Photo: PhotolitherlandChris Litherland · CC BY-SA 3.0Households in Harrison have lower incomes than those in 93% of U.S. towns
Poverty touches 14.9% of residents (Arkansas 16.0%). For jobs and income Harrison is better than 24% of U.S. towns (C−); for walkability it is more walkable than 75% of U.S. towns (A−). About half work in Harrison; the top destination outside it is Little Rock (3%, 113 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What stands out about work in Harrison
Harrison is where the jobs are
Harrison has 10,504 jobs, 2.0 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
Harrison draws workers from far and wide
The 10,504 jobs in Harrison are filled from a wide area. Harrison’s own residents hold 25% and the ten next-biggest home towns 7%; the other 68% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
Commutes from Harrison are quick
The average trip to work takes 16 minutes, against 23 across Arkansas. That’s about 54 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 four measures behind Harrison’s grade
Unemployment holds Harrison’s grade up (3.7%, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($44,056, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Harrison could be anywhere from D to C+.
How many people are in Harrison by day
On a workday 2,620 residents head out to work, 2,630 work right here, and 7,874 people come in from elsewhere.
About 19,000 people are in Harrison on a workday afternoon, 38% more than live here.
2.0 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.
Where Harrison’s workforce comes from
Where Harrison clocks in
3% of workers
2% 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.
About 16 minutes each way for Harrison’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Harrison workers work from home, vs 9% across Arkansas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 5,077 commuters (the 6% 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.
What the 10,504 jobs in Harrison are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Harrison, 2013 → 2023: 10,336 → 10,504. 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 Harrison’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Miles to work from Harrison
About 27% 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.
Harrison is easy on foot, hard by bus
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 5,420 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 Harrison households have no vehicle (Arkansas 5.9%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Harrison’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Harrison ranks: 1,887th of 2,227 U.S. towns of 10,000 to 19,000
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | New Albany OH | 11,803 | $238K | 1.4% | 0.9% | 11% | A+ |
| 3 | Plain Township OH | 13,257 | $219K | 2.1% | 0.8% | 10% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 310 | Pea Ridge AR | 11,233 | $96K | 3.2% | 1.3% | 5% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 390 | Farmington AR | 10,658 | $90K | 3.8% | 0.7% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 430 | Lowell AR | 12,184 | $96K | 6.9% | 1.4% | 9% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,885 | Tillmans Corner AL | 17,677 | $61K | 17.9% | 8.9% | 4% | C− |
| 1,886 | Gretna LA | 17,360 | $43K | 26.9% | 6.3% | 10% | C− |
| 1,887 | Harrison AR | 13,802 | $44K | 14.9% | 3.7% | 50% | C− |
| 1,888 | Paris TN | 10,468 | $41K | 26.3% | 2.2% | 36% | C− |
| 1,889 | Fairmont WV | 18,035 | $63K | 17.4% | 6.7% | 22% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 2,227 | Douglas AZ | 16,038 | $42K | 27.8% | 12.3% | 29% | 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 Harrison, 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 Harrison: questions
What is the median household income in Harrison?
$44,056 (±$6,516) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $60,773 across Arkansas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Harrison?
14.9%, against 16.0% across Arkansas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Harrison?
16 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Arkansas and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Harrison work?
50% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Little Rock (3%, 113 mi), Fayetteville (2%, 60 mi), Rogers (2%, 58 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Harrison walkable?
Harrison is more walkable than 75% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 8.2 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Harrison 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 Harrison, from the people who make the trip.
More of Harrison
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.