Photo: Photolitherland Chris Litherland · CC BY 3.0Few U.S. towns have household incomes as low as Dover’s
Measured by household income, Dover is among the lowest-earning towns in the country. 30.5% of residents are in poverty, against 16.0% across Arkansas. The two grades for Dover are D− for jobs and income and D for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Dover
42% of Dover works in Russellville
235 working residents, 42%, have their main job in Russellville, 8 miles away. That’s 8 times as many as work in Dover itself. The commute map ↓
Dover workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 32 minutes each way, against 23 across Arkansas. Over a year that’s about 245 hours of commuting, 69 more than the state’s typical 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 554 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Where Dover’s Jobs & income grade comes from
On income, poverty and job access, Dover is better than 4% of U.S. towns. Job access by car holds Dover’s grade up (ahead of 29% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($32,332, U.S. $80,734).
Unemployment (2.6%) is left out: Dover’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Dover could be anywhere from D− to D.
42% of working residents work in Russellville
Where Dover clocks in
42% of workers
6% of workers
3% 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.
Dover’s commute takes about 32 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 10.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Dover workers work from home, vs 9% across Arkansas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 424 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.
In and out of Dover on a workday
On a workday 526 residents head out to work, 28 work right here, and 463 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 (0.89 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.
What the 491 jobs in Dover are
491 jobs are based in Dover.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Dover, 2013 → 2023: 568 → 491. 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 Dover’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How many miles Dover commutes
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.
In Dover, most people drive to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Dover is more walkable than 10% of U.S. towns. 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 448 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). 9.3% of Dover households have no vehicle (Arkansas 5.9%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Dover’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Dover compares with 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− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,445 | Willow Creek CA | 1,076 | $47K | 15.8% | 6.4% | 22% | D− |
| 5,446 | Lakeview WA | 1,584 | $46K | 18.5% | 13.7% | 1% | D− |
| 5,447 | Dover AR | 1,385 | $32K | 30.5% | 2.6% | 5% | D− |
| 5,448 | Morgan GA | 1,818 | $46K | 20.6% | 29.6% | 5% | D− |
| 5,449 | Kinsley KS | 1,312 | $49K | 19.3% | 7.3% | 37% | 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 Dover, 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 Dover: questions
What is the median household income in Dover?
$32,332 (±$5,724) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $60,773 across Arkansas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Dover?
30.5%, against 16.0% across Arkansas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Dover?
32 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Arkansas and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Dover work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Russellville (42%, 8 mi), Little Rock (6%, 63 mi), Clarksville (3%, 21 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Dover walkable?
Dover is more walkable than 10% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 5.5 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Dover without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 9% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Dover, from the people who make the trip.
More of Dover
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.