Bates School · Photo: Valis55 · CC BY-SA 3.0Fort Smith draws about half of Hartford’s working residents
Only 2% stay in Hartford for work; outside it, Fort Smith is the main destination (48%, 22 miles). The trip to work takes 31 minutes on average, against 23 across Arkansas and 26 nationally. There are 26 jobs in Hartford, against 172 working residents.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
A workday in Hartford: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 169 residents head out to work, 3 work right here, and 23 people come in from elsewhere.
About 350 people are in Hartford on a workday afternoon, 29% fewer than live here.
0.15 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute 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 Hartford goes to work
Where Hartford clocks in
48% of workers
5% 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.
The kinds of work in Hartford
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Hartford, 2014 → 2024: 108 → 26. 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 Hartford’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily trip from Hartford: about 31 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Hartford workers work from home, vs 9% across Arkansas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 184 commuters (the 4% 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 Hartford goes to work
About 25% 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.
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 Hartford: questions
What is the median household income in Hartford?
$45,341 (±$34,000) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $60,773 across Arkansas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Hartford?
24.9%, against 16.0% across Arkansas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Hartford?
31 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Arkansas and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Hartford work?
2% work in town.
Can you get around Hartford without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 8% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Hartford, from the people who make the trip.
More of Hartford
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.