Photo: Farther Along · CC BY 2.0Jobs and the daily commute in Bearden
Commuters spend 16 minutes getting to work on average; the Arkansas average is 23, the U.S. 26. About one in seven work in Bearden; the top destination outside it is Camden (12%, 17 miles). Employers in Bearden report 455 jobs for 363 working residents.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Bearden: the gist
Bearden makes and builds things
62% of the jobs based in Bearden are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Bearden residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 40%. The jobs ↓
Commutes from Bearden are quick
The average trip to work takes 16 minutes, against 23 across Arkansas. That’s about 54 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 363 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
In Bearden, 62% of jobs are in factories, building or farming
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Bearden, 2013 → 2023: 271 → 455. 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 Bearden’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How long Bearden spends getting to work: about 16 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Bearden workers work from home, vs 9% across Arkansas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 216 commuters (the 4% 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.
Who leaves Bearden for work, and who comes in
On a workday 316 residents head out to work, 47 work right here, and 408 people come in from elsewhere.
About 830 people are in Bearden on a workday afternoon, 12% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.25 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.
The towns that employ Bearden’s residents
Where Bearden clocks in
6% 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.
How far Bearden’s workers travel
About 22% 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.
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 Bearden: questions
What is the median household income in Bearden?
$29,750 (±$21,476) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $60,773 across Arkansas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Bearden?
48.4%, against 16.0% across Arkansas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Bearden?
16 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Arkansas and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Bearden work?
13% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Camden (12%, 17 mi), Fordyce (6%, 13 mi), Little Rock (4%, 70 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Bearden without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 12% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Bearden, from the people who make the trip.
More of Bearden
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.