Photo: Brandonrush · CC BY-SA 4.0Households in Fort Smith earn less than those in 81% of U.S. towns
More than half work in Fort Smith; the top destination outside it is Van Buren (8%, 7 miles). 18.3% of residents are in poverty; Arkansas has 16.0%. The two grades for Fort Smith are C− for jobs and income and B 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 Fort Smith
Fort Smith is where the jobs are
Fort Smith has 60,113 jobs, 1.7 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Fort Smith are quick
The average trip to work takes 17 minutes, against 23 across Arkansas. That’s about 46 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.
The figures behind Fort Smith’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Fort Smith is better than 24% of U.S. towns, #61 of 123 in Arkansas. Job access by car holds Fort Smith’s grade up (ahead of 69% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Fort Smith could be anywhere from C− to C.
In and out of Fort Smith on a workday
On a workday 14,020 residents head out to work, 21,538 work right here, and 38,575 people come in from elsewhere.
About 115,000 people are in Fort Smith on a workday afternoon, 27% more than live here.
1.7 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.
The trip to work from Fort Smith: about 17 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Fort Smith workers work from home, vs 9% across Arkansas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 37,513 commuters (the 8% 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 Fort Smith live
Where Fort Smith clocks in
8% of workers
3% of workers
2% 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.
What work there is in Fort Smith: 60,113 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Fort Smith, 2013 → 2023: 55,701 → 60,113. 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 Fort Smith’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How far it is to work from Fort Smith
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.
In Fort Smith, most people drive to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Fort Smith is more walkable than 55% of U.S. towns, #40 of 123 in Arkansas. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.6% of 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 40,698 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). 7.6% of Fort Smith households have no vehicle (Arkansas 5.9%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Fort Smith’s commuters take a bus or train.
Fort Smith and other U.S. towns of 64,000 to 123,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Lakeville MN | 79,270 | $139K | 2.9% | 2.0% | 11% | A+ |
| 2 | Fulshear TX | 64,630 | $187K | 1.6% | 2.8% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Plymouth MN | 78,942 | $137K | 4.3% | 2.3% | 12% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 180 | Rogers AR | 76,956 | $87K | 10.5% | 2.5% | 28% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 305 | Fayetteville AR | 106,623 | $63K | 20.6% | 4.0% | 45% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 308 | Springdale AR | 90,685 | $70K | 13.4% | 3.7% | 36% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 454 | Hesperia CA | 102,605 | $72K | 16.9% | 9.3% | 12% | C− |
| 455 | Ocala FL | 71,753 | $56K | 21.1% | 5.9% | 44% | C− |
| 456 | Fort Smith AR | 90,855 | $55K | 18.3% | 6.5% | 61% | C− |
| 457 | Kissimmee FL | 85,591 | $54K | 20.4% | 7.5% | 8% | C− |
| 458 | Lansing MI | 113,884 | $54K | 20.1% | 8.2% | 32% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 491 | Albany GA | 66,907 | $47K | 27.5% | 11.2% | 51% | 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 Fort Smith, the top three, the last and three more from Arkansas.
How Fort Smith compares with the towns next door
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Fort Smith workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Fort Smith | – | C− | B | 17 min | $54,816 |
| Barling | under 1% | B− | C | 18 min | $54,387 |
| Van Buren | 8% | C | B− | 20 min | $61,149 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Van Buren. Darker towns draw more of Fort Smith’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 Fort Smith: questions
What is the median household income in Fort Smith?
$54,816 (±$2,402) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $60,773 across Arkansas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Fort Smith?
18.3%, against 16.0% across Arkansas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Fort Smith?
17 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Arkansas and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Fort Smith work?
61% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Van Buren (8%, 7 mi), Little Rock (3%, 122 mi), Fayetteville (2%, 51 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Fort Smith walkable?
Fort Smith is more walkable than 55% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 8.0 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Fort Smith without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Fort Smith, from the people who make the trip.
More of Fort Smith
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.