Households in Highland earn less than those in 89% of U.S. towns
Jobs and income earn Highland D−; getting around on foot earns it B−. Below the poverty line: 21.3% of residents, next to 16.0% for Arkansas as a whole. Only 5% work in Highland itself; outside it, Ash Flat draws the most (18%, 5 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Highland in brief
Highland’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty and job access, Highland is better than 3% of U.S. towns. All three inputs sit close together, so no single one decides Highland’s grade.
Unemployment (6.6%) is left out: Highland’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Highland could be anywhere from D− to C−.
Miles to work from Highland
About 32% 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.
Highland fills up on a workday
On a workday 264 residents head out to work, 13 work right here, and 390 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,200 people are in Highland on a workday afternoon, 12% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.45 per resident).
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 the trip to work from Highland ends
Where Highland clocks in
Lines 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.
Services make up most of the work in Highland
403 jobs are based in Highland.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Highland, 2013 → 2023: 293 → 403. 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 Highland’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Getting to work from Highland takes about 23 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.2 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Highland workers work from home, vs 9% across Arkansas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 484 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.
Highland is a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Highland is more walkable than 49% of U.S. towns. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 2.9% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 2.0% across Arkansas, on an EPA index of 6.3.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 520 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). 3.7% of Highland households have no vehicle (Arkansas 5.9%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Highland’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Highland compares with U.S. towns of 700 to 1,400
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 49 | Roland AR | 1,147 | $175K | 0.0% | 2.7% | 3% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 248 | Wooster AR | 1,150 | $112K | 5.8% | 2.3% | <1% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 820 | Oak Grove Heights AR | 1,195 | $82K | 7.4% | 0.9% | <1% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 2,953 | North Towanda Township PA | 1,041 | $29K | 28.6% | 6.3% | 10% | D− |
| 2,954 | Newark AR | 1,184 | $40K | 29.5% | 3.6% | 3% | D− |
| 2,955 | Highland AR | 1,060 | $49K | 21.3% | 6.6% | 5% | D− |
| 2,956 | Gueydan LA | 1,122 | $28K | 39.5% | 22.8% | 14% | D− |
| 2,957 | Rolla ND | 1,156 | $49K | 23.1% | 2.8% | 35% | D− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,133 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 0% | 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 Highland, the top three, the last and three more from Arkansas.
The towns next door employ 16% of Highland
The biggest share goes to Hardy (11%).
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Highland workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Highland | – | D− | B− | 23 min | $49,063 |
| Cherokee Village | 5% | D− | C− | 22 min | $37,326 |
| Hardy | 11% | — | — | 27 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Hardy: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Highland’s workers. Tap a town to see its commute.
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 Highland: questions
What is the median household income in Highland?
$49,063 (±$20,077) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $60,773 across Arkansas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Highland?
21.3%, against 16.0% across Arkansas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Highland?
23 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Arkansas and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Highland work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Ash Flat (18%, 5 mi), Hardy (11%, 4 mi), Batesville (6%, 35 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Highland walkable?
Highland is more walkable than 49% of U.S. towns (Walkability B−): an EPA walkability index of 6.3 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Highland without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Highland, from the people who make the trip.
More of Highland
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.