Photo: Thomas R Machnitzki ([email protected]) · CC BY 3.0About half of Bay’s working residents commute to Jonesboro
Commuters spend 17 minutes getting to work on average, where Arkansas has 23 and the U.S. 26. Bay grades B− for jobs and income and C− for walkability. Measured by household income, Bay is behind 74% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Bay, in a few figures
More than half of Bay works in Jonesboro
357 working residents, 50%, have their main job in Jonesboro, 8.7 miles away across the town line. That’s 25 times as many as work in Bay itself. The commute map ↓
Commutes from Bay are quick
The average trip to work takes 17 minutes, against 23 across Arkansas. That’s about 46 hours a year less on the road than the typical Arkansas 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; with 707 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Bay
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Bay is better than 46% of U.S. towns. Unemployment holds Bay’s grade up (2.1%, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($59,769, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Bay could be anywhere from C to B.
Where Bay’s working residents head each day
Where Bay clocks in
50% of workers
5% of workers
5% 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 17 minutes each way for Bay’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Bay workers work from home, vs 9% across Arkansas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 889 commuters (the 7% 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.
How a workday changes Bay
On a workday 692 residents head out to work, 15 work right here, and 211 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,300 people are in Bay on a workday afternoon, 27% fewer than live here.
0.32 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Jobs in Bay: what the 226 are
226 jobs are based in Bay.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Bay, 2013 → 2023: 216 → 226. 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 Bay’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Miles to work from Bay
About 17% 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.
Getting around Bay: mostly by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Bay is more walkable than 18% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 1.7% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 2.0% across Arkansas, on an EPA index of 4.0.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 955 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). 2.3% of Bay households have no vehicle (Arkansas 5.9%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Bay’s commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Bay is 2,300th of 5,343 U.S. towns of 1,300 to 2,400
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Hewlett Harbor NY | 1,332 | $250K | 1.9% | 7.2% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 130 | Avilla AR | 1,833 | $106K | 0.0% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 936 | West Fork AR | 2,373 | $78K | 3.1% | 3.5% | 3% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,371 | Mayflower AR | 2,372 | $76K | 5.6% | 4.4% | 6% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 2,298 | Tremont ME | 1,552 | $89K | 6.6% | 2.3% | 19% | B− |
| 2,299 | Green Meadows OH | 2,144 | $73K | 14.3% | 5.3% | <1% | B− |
| 2,300 | Bay AR | 1,803 | $60K | 14.8% | 2.1% | 2% | B− |
| 2,301 | Petersburg IN | 2,289 | $54K | 11.5% | 1.7% | 16% | B− |
| 2,302 | East McKeesport PA | 1,969 | $66K | 9.5% | 8.0% | 2% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,343 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 0% | 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 Bay, the top three, the last and three more from Arkansas.
Work next door: 50% of Bay’s workers
Jobs & commute next door
The biggest share goes to Jonesboro. Darker towns draw more of Bay’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 Bay: questions
What is the median household income in Bay?
$59,769 (±$9,402) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $60,773 across Arkansas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Bay?
14.8%, against 16.0% across Arkansas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Bay?
17 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Arkansas and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Bay work?
2% work in town.
Is Bay walkable?
Bay is more walkable than 18% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 4.0 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Bay without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Bay, from the people who make the trip.
More of Bay
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.