Work & commute · Clearwater

Work & commute in Clearwater, MN

Most working residents leave Clearwater for work: only 5% work in town. The top destinations are St. Cloud (11%), Monticello (8%) and Minneapolis (6%). Half commute less than 20 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

60 of 1,097 working residents

Typical commute

20 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

31 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 1,037 Clearwater residents head out of town to work, 60 work right here, and 893 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Clearwater.

1,037live here, work elsewhere

60live and work here

893work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Clearwater goes to work

St. Cloud10.1 mi away

11%124

Monticello14.9 mi away

8%88

Minneapolis48.8 mi away

6%61

Clearwater (in town)right here

5%60

Maple Lake12.4 mi away

4%42

Buffalo18.2 mi away

3%36

Maple Grove34.9 mi away

3%28

Plymouth39 mi away

2%27

Annandale11 mi away

2%23

St. Paul55.8 mi away

2%20

Everywhere elseother towns and states

54%588

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

How far

How far Clearwater commutes

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

16%

39%

30%

15%

16%Under 10 mi

39%10–24 mi

30%25–50 mi

15%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Clearwater is balanced between jobs and homes

0.87jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (0.87 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Clearwater are

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

Jobs based in Clearwater

953 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)27%

Trade, transport & utilities31%

Services (health, schools, offices…)41%

$1,250 a month or less24%

$1,251–$3,333 a month25%

Over $3,333 a month51%

Jobs Clearwater residents hold

1,097 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)27%

Trade, transport & utilities22%

Services (health, schools, offices…)51%

$1,250 a month or less14%

$1,251–$3,333 a month18%

Over $3,333 a month69%

+10%

Jobs based in Clearwater, 2013 → 2023: 869 → 953. 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.