Work & commute · Clay

Work & commute in Clay, AL

Most working residents leave Clay for work: only 1% work in town. The top destinations are Birmingham (37%), Trussville (7%) and Hoover (6%). Half commute less than 17 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

67 of 4,493 working residents

Typical commute

17 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

32 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 4,426 Clay residents head out of town to work, 67 work right here, and 1,164 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Clay.

4,426live here, work elsewhere

67live and work here

1,164work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Clay goes to work

Birmingham15.2 mi away

37%1,659

Trussville3.6 mi away

7%321

Hoover24.3 mi away

6%284

Homewood19.4 mi away

5%224

Irondale10.5 mi away

3%128

Vestavia Hills17.1 mi away

3%122

Bessemer30 mi away

3%121

Clay (in town)right here

1%67

Montgomery94.6 mi away

1%62

Mountain Brook15.2 mi away

1%61

Everywhere elseother towns and states

32%1,444

Lines run between town centers; a thicker line means more commuters. The top 10 towns each way.

How far

How far Clay commutes

Straight-line distance from home to work, for every working resident. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

21%

56%

12%

10%

21%Under 10 mi

56%10–24 mi

12%25–50 mi

10%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Clay is a commuter town

0.27jobs per working resident

A commuter town

0.27 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Clay are

1,231 jobs are based in Clay. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Clay’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Clay

1,231 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)6%

Trade, transport & utilities30%

Services (health, schools, offices…)64%

$1,250 a month or less20%

$1,251–$3,333 a month34%

Over $3,333 a month46%

Jobs Clay residents hold

4,493 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)14%

Trade, transport & utilities22%

Services (health, schools, offices…)64%

$1,250 a month or less12%

$1,251–$3,333 a month25%

Over $3,333 a month62%

+18%

Jobs based in Clay, 2013 → 2023: 1,046 → 1,231. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.

About these numbers

How to read this page

Every worker, home to workThe Census links each worker’s home block to their main job’s block, for jobs covered by unemployment insurance. That’s most jobs, but not the self-employed.

Where the employer saysA job counts where the employer reports it. Some big employers report one address for many sites, which can make a few commutes look longer than they are.

Two surveysFlows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2023. Commute time and working from home: the Census American Community Survey.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs; American Community Survey 5-year estimates.