Work & commute · Clay

Work & commute in Clay, MI

Most working residents leave Clay for work: only 7% work in town. The top destinations are Detroit (7%), Chesterfield (5%) and Warren (5%). Half commute less than 24 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2021 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

236 of 3,590 working residents

Typical commute

24 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

39 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

11%

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 3,354 Clay residents head out of town to work, 236 work right here, and 804 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Clay.

3,354live here, work elsewhere

236live and work here

804work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Clay goes to work

Detroit29.1 mi away

7%254

Clay (in town)right here

7%236

Chesterfield10.5 mi away

5%179

Warren22.1 mi away

5%176

Clinton15.1 mi away

5%173

Sterling Heights20.9 mi away

4%137

Troy26.7 mi away

3%119

Shelby21.5 mi away

3%97

Mount Clemens13.2 mi away

2%83

Port Huron28.2 mi away

2%81

Everywhere elseother towns and states

57%2,055

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.

16%

38%

33%

13%

16%Under 10 mi

38%10–24 mi

33%25–50 mi

13%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Clay is a commuter town

0.29jobs per working resident

A commuter town

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

The jobs

What the jobs in Clay are

1,040 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

1,040 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)22%

Trade, transport & utilities26%

Services (health, schools, offices…)52%

$1,250 a month or less23%

$1,251–$3,333 a month34%

Over $3,333 a month44%

Jobs Clay residents hold

3,590 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)28%

Trade, transport & utilities21%

Services (health, schools, offices…)51%

$1,250 a month or less15%

$1,251–$3,333 a month26%

Over $3,333 a month59%

−9%

Jobs based in Clay, 2011 → 2021: 1,146 → 1,040. 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 2021. Commute time and working from home: the Census American Community Survey.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2021, primary jobs; American Community Survey 5-year estimates.