Photo: Brandonrush · CC BY-SA 4.0Brinkley’s household incomes are lower than in 96% of U.S. towns
25.7% of residents are in poverty, next to 16.0% for Arkansas as a whole. For jobs and income Brinkley is near the bottom of U.S. towns (D−); for walkability it is more walkable than 60% of U.S. towns (B). About one in four work in Brinkley itself; outside it, Little Rock draws the most (8%, 67 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Brinkley
Brinkley’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Brinkley is Little Rock, 67 miles away as the crow flies. 8% of working residents (70) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
A big share show a job far from home
36% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
Fewer than half of Brinkley workers earn over $40,000 a year
39% of Brinkley’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, wherever they work, and 18% earn $1,250 a month or less. The jobs ↓
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 847 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
How Brinkley earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Brinkley is near the bottom of U.S. towns. All four inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Brinkley’s grade.
A firm grade. At either end of the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Brinkley stays D−.
How far it is to work from Brinkley
About 36% 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 work there is in Brinkley: 924 jobs
924 jobs are based in Brinkley.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Brinkley, 2013 → 2023: 1,218 → 924. 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 Brinkley’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Brinkley by day and by night
On a workday 641 residents head out to work, 206 work right here, and 718 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 (1.09 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 the trip to work from Brinkley ends
Where Brinkley clocks in
8% of workers
5% 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.
The trip to work from Brinkley: about 27 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Brinkley workers work from home, vs 9% across Arkansas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 922 commuters (the 3% 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.
Brinkley is a driving town
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 948 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). 18.9% of Brinkley households have no vehicle (Arkansas 5.9%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Brinkley’s commuters take a bus or train.
Brinkley next to U.S. towns of 1,700 to 3,300
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 137 | Avilla AR | 1,833 | $106K | 0.0% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 235 | Goshen AR | 2,405 | $150K | 1.7% | 2.1% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 354 | Salem AR | 2,642 | $74K | 2.4% | 0.0% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 5,138 | South Taft CA | 2,939 | $43K | 35.0% | 13.6% | 3% | D− |
| 5,139 | Wofford Heights CA | 2,656 | $39K | 20.9% | 22.6% | 2% | D− |
| 5,140 | Brinkley AR | 2,468 | $39K | 25.7% | 16.7% | 24% | D− |
| 5,141 | Glenwood AR | 2,016 | $34K | 38.8% | 1.0% | 28% | D− |
| 5,142 | Flemingsburg KY | 3,005 | $35K | 34.3% | 20.5% | 24% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,207 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 60% | 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 Brinkley, 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 Brinkley: questions
What is the median household income in Brinkley?
$38,996 (±$6,920) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $60,773 across Arkansas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Brinkley?
25.7%, against 16.0% across Arkansas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Brinkley?
27 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Arkansas and 26 nationally. 3% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Brinkley work?
24% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Little Rock (8%, 67 mi), Stuttgart (5%, 34 mi), Forrest City (4%, 24 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Brinkley walkable?
Brinkley is more walkable than 60% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 6.9 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Brinkley without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 19% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Brinkley, from the people who make the trip.
More of Brinkley
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.