Photo: Hog Farm · CC BY-SA 4.0For about half of its working residents, Clever is a commute to Springfield
The two grades for Clever are A− for jobs and income and C for walkability. 3% of workers have no commute at all, next to 13% for Missouri as a whole. Only 5% stay in Clever for work; outside it, Springfield is the main destination (46%, 15 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Clever
Nearly half of Clever works in Springfield
632 working residents, 46%, have their main job in Springfield, 15 miles away. That’s 9 times as many as work in Clever itself. The commute map ↓
Clever is a place people come home to
There are 409 jobs based in Clever, about three for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Clever has about 2,200 people in it, 31% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Few Clever workers work from home
Only 3% of workers work from home, against 13% across Missouri. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
Clever workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 29 minutes each way, against 24 across Missouri. Over a year that’s about 222 hours of commuting, 38 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.
Where Clever’s Jobs & income grade comes from
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Clever is better than 75% of U.S. towns, #63 of 247 in Missouri. Unemployment is its strongest input (2.1%, U.S. 5.2%); household income ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns ($78,366, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on household income and the poverty rate and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Clever could be anywhere from B to A.
Where the trip to work from Clever ends
Where Clever clocks in
46% 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.
Clever on a workday afternoon
On a workday 1,308 residents head out to work, 62 work right here, and 347 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,200 people are in Clever on a workday afternoon, 31% fewer than live here.
0.30 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.
About 29 minutes each way, longer than most of Missouri
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Clever workers work from home, vs 13% across Missouri. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,559 commuters (the 3% who work from home are left out). Across Missouri: 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.
What Clever’s employers do
409 jobs are based in Clever.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Clever, 2013 → 2023: 306 → 409. 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 Clever’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Clever
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.
Most of Clever commutes by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Clever is more walkable than 33% of U.S. towns, #214 of 247 in Missouri. Both inputs place Clever near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,610 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). 5.4% of Clever households have no vehicle (Missouri 6.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Clever’s commuters take a bus or train.
Clever next to U.S. towns of 2,200 to 4,200: 1,012th of 4,562 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 25 | St. Paul MO | 3,849 | $159K | 0.5% | 0.5% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 97 | Clarkson Valley MO | 2,540 | $247K | 3.0% | 2.9% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 164 | Frontenac MO | 3,790 | $233K | 2.0% | 4.4% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,010 | Rockwood MI | 3,132 | $88K | 11.4% | 2.7% | 3% | A− |
| 1,011 | Ferrysburg MI | 2,955 | $70K | 8.5% | 0.8% | 3% | A− |
| 1,012 | Clever MO | 3,143 | $78K | 5.9% | 2.1% | 5% | A− |
| 1,013 | Blue Mound TX | 2,288 | $66K | 6.7% | 3.3% | <1% | A− |
| 1,014 | Marysville Township KS | 2,467 | $103K | 1.6% | 5.7% | 2% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,562 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Clever, the top three, the last and three more from Missouri.
Clever and its neighbors
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Clever’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 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 Clever: questions
What is the median household income in Clever?
$78,366 (±$4,967) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $70,702 across Missouri and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Clever?
5.9%, against 12.6% across Missouri and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Clever?
29 minutes each way on average, against 24 across Missouri and 26 nationally. 3% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Clever work?
5% work in town.
Is Clever walkable?
Clever is more walkable than 33% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 6.4 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Clever without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Clever, from the people who make the trip.
More of Clever
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. 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.