Photo: Shannon McGee · CC BY-SA 2.0Clifton has lower household incomes than 94% of U.S. towns
For jobs and income Clifton is near the bottom of U.S. towns (D−); for walkability it is more walkable than 5% of U.S. towns (D). 39.5% of residents are in poverty (Tennessee 13.8%). About one in ten work in Clifton; the top destination outside it is Waynesboro (15%, 14 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work and commuting in Clifton, in brief
A big share show a job far from home
50% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
The jobs in Clifton pay better than its residents’ jobs
68% of the jobs based in Clifton pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), against 49% of the jobs Clifton residents hold. 90% of the jobs here are held by people who live outside Clifton. The jobs ↓
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 668 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Why Clifton gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty and job access, Clifton is near the bottom of U.S. towns. All three inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Clifton’s grade.
Unemployment (3.1%) is left out: Clifton’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, Clifton could be anywhere from D− to D.
How many miles Clifton commutes
About 50% 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.
Clifton is a services town
587 jobs are based in Clifton.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Clifton, 2013 → 2023: 542 → 587. 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 Clifton’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily commute in and out of Clifton
On a workday 609 residents head out to work, 59 work right here, and 528 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.88 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
The places Clifton commutes to
Where Clifton clocks in
15% of workers
3% 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 trip to work from Clifton: 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 Clifton workers work from home, vs 13% across Tennessee. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 399 commuters (the 5% who work from home are left out). Across Tennessee: 87% 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.
Most of Clifton commutes by car
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 422 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). 2.3% of Clifton households have no vehicle (Tennessee 5.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Clifton’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Clifton compares with U.S. towns of 1,600 to 3,200
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 60 | Lookout Mountain TN | 2,044 | $201K | 2.3% | 0.4% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 211 | Walden TN | 1,965 | $124K | 3.1% | 4.1% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 5,497 | Milan NM | 2,468 | $36K | 32.2% | 3.7% | 10% | D− |
| 5,498 | Lordsburg NM | 2,181 | $37K | 23.5% | 4.6% | 42% | D− |
| 5,499 | Clifton TN | 2,344 | $44K | 39.5% | 3.1% | 9% | D− |
| 5,500 | San Augustine TX | 1,839 | $28K | 46.0% | 8.9% | 18% | D− |
| 5,501 | Camden AL | 1,646 | $36K | 25.5% | 15.1% | 29% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,552 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 Clifton, the top three, the last and three more from Tennessee.
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 Clifton: questions
What is the median household income in Clifton?
$43,571 (±$17,953) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $69,595 across Tennessee and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Clifton?
39.5%, against 13.8% across Tennessee and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Clifton?
24 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Tennessee and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Clifton work?
9% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Waynesboro (15%, 14 mi), Nashville (11%, 87 mi), Columbia (3%, 56 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Clifton walkable?
Clifton is more walkable than 5% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 4.6 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Clifton 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 Clifton, from the people who make the trip.
More of Clifton
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.