Photo: Billy Hathorn · CC BY-SA 3.0Cleveland’s household incomes are lower than in 82% of U.S. towns
For jobs and income Cleveland is better than 32% of U.S. towns (C); for walkability it is more walkable than 57% of U.S. towns (B). The poverty rate is 19.2%, where Texas as a whole has 13.8%. About one in seven work in Cleveland itself; outside it, Houston draws the most (27%, 42 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Cleveland apart
Cleveland’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Cleveland is Houston, 42 miles away as the crow flies. 27% of working residents (967) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Cleveland draws workers from far and wide
The 5,743 jobs in Cleveland are filled from a wide area. Cleveland’s own residents hold 9% and the ten next-biggest home towns 17%; the other 74% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Cleveland workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 37 minutes each way, against 27 across Texas. Over a year that’s about 284 hours of commuting, 77 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
The biggest group of Cleveland’s workers comes from Houston
484 of the people who work in Cleveland live in Houston, 42 miles away, more than from any other town. The commute map ↓
Cleveland is where the jobs are
Cleveland has 5,743 jobs, 1.6 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
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 Cleveland’s Jobs & income grade comes from
Job access by car holds Cleveland’s grade up (ahead of 66% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down. It also does well on unemployment.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Cleveland could be anywhere from D to B.
The distance from Cleveland to work
About 30% 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.
The daily trip into Cleveland
Where Cleveland clocks in
27% of workers
4% 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.
Getting to work from Cleveland takes about 37 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 11.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Cleveland workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,877 commuters (the 11% who work from home are left out). Across Texas: 83% 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.
The daily flow of workers through Cleveland
On a workday 3,059 residents head out to work, 511 work right here, and 5,232 people come in from elsewhere.
About 12,000 people are in Cleveland on a workday afternoon, 22% more than live here.
1.6 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.
What the 5,743 jobs in Cleveland are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Cleveland, 2013 → 2023: 3,964 → 5,743. 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.
In Cleveland, most people drive to work
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 3,221 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). 12.3% of Cleveland households have no vehicle (Texas 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Cleveland’s commuters take a bus or train.
Cleveland places 2,043rd of 2,722 on jobs and income among U.S. towns of 7,000 to 13,400
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 17 | Alamo Heights TX | 7,632 | $183K | 2.5% | 2.2% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 26 | Lucas TX | 8,896 | $221K | 1.3% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 31 | Aledo TX | 7,122 | $163K | 2.8% | 1.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,041 | Jeannette PA | 8,489 | $49K | 18.8% | 4.6% | 8% | C |
| 2,042 | West Perrine FL | 11,162 | $67K | 18.1% | 9.9% | 1% | C |
| 2,043 | Cleveland TX | 9,936 | $55K | 19.2% | 4.2% | 14% | C |
| 2,044 | Angier NC | 9,410 | $52K | 10.6% | 5.1% | 3% | C |
| 2,045 | Scott LA | 9,635 | $56K | 15.2% | 5.9% | 6% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 2,722 | 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 Cleveland, the top three, the last and three more from Texas.
The towns around Cleveland
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Cleveland workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cleveland | – | C | B | 37 min | $54,519 |
| North Cleveland | under 2% | — | — | 49 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. North Cleveland: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
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?
$54,519 (±$15,777) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Cleveland?
19.2%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Cleveland?
37 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 11% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Cleveland work?
14% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Houston (27%, 42 mi), Conroe (4%, 24 mi), Austin (2%, 159 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Cleveland walkable?
Cleveland is more walkable than 57% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 6.9 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Cleveland without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 12% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
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.