Photo: Brian Stansberry · CC BY 4.0Household incomes in Corning are lower than in 87% of U.S. towns
14.8% of residents are in poverty (Arkansas 16.0%). For jobs and income Corning is better than 26% of U.S. towns (C); for walkability it is more walkable than 26% of U.S. towns (C). About one in four work in Corning itself; outside it, Paragould draws the most (13%, 25 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Corning apart on work
Fewer jobs are based in Corning than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Corning fell from 1,214 in 2013 to 794 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 ↓
Corning’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Corning is Paragould, 25 miles away as the crow flies. 13% of working residents (150) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Fewer than half of Corning workers earn over $40,000 a year
44% of Corning’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, wherever they work, and 15% 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.
Jobs & income in Corning: the grade in detail
Unemployment holds Corning’s grade up (2.1%, U.S. 5.2%); job access by car pulls it down (ahead of 10% of U.S. towns).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Corning could be anywhere from D to B−.
The 794 jobs based in Corning
794 jobs are based in Corning.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Corning, 2013 → 2023: 1,214 → 794. 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 Corning’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Corning
About 21% 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.
The daily commute in and out of Corning
On a workday 842 residents head out to work, 300 work right here, and 494 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,700 people are in Corning on a workday afternoon, 11% fewer than live here.
0.70 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.
Where people from Corning work
Where Corning clocks in
13% of workers
6% 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.
About 21 minutes to work from Corning
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Corning workers work from home, vs 9% across Arkansas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,334 commuters (the 5% 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 Corning is mostly behind the wheel
The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any 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 1,405 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). 5.5% of Corning households have no vehicle (Arkansas 5.9%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Corning’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 2,100 to 4,100, Corning ranks 3,477th of 4,771 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 166 | Johnson AR | 3,684 | $96K | 2.2% | 1.2% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 210 | Austin AR | 4,017 | $114K | 1.6% | 1.9% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 253 | Goshen AR | 2,405 | $150K | 1.7% | 2.1% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 3,475 | Monroe Township OH | 2,129 | $65K | 5.8% | 9.1% | 2% | C |
| 3,476 | Gregg Township PA | 3,594 | $80K | 39.8% | 10.8% | 3% | C |
| 3,477 | Corning AR | 3,065 | $50K | 14.8% | 2.1% | 26% | C |
| 3,478 | Farmington IL | 2,298 | $65K | 11.0% | 9.9% | 15% | C |
| 3,479 | Eddyville KY | 2,306 | $56K | 8.9% | 2.8% | 14% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 4,771 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Corning, 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 Corning: questions
What is the median household income in Corning?
$50,408 (±$13,249) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $60,773 across Arkansas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Corning?
14.8%, against 16.0% across Arkansas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Corning?
21 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Arkansas and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Corning work?
26% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Paragould (13%, 25 mi), Jonesboro (6%, 41 mi), Pocahontas (5%, 24 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Corning walkable?
Corning is more walkable than 26% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 7.3 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Corning without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Corning, from the people who make the trip.
More of Corning
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.