Households in Lamar earn less than those in 87% of U.S. towns
Below the poverty line: 22.7% of residents, where Arkansas as a whole has 16.0%. Jobs and income earn Lamar D; getting around on foot earns it C−. Only 4% stay in Lamar for work; outside it, Clarksville is the main destination (26%, 5 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Lamar: the gist
Lamar and Clarksville trade workers both ways
Clarksville is the top workplace for Lamar residents (26%) and also where the most people who work in Lamar come from (21% of its jobs). The commute map ↓
A big share show a job far from home
35% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
Lamar has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Lamar went from 305 in 2013 to 429 in 2023, +41%. 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; with 559 working residents, small shifts move the shares; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
Jobs & income in Lamar: the grade in detail
On income, poverty and job access, Lamar is better than 10% of U.S. towns. Job access by car holds Lamar’s grade up (ahead of 34% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down.
Unemployment (1.8%) is left out: Lamar’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, Lamar could be anywhere from D to C−.
Where Lamar’s working residents head each day
Where Lamar clocks in
26% of workers
14% of workers
6% 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.
How many miles Lamar commutes
About 35% 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.
Most jobs in Lamar are in services
429 jobs are based in Lamar.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Lamar, 2013 → 2023: 305 → 429. 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 Lamar’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily flow of workers through Lamar
On a workday 534 residents head out to work, 25 work right here, and 404 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 (0.77 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 daily trip from Lamar: about 21 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Lamar workers work from home, vs 9% across Arkansas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 628 commuters (the 5% 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.
In Lamar, most people drive to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Lamar is more walkable than 20% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Lamar 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 660 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). 0.8% of Lamar households have no vehicle (Arkansas 5.9%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Lamar’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Lamar is 5,113th among 6,085 U.S. towns of 1,200 to 2,400
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 2 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Hewlett Harbor NY | 1,332 | $250K | 1.9% | 7.2% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 136 | Avilla AR | 1,833 | $106K | 0.0% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,038 | West Fork AR | 2,373 | $78K | 3.1% | 3.5% | 3% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,529 | Mayflower AR | 2,372 | $76K | 5.6% | 4.4% | 6% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 5,111 | Springfield NY | 1,325 | $63K | 20.1% | 4.5% | 3% | D |
| 5,112 | Olivet TN | 1,377 | $67K | 21.0% | 0.0% | 1% | D |
| 5,113 | Lamar AR | 1,776 | $51K | 22.7% | 1.8% | 4% | D |
| 5,114 | Irvine KY | 2,273 | $43K | 19.4% | 5.4% | 11% | D |
| 5,115 | Bay Springs MS | 1,472 | $50K | 16.2% | 9.8% | 25% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 6,085 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 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 Lamar, the top three, the last and three more from Arkansas.
Work next door: 30% of Lamar’s workers
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Lamar workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lamar | – | D | C− | 21 min | $50,568 |
| Clarksville | 26% | D | B | 16 min | $37,373 |
| Knoxville | 4% | — | — | 22 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Knoxville: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Clarksville. Darker towns draw more of Lamar’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 Lamar: questions
What is the median household income in Lamar?
$50,568 (±$9,604) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $60,773 across Arkansas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Lamar?
22.7%, against 16.0% across Arkansas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Lamar?
21 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Arkansas and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Lamar work?
4% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Clarksville (26%, 5 mi), Russellville (14%, 18 mi), Little Rock (6%, 77 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Lamar walkable?
Lamar is more walkable than 20% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 5.5 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Lamar without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 1% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Lamar, from the people who make the trip.
More of Lamar
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.