Alma has higher unemployment (7.6%) than 86% of U.S. towns
About one in seven work in Alma itself; outside it, Fort Smith draws the most (35%, 13 miles). Jobs and income earn Alma C−; getting around on foot earns it C−. The poverty rate is 27.3%; Arkansas has 16.0%.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Alma apart on work
Alma trades workers with the towns around it
Alma has about as many jobs (2,177) as working residents (2,057), but they are mostly different people: 1,751 residents leave for work each day while 1,871 people come in. Only 14% of the jobs in Alma are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
One in three of Alma works in Fort Smith
721 working residents, 35%, have their main job in Fort Smith, 13 miles away. That’s twice as many as work in Alma itself. The commute map ↓
Alma workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 28 minutes each way, against 23 across Arkansas. Over a year that’s about 215 hours of commuting, 38 more than the state’s typical worker. Time on the road ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey.
What’s behind Alma’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Alma is better than 20% of U.S. towns, #71 of 123 in Arkansas. Job access by car holds Alma’s grade up (ahead of 54% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Alma could be anywhere from D to B−.
The daily flow of workers through Alma
On a workday 1,751 residents head out to work, 306 work right here, and 1,871 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.06 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Where people from Alma work
Where Alma clocks in
35% of workers
13% of workers
4% of workersLines run between town centers. The top 10 towns each way; “Everywhere else” is the rest, including other states.
A thicker line means more commuters. Switch between where residents work and where the people who work here live.
A commute of about 28 minutes in Alma
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Alma workers work from home, vs 9% across Arkansas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,860 commuters (the 6% who work from home are left out). Across Arkansas: 87% drive alone, <1% take transit; U.S.: 81% and 4%. Census ACS 2020–24.
From the Census survey of workers who don’t work from home.
The 2,177 jobs based in Alma
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Alma, 2013 → 2023: 1,985 → 2,177. 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.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Alma’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Miles to work from Alma
About 19% show a job over 50 miles away. Some of that is real, and some is employers that report every worker at a head office, so a few long commutes are on paper only.
Straight-line distance from each worker’s home block to their main job’s block. LEHD 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Driving is how Alma gets around
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Alma is more walkable than 24% of U.S. towns, #87 of 123 in Arkansas. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any commuters walk, bike or take transit, below the 2.0% across Arkansas.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,969 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service: no data. EPA’s transit file has no stops for most of this county (its agencies had not published schedules in the format EPA used in 2020). That is missing data, not a finding that there is no bus or train.
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 3.2% of Alma households have no vehicle (Arkansas 5.9%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Alma’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Alma is 2,885th of 3,444 U.S. towns of 4,200 to 8,200
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 453 | Cave Springs AR | 6,701 | $146K | 1.8% | 4.8% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 730 | Haskell AR | 4,362 | $86K | 7.6% | 0.8% | 5% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,187 | Shannon Hills AR | 4,829 | $71K | 3.9% | 4.4% | 2% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,883 | Gray LA | 5,154 | $55K | 14.7% | 7.3% | 7% | C− |
| 2,884 | Conley GA | 5,822 | $44K | 35.8% | 8.5% | <1% | C− |
| 2,885 | Alma AR | 6,071 | $69K | 27.3% | 7.6% | 15% | C− |
| 2,886 | Laurel Bay SC | 5,882 | $54K | 17.5% | 4.5% | 3% | C− |
| 2,887 | Crestline OH | 4,487 | $52K | 14.4% | 6.6% | 8% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,444 | Medina TX | 4,226 | $22K | 53.8% | 10.1% | 4% | D− |
Census ACS 2020–24 (income, poverty, unemployment), Census LEHD (work in town), TownRatings Jobs & income grades. Each town links to its Work & commute page.
Ranked on the Jobs & income grade: the towns either side of Alma, the top three, the last and three more from Arkansas.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- Two sources, two years. Trips, distances and jobs based here: Census LEHD 2023, primary jobs, where the employer reports them. Income, poverty, unemployment, commute time and how people travel: Census ACS 2020–24 averages.
- Straight lines, older transit. Miles are as the crow flies. EPA’s walkability and transit files use 2017–20 inputs.
Jobs and commuting in Alma: questions
What is the median household income in Alma?
$68,562 (±$9,884) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $60,773 across Arkansas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Alma?
27.3%, against 16.0% across Arkansas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Alma?
28 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Arkansas and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Alma work?
15% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Fort Smith (35%, 13 mi), Van Buren (13%, 8 mi), Little Rock (4%, 117 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Alma walkable?
Alma is more walkable than 24% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 7.1 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Alma without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Alma, from the people who make the trip.
More of Alma
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. Walkability index, job access and transit service: U.S. EPA Smart Location Database. The two grades are our own summaries of these figures, not official ratings.