Photo: Erik Drost · CC BY 4.0Households in Cleveland have lower incomes than those in 96% of U.S. towns
About two in five work in Cleveland; the top destination outside it is Parma (2%, 7 miles). Below the poverty line: 30.6% of residents; Ohio has 13.3%. Cleveland grades C− for jobs and income and A+ for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Cleveland apart on work
Cleveland is where the jobs are
Cleveland has 277,336 jobs, 2.0 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
The jobs in Cleveland pay better than its residents’ jobs
71% of the jobs based in Cleveland pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), against 47% of the jobs Cleveland residents hold. 80% of the jobs here are held by people who live outside Cleveland. The jobs ↓
Cleveland draws workers from far and wide
The 277,336 jobs in Cleveland are filled from a wide area. Cleveland’s own residents hold 20% and the ten next-biggest home towns 21%; the other 59% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
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.
What’s behind Cleveland’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Cleveland is better than 17% of U.S. towns, #917 of 992 in Ohio. Job access by car holds Cleveland’s grade up (ahead of 93% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down.
A firm grade. At either end of the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Cleveland stays C−.
The daily flow of workers through Cleveland
On a workday 79,240 residents head out to work, 56,378 work right here, and 220,958 people come in from elsewhere.
About 505,000 people are in Cleveland on a workday afternoon, 39% more than live here.
2.0 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than 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.
Health, schools and offices: most of the jobs in Cleveland
277,336 jobs are based in Cleveland.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Cleveland, 2013 → 2023: 262,733 → 277,336. 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 Cleveland’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who travels to work in Cleveland, and from where
Where Cleveland clocks in
2% of workers
2% of workers
2% 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.
Commuting from Cleveland: about 23 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Cleveland workers work from home, vs 13% across Ohio. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 138,605 commuters (the 11% who work from home are left out). Across Ohio: 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.
Short hops and long hauls from Cleveland
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.
Cleveland is more walkable than 98% of U.S. towns
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 156,572 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 99% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 63% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 11.7 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 95% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 22.0% of Cleveland households have no vehicle (Ohio 7.5%, U.S. 8.4%). 7% of Cleveland’s commuters take a bus or train.
These are town averages; neighborhoods differ.
U.S. towns of 255,000 to 491,000, and where Cleveland sits
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Oyster Bay NY | 301,115 | $160K | 3.9% | 4.6% | 19% | A |
| 2 | Gilbert AZ | 287,285 | $123K | 5.3% | 3.5% | 15% | A |
| 3 | Plano TX | 293,028 | $112K | 6.8% | 4.0% | 23% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 50 | Cincinnati OH | 314,367 | $53K | 25.5% | 6.8% | 40% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 52 | Buffalo NY | 274,613 | $50K | 26.0% | 7.3% | 42% | C− |
| 53 | Toledo OH | 263,423 | $50K | 24.3% | 7.7% | 44% | C− |
| 54 | Cleveland OH | 363,608 | $41K | 30.6% | 10.8% | 42% | C− |
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 Cleveland, the top three, the last and three more from Ohio.
Cleveland and its neighbors
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Cleveland workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cleveland | – | C− | A+ | 23 min | $40,801 |
| Brook Park | under 2% | B+ | B | 21 min | $71,332 |
| Shaker Heights | under 2% | A− | A | 22 min | $104,073 |
| Cuyahoga Heights | under 2% | — | — | 22 min | — |
| East Cleveland | under 2% | D | A+ | 25 min | $22,116 |
| Fairview Park | under 2% | B+ | A− | 23 min | $78,865 |
| Brooklyn | 2% | B+ | A | 21 min | $69,346 |
| Lakewood | 2% | B | A | 23 min | $68,954 |
| Cleveland Heights | under 2% | C+ | A+ | 23 min | $72,826 |
| Bratenahl | under 2% | A+ | A− | 19 min | $137,500 |
| Euclid | 2% | C | A | 26 min | $50,285 |
Same-state neighbors only. Cuyahoga Heights: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Brooklyn. Darker towns draw more of Cleveland’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 Cleveland: questions
What is the median household income in Cleveland?
$40,801 (±$1,054) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $71,389 across Ohio and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Cleveland?
30.6%, against 13.3% across Ohio and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Cleveland?
23 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Ohio and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Cleveland work?
42% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Parma (2%, 7 mi), Euclid (2%, 11 mi), Solon (2%, 14 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Cleveland walkable?
Cleveland is more walkable than 98% of U.S. towns (Walkability A+): an EPA walkability index of 13.4 out of 20, and 14% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Cleveland without a car?
7% of commuters take transit and 22% of households have no car. 63% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Cleveland, from the people who make the trip.
More of Cleveland
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.