Photo: Ron Reiring · CC BY 2.0Clarksville has lower household incomes than 97% of U.S. towns
Clarksville grades D for jobs and income and B for walkability. The poverty rate is 27.6%, against 16.0% across Arkansas. About two in five stay in Clarksville for work; outside it, Russellville is the main destination (7%, 23 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Clarksville, in a few figures
Clarksville is where the jobs are
Clarksville has 6,719 jobs, 2.0 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Fewer than half of Clarksville workers earn over $40,000 a year
35% of Clarksville’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, wherever they work, and 17% earn $1,250 a month or less. The jobs ↓
Commutes from Clarksville 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 ↓
Clarksville draws workers from far and wide
The 6,719 jobs in Clarksville are filled from a wide area. Clarksville’s own residents hold 21% and the ten next-biggest home towns 16%; the other 63% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Clarksville makes and builds things
35% of the jobs based in Clarksville are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Clarksville residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 33%. 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.
The figures behind Clarksville’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Clarksville is better than 9% of U.S. towns, #91 of 123 in Arkansas. Unemployment holds Clarksville’s grade up (5.4%, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($37,373, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Clarksville could be anywhere from D− to C−.
Who works in Clarksville, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 1,899 residents head out to work, 1,428 work right here, and 5,291 people come in from elsewhere.
About 13,000 people are in Clarksville on a workday afternoon, 35% more than live here.
2.0 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than 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.
Making and building: 35% of jobs based in Clarksville
6,719 jobs are based in Clarksville.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Clarksville, 2013 → 2023: 6,522 → 6,719. 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 Clarksville’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily trip from Clarksville: about 16 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Clarksville workers work from home, vs 9% across Arkansas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 3,701 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.
Where the people who work in Clarksville live
Where Clarksville clocks in
7% 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.
Where in the region Clarksville works
About 30% 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.
Getting around Clarksville: mostly by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Clarksville is more walkable than 65% of U.S. towns, #22 of 123 in Arkansas. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 4.0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 2.0% across Arkansas, on an EPA index of 7.1.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 3,852 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). 10.4% of Clarksville households have no vehicle (Arkansas 5.9%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Clarksville’s commuters take a bus or train.
Where Clarksville sits among U.S. towns of 6,700 to 13,000
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 350 | Pea Ridge AR | 11,233 | $96K | 3.2% | 1.3% | 5% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 449 | Farmington AR | 10,658 | $90K | 3.8% | 0.7% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 482 | Cave Springs AR | 6,701 | $146K | 1.8% | 4.8% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,676 | Bath NY | 11,413 | $50K | 17.7% | 7.5% | 27% | D |
| 2,677 | Morrilton AR | 7,195 | $48K | 25.5% | 10.3% | 26% | D |
| 2,678 | Clarksville AR | 9,632 | $37K | 27.6% | 5.4% | 43% | D |
| 2,679 | Ironton OH | 10,148 | $48K | 23.7% | 6.8% | 22% | D |
| 2,680 | Lexington TN | 8,130 | $49K | 18.4% | 8.3% | 37% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 2,816 | 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 Clarksville, the top three, the last and three more from Arkansas.
The towns around Clarksville
The biggest share goes to Lamar (3%).
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Clarksville workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Clarksville | – | D | B | 16 min | $37,373 |
| Lamar | 3% | D | C− | 21 min | $50,568 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Clarksville’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 Clarksville: questions
What is the median household income in Clarksville?
$37,373 (±$5,846) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $60,773 across Arkansas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Clarksville?
27.6%, against 16.0% across Arkansas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Clarksville?
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 Clarksville work?
43% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Russellville (7%, 23 mi), Little Rock (5%, 81 mi), Lamar (3%, 5 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Clarksville walkable?
Clarksville is more walkable than 65% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 7.1 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Clarksville without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 10% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Clarksville, from the people who make the trip.
More of Clarksville
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.