% fewer than live here.
0.65 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 2023, primary jobs.
Where the trip to work from Clarissa ends
Where Clarissa clocks in
19% of workers
8% 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.
What Clarissa’s employers do
154 jobs are based in Clarissa.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Clarissa, 2013 → 2023: 181 → 154. 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 Clarissa’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Time on the road from Clarissa: about 24 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Clarissa workers work from home, vs 18% across Minnesota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 190 commuters (the 7% 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.
Short hops and long hauls from Clarissa
About 25% 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.
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 Clarissa: questions
What is the median household income in Clarissa?
$47,188 (±$6,126) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $89,062 across Minnesota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Clarissa?
14.0%, against 9.3% across Minnesota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Clarissa?
24 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Minnesota and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Clarissa work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Long Prairie (19%, 11 mi), Alexandria (8%, 27 mi), Eagle Bend (5%, 5 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Clarissa without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Clarissa, from the people who make the trip.
More of Clarissa
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.