W.L. Wood House · Photo: Cid.williams · CC BY-SA 3.0Household incomes in Morrilton trail those of 90% of U.S. towns
Morrilton grades D for jobs and income and B for walkability. The poverty rate is 25.5%, against 16.0% across Arkansas. Working residents average 22 minutes each way (Arkansas 23, U.S. 26).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Morrilton in brief
Morrilton is where the jobs are
Morrilton has 3,911 jobs, 1.6 for every working resident. Day and night ↓
The biggest group of Morrilton’s workers comes from Conway
218 of the people who work in Morrilton live in Conway, 16 miles away, more than from any other town. 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.
How the Jobs & income grade adds up in Morrilton
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Morrilton is better than 9% of U.S. towns, #93 of 123 in Arkansas. Job access by car holds Morrilton’s grade up (ahead of 50% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (10.3%, U.S. 5.2%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Morrilton could be anywhere from D to C−.
The daily flow of workers through Morrilton
On a workday 1,836 residents head out to work, 656 work right here, and 3,255 people come in from elsewhere.
About 8,600 people are in Morrilton on a workday afternoon, 20% more than live here.
1.6 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than 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.
The towns that send workers to Morrilton
Where Morrilton clocks in
16% of workers
9% 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.
Inside Morrilton’s 3,911 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Morrilton, 2013 → 2023: 4,383 → 3,911. 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 Morrilton’s own residents hold wherever they work.
A commute of about 22 minutes in Morrilton
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Morrilton workers work from home, vs 9% across Arkansas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,208 commuters (the 12% 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.
The commute from Morrilton, by distance
About 19% 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.
In Morrilton, most people drive to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Morrilton is more walkable than 58% of U.S. towns, #37 of 123 in Arkansas. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 1.6% of 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 2,512 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). 16.2% of Morrilton households have no vehicle (Arkansas 5.9%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Morrilton’s commuters take a bus or train.
U.S. towns of 5,000 to 9,700, and where Morrilton sits
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 476 | Cave Springs AR | 6,701 | $146K | 1.8% | 4.8% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,326 | Tontitown AR | 8,046 | $86K | 4.7% | 6.0% | 6% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,437 | White Hall AR | 5,532 | $78K | 8.6% | 3.1% | 12% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 3,022 | Blakely GA | 5,156 | $50K | 26.8% | 4.2% | 24% | D |
| 3,023 | Wayne NE | 6,338 | $54K | 19.9% | 6.5% | 51% | D |
| 3,024 | Morrilton AR | 7,195 | $48K | 25.5% | 10.3% | 26% | D |
| 3,025 | Clarksville AR | 9,632 | $37K | 27.6% | 5.4% | 43% | D |
| 3,026 | Lexington TN | 8,130 | $49K | 18.4% | 8.3% | 37% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 3,205 | 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 Morrilton, 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 Morrilton: questions
What is the median household income in Morrilton?
$47,572 (±$12,993) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $60,773 across Arkansas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Morrilton?
25.5%, against 16.0% across Arkansas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Morrilton?
22 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Arkansas and 26 nationally. 12% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Morrilton work?
26% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Conway (16%, 16 mi), Little Rock (9%, 37 mi), Russellville (6%, 24 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Morrilton walkable?
Morrilton is more walkable than 58% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 8.3 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Morrilton 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 Morrilton, from the people who make the trip.
More of Morrilton
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.