With 0.5 jobs for every working resident, most of Clear Lake works elsewhere
Employers in Clear Lake report 127 jobs for 232 working residents. Only 2% stay in Clear Lake for work; outside it, St. Cloud is the main destination (21%, 10 miles). Commuters spend 29 minutes getting to work on average; the Minnesota average is 23, the U.S. 26.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Clear Lake and work: the main findings
Clear Lake and St. Cloud trade workers both ways
St. Cloud is the top workplace for Clear Lake residents (21%) and also where the most people who work in Clear Lake come from (14% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Clear Lake workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 29 minutes each way, against 23 across Minnesota. Over a year that’s about 222 hours of commuting, 46 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; with 232 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
The places Clear Lake commutes to
Where Clear Lake clocks in
21% of workers
4% of workers
4% 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.
How long Clear Lake spends getting to work: about 29 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Clear Lake workers work from home, vs 18% across Minnesota. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 258 commuters (the 23% 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.
Who leaves Clear Lake for work, and who comes in
On a workday 228 residents head out to work, 4 work right here, and 123 people come in from elsewhere.
About 580 people are in Clear Lake on a workday afternoon, 15% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
A place that makes things: 40% of Clear Lake’s jobs are in goods
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Clear Lake, 2013 → 2023: 182 → 127. 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 Clear Lake’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far Clear Lake’s workers travel
About 18% 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 Clear Lake: questions
What is the median household income in Clear Lake?
$105,625 (±$29,472) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $89,062 across Minnesota and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Clear Lake?
5.0%, against 9.3% across Minnesota and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Clear Lake?
29 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Minnesota and 26 nationally. 23% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Clear Lake work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are St. Cloud (21%, 10 mi), Sartell (4%, 16 mi), Becker (4%, 7 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Clear Lake without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Clear Lake, from the people who make the trip.
More of Clear Lake
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.