Work & commute · Clear Lake

Work & commute in Clear Lake, IA

About one in 4 of Clear Lake’s working residents works in town. The top destinations are Mason City (27%), Garner (4%) and Forest City (3%). Half commute less than 9 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

26%

874 of 3,309 working residents

Typical commute

9 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

19 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

10%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 2,435 Clear Lake residents head out of town to work, 874 work right here, and 2,686 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Clear Lake.

2,435live here, work elsewhere

874live and work here

2,686work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Clear Lake goes to work

Mason City8.8 mi away

27%882

Clear Lake (in town)right here

26%874

Garner11.8 mi away

4%128

Forest City15.7 mi away

3%111

Des Moines108.6 mi away

2%57

Charles City35.8 mi away

1%38

Cedar Rapids118.2 mi away

1%37

Ames77.6 mi away

1%35

Ventura4.7 mi away

1%32

Cedar Falls63.1 mi away

1%30

Everywhere elseother towns and states

33%1,085

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

How far

How far Clear Lake commutes

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

54%

16%

24%

54%Under 10 mi

16%10–24 mi

6%25–50 mi

24%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Clear Lake is balanced between jobs and homes

1.08jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.08 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Clear Lake are

3,560 jobs are based in Clear Lake. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Clear Lake’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Clear Lake

3,560 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)16%

Trade, transport & utilities22%

Services (health, schools, offices…)62%

$1,250 a month or less20%

$1,251–$3,333 a month26%

Over $3,333 a month54%

Jobs Clear Lake residents hold

3,309 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)22%

Trade, transport & utilities21%

Services (health, schools, offices…)57%

$1,250 a month or less18%

$1,251–$3,333 a month25%

Over $3,333 a month58%

+6%

Jobs based in Clear Lake, 2013 → 2023: 3,353 → 3,560. 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.