Photo: Brandonrush · CC BY-SA 4.0Jacksonville has higher unemployment (8.4%) than 90% of U.S. towns
Jobs and income earn Jacksonville C−; getting around on foot earns it B. Household incomes here are lower than in 88% of U.S. towns. About one in ten work in Jacksonville; the top destination outside it is Little Rock (37%, 17 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What the numbers say about work in Jacksonville
Where Jacksonville’s Jobs & income grade comes from
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Jacksonville is better than 20% of U.S. towns, #69 of 123 in Arkansas. Job access by car holds Jacksonville’s grade up (ahead of 78% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Jacksonville could be anywhere from D to C+.
Where Jacksonville’s working residents head each day
Where Jacksonville clocks in
37% of workers
16% 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.
A workday in Jacksonville: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 9,096 residents head out to work, 1,205 work right here, and 6,199 people come in from elsewhere.
About 27,000 people are in Jacksonville on a workday afternoon, 10% fewer than live here.
0.72 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 2023, primary jobs.
What work there is in Jacksonville: 7,404 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Jacksonville, 2013 → 2023: 7,797 → 7,404. 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 Jacksonville’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How long Jacksonville spends getting to work: about 20 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Jacksonville workers work from home, vs 9% across Arkansas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 11,911 commuters (the 8% 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.
Half of Jacksonville commutes less than 13 miles
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.
Most of Jacksonville commutes by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Jacksonville is more walkable than 63% of U.S. towns, #26 of 123 in Arkansas. Both inputs place Jacksonville 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 12,923 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 15% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about 0.2 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 45% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 8.7% of Jacksonville households have no vehicle (Arkansas 5.9%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Jacksonville’s commuters take a bus or train.
U.S. towns of 21,000 to 40,000, and where Jacksonville sits
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | West Springfield VA | 22,532 | $163K | 1.9% | 1.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Mountain Brook AL | 21,661 | $201K | 3.2% | 1.2% | 8% | A+ |
| 3 | Upper Dublin Township PA | 27,258 | $168K | 3.2% | 1.9% | 8% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 180 | Centerton AR | 27,176 | $116K | 5.5% | 1.9% | 3% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 418 | Bryant AR | 22,815 | $83K | 5.6% | 2.6% | 10% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 574 | Bella Vista AR | 34,518 | $88K | 3.6% | 4.0% | 6% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,257 | Bay City MI | 31,868 | $49K | 19.1% | 6.7% | 20% | C− |
| 1,258 | Lufkin TX | 34,350 | $57K | 18.0% | 7.0% | 46% | C− |
| 1,259 | Jacksonville AR | 29,460 | $50K | 19.8% | 8.4% | 12% | C− |
| 1,260 | Marrero LA | 32,540 | $41K | 23.0% | 8.2% | 7% | C− |
| 1,261 | Rome GA | 38,934 | $54K | 20.6% | 5.9% | 32% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,366 | Barstow CA | 24,804 | $53K | 23.1% | 11.9% | 17% | 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 Jacksonville, the top three, the last and three more from Arkansas.
Jacksonville and its neighbors
The biggest share goes to Sherwood (5%).
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Jacksonville workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Jacksonville | – | C− | B | 20 min | $49,666 |
| Sherwood | 5% | B+ | B− | 24 min | $81,328 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Jacksonville’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 Jacksonville: questions
What is the median household income in Jacksonville?
$49,666 (±$5,810) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $60,773 across Arkansas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Jacksonville?
19.8%, against 16.0% across Arkansas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Jacksonville?
20 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Arkansas and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Jacksonville work?
12% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Little Rock (37%, 17 mi), North Little Rock (16%, 9 mi), Sherwood (5%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Jacksonville walkable?
Jacksonville is more walkable than 63% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 7.9 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Jacksonville without a car?
<1% of commuters take transit and 9% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Jacksonville, from the people who make the trip.
More of Jacksonville
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.