Photo: Valis55 · CC BY-SA 3.0Most of Austin commutes out: there are 0.1 jobs for every working resident
Austin grades A for jobs and income and D for walkability. There are 140 jobs in Austin for 1,409 working residents. Household incomes here are higher than in 86% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Austin, in brief
Austin is a place people come home to
There are 140 jobs based in Austin, about one for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Austin has about 2,700 people in it, 32% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
29% of Austin works in Little Rock
409 working residents, 29%, have their main job in Little Rock, 29 miles away. That’s 29 times as many as work in Austin itself. The commute map ↓
Few Austin workers work from home
Only 2% of workers work from home, against 9% across Arkansas. Almost everyone here travels to a job. 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.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Austin
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Austin is better than 95% of U.S. towns, #2 of 123 in Arkansas. The poverty rate is its strongest input (1.6%, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (ahead of 64% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and unemployment and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Austin could be anywhere from A− to A+.
The daily flow of workers through Austin
On a workday 1,401 residents head out to work, 8 work right here, and 132 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,700 people are in Austin on a workday afternoon, 32% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
29% of working residents work in Little Rock
Where Austin clocks in
29% of workers
9% 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.
About 26 minutes each way for Austin’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Austin workers work from home, vs 9% across Arkansas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,245 commuters (the 2% 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.
What Austin’s employers do
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Austin, 2013 → 2023: 77 → 140. 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 Austin’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where in the region Austin works
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.
In Austin, the car does most of the work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Austin is more walkable than 6% of U.S. towns, #119 of 123 in Arkansas. Both inputs place Austin near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,284 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). 0.0% of Austin households have no vehicle (Arkansas 5.9%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Austin’s commuters take a bus or train.
Austin next to U.S. towns of 2,800 to 5,400: 222nd of 4,177 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 178 | Johnson AR | 3,684 | $96K | 2.2% | 1.2% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 220 | Pomona NY | 4,053 | $156K | 2.2% | 4.2% | 3% | A+ |
| 221 | St. Jacob Township IL | 2,880 | $121K | 2.9% | 1.4% | 2% | A+ |
| 222 | Austin AR | 4,017 | $114K | 1.6% | 1.9% | 1% | A |
| 223 | Greenland NH | 4,143 | $163K | 0.5% | 2.3% | 4% | A |
| 224 | Darby Township OH | 4,441 | $122K | 3.4% | 3.0% | 6% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 417 | Highfill AR | 3,676 | $93K | 4.2% | 0.7% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 660 | Elm Springs AR | 2,852 | $132K | 11.3% | 1.8% | 1% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,177 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Austin, the top three, the last and three more from Arkansas.
17% of Austin works in a town next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
The biggest share goes to Cabot. Darker towns draw more of Austin’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
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 Austin: questions
What is the median household income in Austin?
$113,764 (±$22,843) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $60,773 across Arkansas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Austin?
1.6%, against 16.0% across Arkansas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Austin?
26 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Arkansas and 26 nationally. 2% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Austin work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Little Rock (29%, 28 mi), Cabot (17%, 3 mi), North Little Rock (9%, 21 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Austin walkable?
Austin is more walkable than 6% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 4.7 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Austin without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Austin, from the people who make the trip.
More of Austin
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.