Photo: Brandonrush · CC BY-SA 4.0Households in Lonoke have lower incomes than those in 90% of U.S. towns
About one in seven work in Lonoke itself; outside it, Little Rock draws the most (25%, 26 miles). 18.2% of residents live below the poverty line, against 16.0% across Arkansas. The two grades for Lonoke are D for jobs and income and C for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Lonoke at work: what stands out
Lonoke trades workers with the towns around it
Lonoke has about as many jobs (1,657) as working residents (1,567), but they are mostly different people: 1,313 residents leave for work each day while 1,403 people come in. Only 15% of the jobs in Lonoke are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Lonoke’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Lonoke is Little Rock, 26 miles away as the crow flies. 25% of working residents (393) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
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.
How Lonoke earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Lonoke is better than 14% of U.S. towns, #81 of 123 in Arkansas. Job access by car holds Lonoke’s grade up (ahead of 64% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (15.8%, U.S. 5.2%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Lonoke could be anywhere from D to C.
The workday shuffle in and out of Lonoke
On a workday 1,313 residents head out to work, 254 work right here, and 1,403 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 (1.06 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.
How far Lonoke goes to work
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 the trip to work from Lonoke ends
Where Lonoke clocks in
25% of workers
10% 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.
What the 1,657 jobs in Lonoke are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Lonoke, 2013 → 2023: 1,590 → 1,657. 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 Lonoke’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 24 minutes each way for Lonoke’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Lonoke workers work from home, vs 9% across Arkansas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,622 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.
Driving is how Lonoke gets around
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Lonoke is more walkable than 28% of U.S. towns, #83 of 123 in Arkansas. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: hardly any commuters walk, bike or take transit, below 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 1,696 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). 15.6% of Lonoke households have no vehicle (Arkansas 5.9%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Lonoke’s commuters take a bus or train.
Among U.S. towns of 3,000 to 5,800, Lonoke ranks 3,555th of 4,039 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 | Mission Hills KS | 3,522 | $250K | 1.2% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 178 | Johnson AR | 3,684 | $96K | 2.2% | 1.2% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 217 | Austin AR | 4,017 | $114K | 1.6% | 1.9% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 409 | Highfill AR | 3,676 | $93K | 4.2% | 0.7% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 3,553 | Warsaw NY | 5,218 | $57K | 20.0% | 5.5% | 30% | D |
| 3,554 | Bystrom CA | 4,143 | $49K | 33.5% | 23.7% | 1% | D |
| 3,555 | Lonoke AR | 4,299 | $48K | 18.2% | 15.8% | 16% | D |
| 3,556 | Oxford NY | 3,562 | $61K | 18.5% | 5.3% | 6% | D |
| 3,557 | Nikiski AK | 4,773 | $66K | 15.9% | 6.1% | — | D |
| … | |||||||
| 4,039 | 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 Lonoke, the top three, the last and three more from Arkansas.
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 Lonoke: questions
What is the median household income in Lonoke?
$47,524 (±$3,069) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $60,773 across Arkansas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Lonoke?
18.2%, against 16.0% across Arkansas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Lonoke?
24 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Arkansas and 26 nationally. 4% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Lonoke work?
16% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Little Rock (25%, 26 mi), North Little Rock (10%, 19 mi), Carlisle (3%, 10 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Lonoke walkable?
Lonoke is more walkable than 28% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 7.5 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Lonoke without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 16% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Lonoke, from the people who make the trip.
More of Lonoke
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.