Green Forest Water Tower · Photo: Valis55 · CC BY-SA 3.0A job hub: Green Forest has 2.1 jobs per working resident, and 2,245 people come in to work
2,552 jobs are based in Green Forest, against 1,212 working residents. The two grades for Green Forest are C for jobs and income and A− for walkability. Household incomes here are lower than in 88% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Green Forest, in brief
Green Forest makes and builds things
70% of the jobs based in Green Forest are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Green Forest residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 53%. The jobs ↓
Green Forest is where the jobs are
Green Forest has 2,552 jobs, 2.1 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 4,600 people are in town, 41% more than the 3,200 who live here. Day and night ↓
Commutes from Green Forest are quick
The average trip to work takes 13 minutes, against 23 across Arkansas. That’s about 77 hours a year less on the road than the typical Arkansas worker. Time on the road ↓
Fewer than half of Green Forest workers earn over $40,000 a year
38% of Green Forest’s working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, wherever they work, and 12% earn $1,250 a month or less. The jobs ↓
Green Forest and Berryville trade workers both ways
Berryville is the top workplace for Green Forest residents (21%) and also where the most people who work in Green Forest come from (10% 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.
How Green Forest earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Green Forest is better than 28% of U.S. towns, #56 of 123 in Arkansas. Unemployment holds Green Forest’s grade up (3.9%, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($49,918, U.S. $80,734).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Green Forest could be anywhere from D to B.
70% of the jobs in Green Forest make or build things
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Green Forest, 2013 → 2023: 2,080 → 2,552. 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 Green Forest’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How many people are in Green Forest by day
On a workday 905 residents head out to work and 307 work right here.
About 4,600 people are in Green Forest on a workday afternoon, 41% more than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Time on the road from Green Forest: about 13 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 4.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Green Forest workers work from home, vs 9% across Arkansas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,541 commuters (the 2% 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.
The daily trip into Green Forest
Where Green Forest clocks in
21% of workers
8% of workers
5% 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 far Green Forest’s workers travel
About 20% 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.
Good to walk, short on transit: Green Forest
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Green Forest is more walkable than 76% of U.S. towns, #10 of 123 in Arkansas. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 17.6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 2.0% across Arkansas, on an EPA index of 6.4.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,576 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). 12.5% of Green Forest households have no vehicle (Arkansas 5.9%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Green Forest’s commuters take a bus or train.
3,218th of 4,453: where Green Forest ranks among U.S. towns of 2,300 to 4,400
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 163 | Johnson AR | 3,684 | $96K | 2.2% | 1.2% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 213 | Austin AR | 4,017 | $114K | 1.6% | 1.9% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 257 | Goshen AR | 2,405 | $150K | 1.7% | 2.1% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 3,216 | Moravia NY | 3,133 | $61K | 13.2% | 3.8% | 18% | C |
| 3,217 | Newport VT | 2,583 | $71K | 8.9% | 0.0% | 3% | C |
| 3,218 | Green Forest AR | 3,246 | $50K | 10.2% | 3.9% | 25% | C |
| 3,219 | Grangeville ID | 3,621 | $61K | 16.3% | 2.0% | 39% | C |
| 3,220 | Corunna MI | 3,000 | $46K | 14.9% | 4.3% | 6% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 4,453 | 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 Green Forest, 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 Green Forest: questions
What is the median household income in Green Forest?
$49,918 (±$16,320) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $60,773 across Arkansas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Green Forest?
10.2%, against 16.0% across Arkansas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Green Forest?
13 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Arkansas and 26 nationally. 2% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Green Forest work?
25% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Berryville (21%, 8 mi), Harrison (8%, 19 mi), Rogers (5%, 40 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Green Forest walkable?
Green Forest is more walkable than 76% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 6.4 out of 20, and 18% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Green Forest without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 12% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Green Forest, from the people who make the trip.
More of Green Forest
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.