Photo: Renelibrary · CC BY-SA 4.0Household incomes in Clifton are lower than in 66% of U.S. towns
The poverty rate is 9.5%, against 13.8% across Texas. Clifton grades C+ for jobs and income and B for walkability. About one in four work in Clifton itself; outside it, Waco draws the most (11%, 28 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Clifton apart on work
Commutes from Clifton are quick
The average trip to work takes 16 minutes, against 27 across Texas. That’s about 84 hours a year less on the road than the typical Texas worker. Time on the road ↓
Clifton trades workers with the towns around it
Clifton has about as many jobs (1,357) as working residents (1,588), but they are mostly different people: 1,196 residents leave for work each day while 965 people come in. Only 29% of the jobs in Clifton are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
A big share show a job far from home
40% 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 ↓
Clifton’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Clifton is Waco, 28 miles away as the crow flies. 11% of working residents (174) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
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.
Clifton’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Clifton is better than 38% of U.S. towns, #355 of 642 in Texas. Unemployment holds Clifton’s grade up (4.0%, U.S. 5.2%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 29% of U.S. towns). It also does well on the poverty rate.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Clifton could be anywhere from D to B+.
Each way, about 16 minutes from Clifton
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Clifton workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,228 commuters (the 7% 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.
Clifton by day and by night
On a workday 1,196 residents head out to work, 392 work right here, and 965 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 (0.85 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.
How far Clifton’s workers travel
About 40% 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 places Clifton commutes to
Where Clifton clocks in
4% 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.
What Clifton’s employers do
1,357 jobs are based in Clifton.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Clifton, 2013 → 2023: 1,221 → 1,357. 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.
Driving is how Clifton gets around
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Clifton is more walkable than 65% of U.S. towns, #154 of 642 in Texas. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 3.0% across Texas.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,321 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). 4.1% of Clifton households have no vehicle (Texas 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Clifton’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 4,355 U.S. towns of 2,500 to 4,800, Clifton comes 2,717th on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 5 | Taylor Lake Village TX | 3,774 | $166K | 0.0% | 0.6% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 11 | Hollywood Park TX | 3,140 | $138K | 2.6% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 19 | Talty TX | 3,299 | $155K | 1.9% | 1.3% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,715 | Sunset LA | 3,194 | $61K | 15.5% | 4.2% | 3% | C+ |
| 2,716 | Canton SD | 3,001 | $61K | 8.1% | 5.4% | 19% | C+ |
| 2,717 | Clifton TX | 3,523 | $65K | 9.5% | 4.0% | 25% | C+ |
| 2,718 | Acton ME | 2,735 | $79K | 7.8% | 4.6% | 6% | C+ |
| 2,719 | Pelican WI | 2,840 | $62K | 11.5% | 2.4% | 5% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,355 | 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 Clifton, the top three, the last and three more from Texas.
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?
$64,653 (±$11,682) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Clifton?
9.5%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Clifton?
16 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Clifton work?
25% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Waco (11%, 28 mi), Fort Worth (4%, 70 mi), Dallas (3%, 85 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Clifton walkable?
Clifton is more walkable than 65% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 9.2 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Clifton without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 4% 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.