Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 4.0Clinton has lower unemployment (1.4%) than 91% of U.S. towns
Jobs and income earn Clinton B+; getting around on foot earns it C+. About one in five work in Clinton; the top destination outside it is Knoxville (24%, 13 miles). Commuters spend 24 minutes getting to work on average; the Tennessee average is 26, the U.S. 26.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Clinton: the figures worth knowing
Clinton is where the jobs are
Clinton has 10,416 jobs, 2.4 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 17,000 people are in town, 59% more than the 10,000 who live here. Day and night ↓
Clinton makes and builds things
49% of the jobs based in Clinton are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Clinton residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 23%. The jobs ↓
Clinton draws workers from far and wide
The 10,416 jobs in Clinton are filled from a wide area. Clinton’s own residents hold 8% and the ten next-biggest home towns 25%; the other 67% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Clinton and Knoxville trade workers both ways
Knoxville is the top workplace for Clinton residents (24%) and also where the most people who work in Clinton come from (11% of its jobs). 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.
Jobs & income in Clinton: the grade in detail
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Clinton is better than 65% of U.S. towns, #51 of 177 in Tennessee. Unemployment holds Clinton’s grade up; the poverty rate pulls it down (12.7%, U.S. 12.5%). It also does well on job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Clinton could be anywhere from B− to A−.
Clinton fills up on a workday
On a workday 3,400 residents head out to work, 877 work right here, and 9,539 people come in from elsewhere.
About 17,000 people are in Clinton on a workday afternoon, 59% more than live here.
2.4 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.
In Clinton, 49% of jobs are in factories, building or farming
10,416 jobs are based in Clinton.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Clinton, 2013 → 2023: 8,923 → 10,416. 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 Clinton’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Commuting in to Clinton: where workers come from
Where Clinton clocks in
24% of workers
17% 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 Clinton: about 24 minutes a trip
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Clinton workers work from home, vs 13% across Tennessee. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,436 commuters (the 13% 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.
Half of Clinton commutes less than 12 miles
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.
Clinton is a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Clinton is more walkable than 35% of U.S. towns, #91 of 177 in Tennessee. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 2.0% across Tennessee.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 5,076 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). 7.6% of Clinton households have no vehicle (Tennessee 5.2%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Clinton’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Clinton is 1,289th of 2,878 U.S. towns of 7,000 to 14,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Ladue MO | 8,934 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 219 | Signal Mountain TN | 8,824 | $141K | 3.3% | 2.4% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 339 | Harrison TN | 8,011 | $89K | 3.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 385 | Tellico Village TN | 7,414 | $107K | 3.3% | 1.9% | 9% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,287 | River Grove IL | 10,409 | $70K | 6.2% | 5.9% | 5% | B+ |
| 1,288 | Corrales NM | 8,484 | $102K | 7.0% | 6.3% | 7% | B+ |
| 1,289 | Clinton TN | 10,466 | $69K | 12.7% | 1.4% | 21% | B+ |
| 1,290 | Cleveland Township IN | 13,130 | $84K | 12.0% | 3.2% | 10% | B+ |
| 1,291 | Dudley MA | 11,972 | $85K | 6.4% | 4.9% | 8% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,878 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Clinton, 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 Clinton: questions
What is the median household income in Clinton?
$68,882 (±$10,185) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $69,595 across Tennessee and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Clinton?
12.7%, against 13.8% across Tennessee and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Clinton?
24 minutes each way on average, against 26 across Tennessee and 26 nationally. 13% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Clinton work?
21% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Knoxville (24%, 13 mi), Oak Ridge (17%, 13 mi), Nashville (3%, 148 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Clinton walkable?
Clinton is more walkable than 35% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 7.0 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Clinton without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Clinton, from the people who make the trip.
More of Clinton
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.