Photo: Tim Morgan · CC BY-SA 3.0There are 2.3 jobs in Gentry for every working resident, and 3,774 people commute in
Jobs and income earn Gentry B; getting around on foot earns it C. 4,095 jobs are based in Gentry for 1,801 working residents. About one in five work in Gentry itself; outside it, Siloam Springs draws the most (15%, 5 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The short version on getting to work from Gentry
Gentry makes and builds things
75% of the jobs based in Gentry are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Gentry residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 32%. The jobs ↓
Gentry is where the jobs are
Gentry has 4,095 jobs, 2.3 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 7,200 people are in town, 47% more than the 4,900 who live here. Day and night ↓
Gentry has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Gentry went from 2,340 in 2013 to 4,095 in 2023, +75%. The jobs ↓
Gentry and Siloam Springs trade workers both ways
Siloam Springs is the top workplace for Gentry residents (15%) and also where the most people who work in Gentry come from (18% of its jobs). 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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
The figures behind Gentry’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Gentry is better than 65% of U.S. towns, #23 of 123 in Arkansas. Unemployment holds Gentry’s grade up (1.6%, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($69,779, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on the poverty rate and job access by car.
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Gentry could be anywhere from C+ to A.
Gentry makes things: 75% of its jobs are in goods
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Gentry, 2013 → 2023: 2,340 → 4,095. 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 Gentry’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The workday shuffle in and out of Gentry
On a workday 1,480 residents head out to work and 321 work right here.
About 7,200 people are in Gentry on a workday afternoon, 47% more than live here.
2.3 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.
Who travels to work in Gentry, and from where
Where Gentry clocks in
15% of workers
10% 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.
A commute of about 24 minutes in Gentry
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Gentry workers work from home, vs 9% across Arkansas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,771 commuters (the 7% 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.
Half of Gentry commutes less than 17 miles
About 15% 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.
Gentry is a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Gentry is more walkable than 28% of U.S. towns, #82 of 123 in Arkansas. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 0.7% 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 1,895 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). 2.2% of Gentry households have no vehicle (Arkansas 5.9%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Gentry’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 3,400 to 6,600, Gentry ranks 1,458th of 3,840 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 186 | Johnson AR | 3,684 | $96K | 2.2% | 1.2% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 230 | Austin AR | 4,017 | $114K | 1.6% | 1.9% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 443 | Highfill AR | 3,676 | $93K | 4.2% | 0.7% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,456 | Bear Valley Springs CA | 5,912 | $120K | 4.6% | 3.4% | 7% | B |
| 1,457 | Buckhead GA | 4,702 | $145K | 0.6% | 7.5% | 2% | B |
| 1,458 | Gentry AR | 4,899 | $70K | 9.1% | 1.6% | 18% | B |
| 1,459 | Spring City PA | 3,878 | $76K | 12.0% | 3.6% | 3% | B |
| 1,460 | White Oak TX | 6,186 | $101K | 7.4% | 5.0% | 7% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 3,840 | 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 Gentry, 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 Gentry: questions
What is the median household income in Gentry?
$69,779 (±$14,523) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $60,773 across Arkansas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Gentry?
9.1%, against 16.0% across Arkansas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Gentry?
24 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Arkansas and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Gentry work?
18% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Siloam Springs (15%, 5 mi), Bentonville (10%, 16 mi), Springdale (8%, 19 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Gentry walkable?
Gentry is more walkable than 28% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 6.5 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Gentry without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 2% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Gentry, from the people who make the trip.
More of Gentry
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.