Work & commute · Clay Center

Work & commute in Clay Center, NE

Most working residents leave Clay Center for work: only 11% work in town. The top destinations are Hastings (20%), Lincoln (6%) and Inland (5%). Half commute less than 19 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

11%

34 of 315 working residents

Typical commute

19 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

20 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 281 Clay Center residents head out of town to work, 34 work right here, and 341 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Clay Center.

281live here, work elsewhere

34live and work here

341work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Clay Center goes to work

Hastings18.3 mi away

20%63

Clay Center (in town)right here

11%34

Lincoln75 mi away

6%20

Inland8.6 mi away

5%15

Grand Island31.6 mi away

3%11

Sutton11.8 mi away

3%10

Kearney55.2 mi away

3%9

Omaha116.3 mi away

3%9

Fairfield6.9 mi away

3%8

Edgar11.7 mi away

2%7

Everywhere elseother towns and states

41%129

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

How far

How far Clay Center commutes

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

18%

47%

11%

24%

18%Under 10 mi

47%10–24 mi

11%25–50 mi

24%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Clay Center is balanced between jobs and homes

1.19jobs per working resident

Balanced

About as many jobs as working residents (1.19 per resident).

The jobs

What the jobs in Clay Center are

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

Jobs based in Clay Center

375 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)2%

Trade, transport & utilities7%

Services (health, schools, offices…)91%

$1,250 a month or less17%

$1,251–$3,333 a month23%

Over $3,333 a month60%

Jobs Clay Center residents hold

315 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)25%

Trade, transport & utilities21%

Services (health, schools, offices…)54%

$1,250 a month or less17%

$1,251–$3,333 a month25%

Over $3,333 a month58%

+21%

Jobs based in Clay Center, 2013 → 2023: 310 → 375. 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.