Photo: Brandonrush · CC BY-SA 3.0Johnson has lower unemployment (1.2%) than 93% of U.S. towns
Measured by household income, Johnson is ahead of 74% of U.S. towns. Jobs and income earn Johnson A+; getting around on foot earns it B+. Only 1% work in Johnson itself; outside it, Fayetteville draws the most (28%, 4 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Johnson stands out on work
Johnson trades workers with the towns around it
Johnson has about as many jobs (1,767) as working residents (1,639), but they are mostly different people: 1,621 residents leave for work each day while 1,749 people come in. Only 1% of the jobs in Johnson are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Much of Johnson works one town over
53% of working residents work in a town that borders Johnson: Fayetteville (28%) and Springdale (25%). Next door ↓
Johnson has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Johnson went from 995 in 2013 to 1,767 in 2023, +78%. The jobs ↓
Most Johnson residents work close to home
63% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home. How far ↓
A young workforce
30% of Johnson’s working residents are 29 or younger. The jobs ↓
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; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Where Johnson’s Jobs & income grade comes from
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Johnson is better than 96% of U.S. towns, #1 of 123 in Arkansas. The poverty rate is its strongest input (2.2%, U.S. 12.5%); household income ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns ($95,844, U.S. $80,734). It also does well on household income and unemployment and job access by car.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Johnson could be anywhere from A− to A+.
Johnson on a workday afternoon
On a workday 1,621 residents head out to work, 18 work right here, and 1,749 people come in from elsewhere.
About as many people by day as by night: the people who leave are replaced by the people who come in.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.08 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.
The kinds of work in Johnson
1,767 jobs are based in Johnson.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Johnson, 2013 → 2023: 995 → 1,767. 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 Johnson’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Close to home or a long way: work trips from Johnson
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.
Where Johnson’s working residents head each day
Where Johnson clocks in
28% of workers
9% 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 daily trip from Johnson: about 21 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 Johnson workers work from home, vs 9% across Arkansas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,688 commuters (the 9% 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.
Most of Johnson commutes by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Johnson is more walkable than 67% of U.S. towns, #19 of 123 in Arkansas. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, above the 2.0% across Arkansas.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,845 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% 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 3.9 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 80% 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). 0.0% of Johnson households have no vehicle (Arkansas 5.9%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Johnson’s commuters take a bus or train.
Out of 4,318 U.S. towns of 2,600 to 5,000, Johnson comes 174th on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 172 | Hamel Township IL | 2,774 | $125K | 3.7% | 0.3% | 4% | A+ |
| 173 | Wrightstown Township PA | 3,278 | $189K | 5.8% | 2.5% | 6% | A+ |
| 174 | Johnson AR | 3,684 | $96K | 2.2% | 1.2% | 1% | A+ |
| 175 | Aspinwall PA | 2,809 | $107K | 3.3% | 2.7% | 4% | A+ |
| 176 | Beach City TX | 3,438 | $149K | 1.5% | 3.2% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 224 | Austin AR | 4,017 | $114K | 1.6% | 1.9% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 385 | Salem AR | 2,642 | $74K | 2.4% | 0.0% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 418 | Highfill AR | 3,676 | $93K | 4.2% | 0.7% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 4,318 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Johnson, the top three, the last and three more from Arkansas.
53% of Johnson works in a bordering town
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Johnson workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Johnson | – | A+ | B+ | 21 min | $95,844 |
| Fayetteville | 28% | B− | A | 19 min | $62,695 |
| Springdale | 25% | B− | B− | 19 min | $69,787 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Fayetteville. Darker towns draw more of Johnson’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 Johnson: questions
What is the median household income in Johnson?
$95,844 (±$13,379) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $60,773 across Arkansas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Johnson?
2.2%, against 16.0% across Arkansas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Johnson?
21 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Arkansas and 26 nationally. 8% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Johnson work?
1% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Fayetteville (28%, 4 mi), Springdale (25%, 4 mi), Bentonville (9%, 15 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Johnson walkable?
Johnson is more walkable than 67% of U.S. towns (Walkability B+): an EPA walkability index of 8.6 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Johnson without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Johnson, from the people who make the trip.
More of Johnson
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.