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Work & commute in Clay · A commuter town

99% of Clay’s working residents leave town for work

Most working residents leave Clay for work: only 1% work in town. The top destinations are Center (13%), Mooresville (8%) and Wayne (7%). Half commute less than 19 miles.

Work in town
1%
28 of 1,984 working residents
Typical commute
19 mi
half travel less, straight-line
Time each way
29 min
More than IN (24 min)
Work from home
11%
Less than IN (11%)
Jobs based here
199
A commuter town

What kind of work town is Clay?

Read from the numbers below. The page puts what stands out first.

★ What stands out · The commute map

13% of working residents work in Center

A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.

BrooklynMooresville: 149 residents work here (8%)Martinsville: 84 residents work here (4%)BloomingtonPlainfield: 119 residents work here (6%)GreggMadisonBrownWashingtonCenter: 255 residents work here (13%)Perry: 76 residents work here (4%)Washington: 60 residents work here (3%)Wayne: 144 residents work here (7%)ClayJeffersonGreenMonroeDecatur: 79 residents work here (4%)Pike: 71 residents work here (4%)Warren: 69 residents work here (3%)Foxcliff EstatesCenterMooresvilleWaynePlainfieldMartinsvilleDecaturClay
1
Center22.5 mi away
13%255
2
Mooresville5.9 mi away
8%149
3
Wayne18.9 mi away
7%144
4
Plainfield12 mi away
6%119
5
Martinsville7.5 mi away
4%84
6
Decatur12.9 mi away
4%79
7
Perry17 mi away
4%76
8
Pike25.6 mi away
4%71
9
Warren27 mi away
3%69
10
Washington28.2 mi away
3%60
Everywhere elseother towns and states
44%878
The top trips

Where Clay clocks in

Lines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.

Time on the road

About 29 minutes each way, longer than most of Indiana

From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.

A year of commuting
225 hours

Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.4 full days in the car, bus or train.

Average commute minutes, one way

Clay29 min
Indiana24 min
U.S.26 min
Working from home
11%

of Clay workers work from home, vs 11% across Indiana. Their commute is the hallway.

About 1 in 10

How Clay ranks on commute time →

Day and night

Clay quiets down on a workday

On a workday 1,956 residents head out to work, 28 work right here, and 171 people come in from elsewhere.

1,956live here, work elsewhere
28live and work here
171work here, live elsewhere
Night and day
At night4,300
Workday2,500
4,300live here− 2,000head out to work+ 170come in to work= 2,500on a workday

About 2,500 people are in Clay on a workday afternoon, 42% fewer than live here.

Job hub or commuter town?
0.10jobs per workerCommuter townJob hub

0.10 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute 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.

How far

Half of Clay commutes less than 19 miles

Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

10 mi25 mi35 miCenter: 13% · 22.5 miMooresville: 8% · 5.9 miWayne: 7% · 18.9 miPlainfield: 6% · 12 miMartinsville: 4% · 7.5 miDecatur: 4% · 12.9 miPerry: 4% · 17 miPike: 4% · 25.6 miWarren: 3% · 27 miWashington: 3% · 28.2 miCenter 13%Mooresville 8%Wayne 7%Plainfield 6%Martinsville 4%Clay
ClayTop destinations (size = commuters)
19%Under 10 mi383 residents
49%10–24 mi963 residents
22%25–50 mi437 residents
10%Over 50 mi201 residents

Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.

The jobs

Clay makes things: 34% of its jobs are in goods

199 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 ClayJobs Clay residents hold

What kind of work

Goods: factories, building, farms34%21%
Trade, transport & utilities14%27%
Services: health, schools, offices52%51%

What it pays

$1,250 a month or less11%13%
$1,251–$3,333 a month27%25%
Over $3,333 a month63%62%

Who does it

29 or younger18%21%
30 to 5454%51%
55 and older28%28%
−35%

Jobs based in Clay, 2013 → 2023: 307 → 199. 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.

Next door

Clay and the towns next door

Darker towns draw more of Clay’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.

How to read these numbers

What this data can and can’t tell you

  • Every worker, home to work. The 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 says. A 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 surveys. Flows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2023. Commute time, working from home and working out of state: the Census American Community Survey.
  • Straight lines. Distances are as the crow flies between home and work. Roads, rivers and traffic make the real trip longer.
Beyond the commute

More of Clay

Clay home →

Commuter talk

Getting to work from Clay, from the people who make the trip.

Town Square →
Weigh in
Is the commute from Clay worth it?

Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.

Ask neighbors

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.

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