Photo: No machine-readable author provided. Billy Hathorn assumed (based on copyright claims). · CC BY-SA 3.0Jobs, income and commuting in Fouke, AR
Only 6% stay in Fouke for work; outside it, Texarkana is the main destination (27%, 13 miles). Working residents average 20 minutes each way, next to 23 for Arkansas and 26 for the U.S. There are 232 jobs in Fouke, against 211 working residents.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Fouke in brief
Fouke and Texarkana trade workers both ways
Texarkana is the top workplace for Fouke residents (27%) and also where the most people who work in Fouke come from (20% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
A lot of Fouke workers cross into Texas
37% of Fouke workers work outside Arkansas, most of them in Texas, the Census survey finds. The commute map ↓
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 211 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Where Fouke goes to work
Where Fouke clocks in
27% of workers
21% 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.
How a workday changes Fouke
On a workday 198 residents head out to work, 13 work right here, and 219 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 (1.10 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.
Mostly health care, schools and offices in Fouke
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Fouke, 2013 → 2023: 257 → 232. 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 Fouke’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily trip from Fouke: about 20 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Fouke workers work from home, vs 9% across Arkansas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 287 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.
Miles to work from Fouke
About 23% 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 Fouke: questions
What is the median household income in Fouke?
$41,600 (±$7,563) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $60,773 across Arkansas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Fouke?
31.0%, against 16.0% across Arkansas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Fouke?
20 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Arkansas and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Fouke work?
6% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Texarkana (27%, 13 mi), Texarkana (21%, 17 mi), Little Rock (4%, 134 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Fouke without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Fouke, from the people who make the trip.
More of Fouke
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.