Fort Lookout · Photo: Valis55 · CC BY-SA 4.0Camden has lower household incomes than 89% of U.S. towns
Below the poverty line: 20.5% of residents, next to 16.0% for Arkansas as a whole. Camden grades D for jobs and income and C+ for walkability. About one in three work in Camden itself; outside it, El Dorado draws the most (4%, 26 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Camden: the figures worth knowing
No single place dominates Camden’s commute
The biggest draw, El Dorado, gets only 4% of working residents, and 52% work outside the top ten towns entirely. Camden residents fan out across the region. The commute map ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Camden than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Camden fell from 6,573 in 2013 to 4,261 in 2023, −35%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. 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.
Jobs & income in Camden: the grade in detail
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Camden is better than 8% of U.S. towns, #99 of 123 in Arkansas. All four inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Camden’s grade.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Camden could be anywhere from D− to C−.
Where Camden goes to work
Where Camden clocks in
4% of workers
4% of workers
2% 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 kinds of work in Camden
4,261 jobs are based in Camden.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Camden, 2013 → 2023: 6,573 → 4,261. 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 Camden’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily commute in and out of Camden
On a workday 2,658 residents head out to work, 1,239 work right here, and 3,022 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.
The daily trip from Camden: about 21 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Camden workers work from home, vs 9% across Arkansas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,843 commuters (the 6% 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.
Half of Camden commutes less than 11 miles
About 24% 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.
Few in Camden walk, bike or ride to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Camden is more walkable than 40% of U.S. towns, #65 of 123 in Arkansas. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.0% 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 4,082 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). 11.1% of Camden households have no vehicle (Arkansas 5.9%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Camden’s commuters take a bus or train.
Camden and other U.S. towns of 7,000 to 14,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Ladue MO | 8,934 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 355 | Pea Ridge AR | 11,233 | $96K | 3.2% | 1.3% | 5% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 457 | Farmington AR | 10,658 | $90K | 3.8% | 0.7% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 504 | Lowell AR | 12,184 | $96K | 6.9% | 1.4% | 9% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,750 | Oak Grove KY | 7,830 | $49K | 23.1% | 9.5% | 10% | D |
| 2,751 | Bay Minette AL | 8,555 | $45K | 24.4% | 7.2% | 18% | D |
| 2,752 | Camden AR | 10,127 | $49K | 20.5% | 6.8% | 32% | D |
| 2,753 | Lindsay CA | 12,578 | $53K | 33.1% | 17.8% | 15% | D |
| 2,754 | Alpena MI | 10,088 | $48K | 21.2% | 6.4% | 39% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 2,878 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Camden, 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 Camden: questions
What is the median household income in Camden?
$49,361 (±$3,736) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $60,773 across Arkansas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Camden?
20.5%, against 16.0% across Arkansas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Camden?
21 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Arkansas and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Camden work?
32% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are El Dorado (4%, 26 mi), Little Rock (4%, 85 mi), Fordyce (2%, 30 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Camden walkable?
Camden is more walkable than 40% 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 Camden without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 11% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Camden, from the people who make the trip.
More of Camden
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.