Work & commute · Clay

Work & commute in Clay, IN

Most working residents leave Clay for work: only 19% work in town. The top destinations are South Bend (27%), Mishawaka (15%) and Notre Dame (9%). Half commute less than 6 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

19%

2,594 of 13,725 working residents

Typical commute

6 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

20 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

12%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 11,131 Clay residents head out of town to work, 2,594 work right here, and 20,659 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Clay.

11,131live here, work elsewhere

2,594live and work here

20,659work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Clay goes to work

South Bend4.4 mi away

27%3,668

Mishawaka4.8 mi away

15%2,009

Notre Dame2.2 mi away

9%1,240

Elkhart13.7 mi away

7%1,020

Clay (in town)right here

3%409

Granger4.6 mi away

2%295

Penn7.4 mi away

2%265

Goshen23 mi away

2%245

Portage5 mi away

1%150

Center135.1 mi away

1%141

Everywhere elseother towns and states

31%4,283

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.

64%

14%

17%

64%Under 10 mi

14%10–24 mi

5%25–50 mi

17%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Clay is a job hub

1.69jobs per working resident

A job hub

1.7 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Clay are

23,253 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

23,253 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)3%

Trade, transport & utilities21%

Services (health, schools, offices…)76%

$1,250 a month or less21%

$1,251–$3,333 a month30%

Over $3,333 a month48%

Jobs Clay residents hold

13,725 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)19%

Trade, transport & utilities19%

Services (health, schools, offices…)63%

$1,250 a month or less14%

$1,251–$3,333 a month27%

Over $3,333 a month59%

−3%

Jobs based in Clay, 2013 → 2023: 23,904 → 23,253. 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.