Photo: Archedamian · CC BY-SA 3.0Jobs, pay and the trip to work in Cotter
There are 178 jobs in Cotter for 288 working residents. Only 4% work in Cotter; the top destination outside it is Mountain Home (33%, 8 miles). Commuters spend 16 minutes getting to work on average; the Arkansas average is 23, the U.S. 26.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Cotter
Cotter and Mountain Home trade workers both ways
Mountain Home is the top workplace for Cotter residents (33%) and also where the most people who work in Cotter come from (16% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
Commutes from Cotter 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 ↓
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 288 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Out of Cotter to work: where people go
Where Cotter clocks in
4% 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.
About 16 minutes each way, quicker than most of Arkansas
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Cotter workers work from home, vs 9% across Arkansas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 320 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.
Who commutes out of Cotter, and who commutes in
On a workday 277 residents head out to work, 11 work right here, and 167 people come in from elsewhere.
About 840 people are in Cotter on a workday afternoon, 12% fewer than live here.
0.62 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.
Cotter is a services town
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Cotter, 2013 → 2023: 210 → 178. 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 Cotter’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far it is to work from Cotter
About 29% 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 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 Cotter: questions
What is the median household income in Cotter?
$35,792 (±$10,250) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $60,773 across Arkansas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Cotter?
13.0%, against 16.0% across Arkansas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Cotter?
16 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Arkansas and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Cotter work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Mountain Home (33%, 8 mi), Flippin (4%, 4 mi), Little Rock (4%, 108 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Cotter without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Cotter, from the people who make the trip.
More of Cotter
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.