Photo: Preiselbeere · CC BY-SA 3.0At 8.6%, unemployment in Clute is higher than in 91% of U.S. towns
The two grades for Clute are C for jobs and income and C for walkability. Working from home is the commute for 3% of workers, where Texas as a whole has 14%. About one in seven work in Clute itself; outside it, Houston draws the most (18%, 52 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Clute at work: what stands out
Clute’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Clute is Houston, 53 miles away as the crow flies. 18% of working residents (813) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Clute is where the jobs are
Clute has 8,426 jobs, 1.8 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Clute are quick
The average trip to work takes 21 minutes, against 27 across Texas. That’s about 46 hours a year less on the road than the typical Texas worker. Time on the road ↓
Few Clute workers work from home
Only 3% of workers work from home, against 14% across Texas. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Clute than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Clute fell from 11,892 in 2013 to 8,426 in 2023, −29%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. 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.
The four measures behind Clute’s grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Clute is better than 35% of U.S. towns, #387 of 642 in Texas. Job access by car holds Clute’s grade up (ahead of 59% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Clute could be anywhere from C− to B+.
How far Clute’s workers travel
About 27% 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.
Clute by day and by night
On a workday 3,844 residents head out to work, 743 work right here, and 7,683 people come in from elsewhere.
About 15,000 people are in Clute on a workday afternoon, 35% more than live here.
1.8 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.
Clute’s commute takes about 21 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Clute workers work from home, vs 14% across Texas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 5,013 commuters (the 3% 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.
Jobs in Clute: what the 8,426 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Clute, 2013 → 2023: 11,892 → 8,426. 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 Clute’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The towns that send workers to Clute
Where Clute clocks in
18% of workers
8% 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.
For most of Clute, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Clute is more walkable than 35% of U.S. towns, #427 of 642 in Texas. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.0% 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 5,161 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). 5.7% of Clute households have no vehicle (Texas 5.4%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Clute’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Clute is 1,856th of 2,507 U.S. towns of 8,000 to 15,000
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 9 | Trophy Club TX | 13,695 | $201K | 2.1% | 2.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 27 | Lucas TX | 8,896 | $221K | 1.3% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 39 | Lantana TX | 12,766 | $199K | 0.6% | 2.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,854 | North Madison OH | 8,594 | $68K | 9.9% | 6.8% | 2% | C |
| 1,855 | Waimea HI | 9,286 | $100K | 12.3% | 5.4% | 18% | C |
| 1,856 | Clute TX | 10,821 | $70K | 10.4% | 8.6% | 16% | C |
| 1,857 | Henderson TX | 13,496 | $61K | 14.9% | 4.2% | 27% | C |
| 1,858 | Montague MA | 8,377 | $71K | 11.5% | 5.1% | 14% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 2,507 | Roma TX | 11,543 | $25K | 37.1% | 12.4% | 22% | 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 Clute, the top three, the last and three more from Texas.
The towns around Clute
The biggest share goes to Lake Jackson (8%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Clute workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clute | – | C | C | 21 min | $70,208 |
| Lake Jackson | 8% | C+ | C− | 21 min | $90,938 |
| Richwood | under 2% | B | C− | 21 min | $88,380 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Clute’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 Clute: questions
What is the median household income in Clute?
$70,208 (±$16,304) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $78,476 across Texas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Clute?
10.4%, against 13.8% across Texas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Clute?
21 minutes each way on average, against 27 across Texas and 26 nationally. 3% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Clute work?
16% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Houston (18%, 52 mi), Freeport (9%, 6 mi), Lake Jackson (8%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Clute walkable?
Clute is more walkable than 35% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 6.8 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Clute without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Clute, from the people who make the trip.
More of Clute
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.