Photo: User:Rmcclen. Original uploader was Rmcclen at en.wikipedia · Public domainFor about two in five of its working residents, Benton is a commute to Little Rock
The trip to work takes 24 minutes on average (Arkansas 23, U.S. 26). For jobs and income Benton is better than 66% of U.S. towns (B+); for walkability it is more walkable than 41% of U.S. towns (C+). About one in seven stay in Benton for work; outside it, Little Rock is the main destination (40%, 16 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Benton in brief
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Benton
Job access by car holds Benton’s grade up (ahead of 73% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($72,876, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on the poverty rate and unemployment.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Benton could be anywhere from B− to A−.
Where the trip to work from Benton ends
Where Benton clocks in
40% 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.
In and out of Benton on a workday
On a workday 13,181 residents head out to work, 2,683 work right here, and 9,266 people come in from elsewhere.
About 35,000 people are in Benton on a workday afternoon, 10% fewer than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (0.75 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 kinds of work in Benton
11,949 jobs are based in Benton.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Benton, 2013 → 2023: 9,338 → 11,949. 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 Benton’s own residents hold wherever they work.
From Benton, about 24 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Benton workers work from home, vs 9% across Arkansas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 16,815 commuters (the 9% 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.
Near or far: the trip to work from Benton
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.
The commute in Benton is mostly behind the wheel
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.1% of 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 18,551 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). 3.0% of Benton households have no vehicle (Arkansas 5.9%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Benton’s commuters take a bus or train.
Benton next to U.S. towns of 27,000 to 53,000: 594th of 1,135 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Upper Dublin Township PA | 27,258 | $168K | 3.2% | 1.9% | 8% | A+ |
| 2 | McLean VA | 49,627 | $250K | 2.9% | 2.3% | 6% | A+ |
| 3 | Southlake TX | 31,175 | $250K | 1.5% | 2.7% | 11% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 151 | Centerton AR | 27,176 | $116K | 5.5% | 1.9% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 477 | Bella Vista AR | 34,518 | $88K | 3.6% | 4.0% | 6% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 482 | Sherwood AR | 33,620 | $81K | 9.0% | 2.9% | 8% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 592 | Wheat Ridge CO | 32,081 | $91K | 11.2% | 5.0% | 6% | B+ |
| 593 | Yukon OK | 27,615 | $75K | 8.8% | 4.0% | 10% | B+ |
| 594 | Benton AR | 38,898 | $73K | 8.1% | 3.4% | 17% | B+ |
| 595 | Lemon Grove CA | 27,936 | $88K | 9.2% | 5.6% | 4% | B+ |
| 596 | Irondequoit NY | 50,180 | $79K | 9.2% | 4.4% | 9% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,135 | Bullhead City AZ | 43,987 | $51K | 18.7% | 11.5% | 26% | 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 Benton, the top three, the last and three more from Arkansas.
How Benton compares with the towns next door
The biggest share goes to Bryant (8%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Benton workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Benton | – | B+ | C+ | 24 min | $72,876 |
| Salem | under 1% | A | C | 22 min | $73,750 |
| Bryant | 8% | A− | C+ | 23 min | $83,024 |
| Bauxite | under 1% | — | — | 26 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Bauxite: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Benton’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 Benton: questions
What is the median household income in Benton?
$72,876 (±$5,151) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $60,773 across Arkansas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Benton?
8.1%, against 16.0% across Arkansas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Benton?
24 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Arkansas and 26 nationally. 9% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Benton work?
17% work in town.
Is Benton walkable?
Benton is more walkable than 41% of U.S. towns (Walkability C+): an EPA walkability index of 7.3 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Benton without a car?
<1% 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 Benton, from the people who make the trip.
More of Benton
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.