Photo: Billy Hathorn · CC BY-SA 3.0Households in Magnolia have lower incomes than those in 80% of U.S. towns
Magnolia grades C for jobs and income and A− for walkability. Poverty touches 22.7% of residents, next to 16.0% for Arkansas as a whole. About half work in Magnolia itself; outside it, El Dorado draws the most (4%, 33 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Magnolia: the gist
Commutes from Magnolia are quick
The average trip to work takes 18 minutes, against 23 across Arkansas. That’s about 38 hours a year less on the road than the typical Arkansas worker. Time on the road ↓
Magnolia draws workers from far and wide
The 5,175 jobs in Magnolia are filled from a wide area. Magnolia’s own residents hold 32% and the ten next-biggest home towns 13%; the other 55% come from many towns beyond those. The commute map ↓
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.
The four measures behind Magnolia’s grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Magnolia is better than 25% of U.S. towns, #60 of 123 in Arkansas. Unemployment holds Magnolia’s grade up (2.7%, U.S. 5.2%); the poverty rate pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Magnolia could be anywhere from D to C+.
How long Magnolia spends getting to work: about 18 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Magnolia workers work from home, vs 9% across Arkansas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 4,614 commuters (the 6% 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.
Where Magnolia goes to work
Where Magnolia clocks in
4% of workers
3% 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.
Who works in Magnolia, and who works elsewhere
On a workday 2,045 residents head out to work, 1,679 work right here, and 3,496 people come in from elsewhere.
About 12,000 people are in Magnolia on a workday afternoon, 14% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.39 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 Magnolia
5,175 jobs are based in Magnolia.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Magnolia, 2013 → 2023: 5,434 → 5,175. 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 Magnolia’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The distance from Magnolia to work
About 25% 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.
Magnolia is easy on foot, hard by bus
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Magnolia is more walkable than 82% of U.S. towns, #3 of 123 in Arkansas. Both inputs place Magnolia 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 4,883 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). 3.8% of Magnolia households have no vehicle (Arkansas 5.9%, U.S. 8.4%). <1% of Magnolia’s commuters take a bus or train.
Magnolia next to U.S. towns of 7,000 to 14,000: 2,333rd of 2,878 on jobs and income
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Beverly Hills MI | 10,449 | $177K | 1.7% | 1.6% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Ladue MO | 8,934 | $250K | 1.1% | 1.7% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 355 | Pea Ridge AR | 11,233 | $96K | 3.2% | 1.3% | 5% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 457 | Farmington AR | 10,658 | $90K | 3.8% | 0.7% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 504 | Lowell AR | 12,184 | $96K | 6.9% | 1.4% | 9% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 2,331 | Georgetown DE | 8,291 | $50K | 16.8% | 3.7% | 13% | C |
| 2,332 | Union Township MI | 11,850 | $44K | 29.7% | 5.7% | 7% | C |
| 2,333 | Magnolia AR | 10,660 | $56K | 22.7% | 2.7% | 45% | C |
| 2,334 | Shasta Lake CA | 10,208 | $67K | 13.3% | 7.2% | 9% | C |
| 2,335 | LaSalle IL | 9,388 | $58K | 18.8% | 5.0% | 11% | C |
| … | |||||||
| 2,878 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Magnolia, 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 Magnolia: questions
What is the median household income in Magnolia?
$56,127 (±$9,743) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $60,773 across Arkansas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Magnolia?
22.7%, against 16.0% across Arkansas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Magnolia?
18 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Arkansas and 26 nationally. 6% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Magnolia work?
45% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are El Dorado (4%, 33 mi), Little Rock (3%, 112 mi), Camden (2%, 30 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Magnolia walkable?
Magnolia is more walkable than 82% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 8.2 out of 20, and 6% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Magnolia without a car?
<1% 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 Magnolia, from the people who make the trip.
More of Magnolia
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.