Photo: Thomas R Machnitzki ([email protected]) · CC BY 3.0Households in Harrisburg earn less than those in 90% of U.S. towns
Jobs and income earn Harrisburg D; getting around on foot earns it A−. <1% of workers work from home, next to 9% for Arkansas as a whole. The poverty rate is 26.1%, where Arkansas as a whole has 16.0%. Measured by household income, Harrisburg is behind 90% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The work figures that set Harrisburg apart
Harrisburg is where the jobs are
Harrisburg has 1,380 jobs, 1.6 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Harrisburg and Jonesboro trade workers both ways
Jonesboro is the top workplace for Harrisburg residents (28%) and also where the most people who work in Harrisburg come from (11% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
The biggest group of Harrisburg’s workers comes from Jonesboro
157 of the people who work in Harrisburg live in Jonesboro, 18 miles away, more than from any other town. The commute map ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; with 847 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Breaking down the Jobs & income grade for Harrisburg
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Harrisburg is better than 8% of U.S. towns. Job access by car holds Harrisburg’s grade up (ahead of 39% 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, Harrisburg could be anywhere from D− to C+.
How many people are in Harrisburg by day
On a workday 629 residents head out to work, 218 work right here, and 1,162 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,800 people are in Harrisburg on a workday afternoon, 24% more than live here.
1.6 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 2024, primary jobs.
Where Harrisburg’s workforce comes from
Where Harrisburg clocks in
28% of workers
4% 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.
The kinds of work in Harrisburg
1,380 jobs are based in Harrisburg.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Harrisburg, 2014 → 2024: 858 → 1,380. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Harrisburg’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 17 minutes each way, quicker than most of Arkansas
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.4 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Harrisburg workers work from home, vs 9% across Arkansas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 921 commuters (the <1% 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.
How far it is to work from Harrisburg
About 26% 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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Harrisburg is more walkable than most U.S. towns, with limited transit
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Harrisburg is more walkable than 78% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Harrisburg near the same point nationally.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 925 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). 11.3% of Harrisburg households have no vehicle (Arkansas 5.9%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Harrisburg’s commuters take a bus or train.
Harrisburg is 4,544th of 5,102 U.S. towns of 1,600 to 3,000 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 125 | Avilla AR | 1,833 | $106K | 0.0% | 0.0% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 214 | Goshen AR | 2,405 | $150K | 1.7% | 2.1% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 329 | Salem AR | 2,642 | $74K | 2.4% | 0.0% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 4,542 | Sylva NC | 2,691 | $44K | 19.4% | 7.3% | 17% | D |
| 4,543 | Russell NY | 1,853 | $65K | 20.7% | 8.4% | 5% | D |
| 4,544 | Harrisburg AR | 2,217 | $48K | 26.1% | 8.2% | 26% | D |
| 4,545 | Bull Shoals AR | 1,888 | $42K | 14.6% | 12.9% | 10% | D |
| 4,546 | Hart MI | 2,065 | $51K | 21.3% | 6.1% | 21% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 5,102 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 61% | 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 Harrisburg, 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 2024, 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 Harrisburg: questions
What is the median household income in Harrisburg?
$48,047 (±$14,504) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $60,773 across Arkansas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Harrisburg?
26.1%, against 16.0% across Arkansas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Harrisburg?
17 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Arkansas and 26 nationally. <1% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Harrisburg work?
26% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Jonesboro (28%, 18 mi), Memphis (4%, 53 mi), Little Rock (2%, 109 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Harrisburg walkable?
Harrisburg is more walkable than 78% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 8.0 out of 20, and 5% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Harrisburg without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 11% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Harrisburg, from the people who make the trip.
More of Harrisburg
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.