Cumberland Presbyterian Church · Photo: Brandonrush · CC BY-SA 4.0Household incomes in Clarendon are lower than in 98% of U.S. towns
About one in five stay in Clarendon for work; outside it, Stuttgart is the main destination (21%, 19 miles). The poverty rate is 23.9%, against 16.0% across Arkansas. Jobs and income earn Clarendon D−; getting around on foot earns it C−.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Clarendon
A big share show a job far from home
31% 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 Clarendon workers earn over $40,000 a year
44% of Clarendon’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, wherever they work, and 14% earn $1,250 a month or less. The jobs ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Clarendon than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Clarendon fell from 492 in 2013 to 367 in 2023, −25%. 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; with 537 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Why Clarendon gets the Jobs & income grade it does
On income, poverty and job access, Clarendon is near the bottom of U.S. towns. All three inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Clarendon’s grade.
Unemployment (7.2%) is left out: Clarendon’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A firm grade. At either end of the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Clarendon stays D−.
The commute from Clarendon, by distance
About 31% 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 Clarendon: 367 jobs
367 jobs are based in Clarendon.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Clarendon, 2013 → 2023: 492 → 367. 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 Clarendon’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Who leaves Clarendon for work, and who comes in
On a workday 419 residents head out to work, 118 work right here, and 249 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,200 people are in Clarendon on a workday afternoon, 12% fewer than live here.
0.68 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.
Commuting out of Clarendon: the destinations
Where Clarendon clocks in
21% of workers
10% 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.
Getting to work from Clarendon takes about 25 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Clarendon workers work from home, vs 9% across Arkansas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 507 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.
The commute in Clarendon is mostly behind the wheel
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Clarendon is more walkable than 20% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Clarendon near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 540 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). 14.8% of Clarendon households have no vehicle (Arkansas 5.9%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Clarendon’s commuters take a bus or train.
Clarendon and other U.S. towns of 1,000 to 1,900
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 108 | Roland AR | 1,147 | $175K | 0.0% | 2.7% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 120 | Avilla AR | 1,833 | $106K | 0.0% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 538 | Wooster AR | 1,150 | $112K | 5.8% | 2.3% | <1% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,729 | La Pryor TX | 1,236 | $39K | 24.0% | 11.6% | 12% | D− |
| 5,730 | Ragland AL | 1,710 | $38K | 40.5% | 12.3% | 3% | D− |
| 5,731 | Clarendon AR | 1,394 | $34K | 23.9% | 7.2% | 22% | D− |
| 5,732 | Melbourne AR | 1,892 | $39K | 30.8% | 5.6% | 25% | D− |
| 5,733 | Ivey GA | 1,009 | $40K | 36.5% | 15.0% | 1% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,877 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 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 Clarendon, 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 Clarendon: questions
What is the median household income in Clarendon?
$33,818 (±$7,965) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $60,773 across Arkansas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Clarendon?
23.9%, against 16.0% across Arkansas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Clarendon?
25 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Arkansas and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Clarendon work?
22% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Stuttgart (21%, 19 mi), Little Rock (10%, 60 mi), Brinkley (4%, 15 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Clarendon walkable?
Clarendon is more walkable than 20% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 5.6 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Clarendon without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 15% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Clarendon, from the people who make the trip.
More of Clarendon
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.