Photo: Brandonrush · CC BY-SA 3.0Paris has lower household incomes than 86% of U.S. towns
About one in four stay in Paris for work; outside it, Fort Smith is the main destination (15%, 36 miles). 18.9% of residents are in poverty, next to 16.0% for Arkansas as a whole. Paris grades D for jobs and income and A− for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Paris: the figures worth knowing
Paris’ biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Paris is Fort Smith, 36 miles away as the crow flies. 15% of working residents (170) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Fewer jobs are based in Paris than ten years ago
Jobs counted in Paris fell from 2,345 in 2013 to 1,576 in 2023, −33%. That can be real closings or a large employer now reporting its workers at another address; the data can’t tell the two apart. The jobs ↓
Fewer than half of Paris workers earn over $40,000 a year
44% of Paris’ working residents earn over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year) at their main job, wherever they work, and 17% earn $1,250 a month or less. 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.
What drives the Jobs & income grade in Paris
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Paris is better than 13% of U.S. towns, #82 of 123 in Arkansas. Unemployment holds Paris’ grade up (5.0%, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($51,416, U.S. $80,734).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Paris could be anywhere from D− to C+.
Short hops and long hauls from Paris
About 26% 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.
What Paris’ employers do
1,576 jobs are based in Paris.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Paris, 2013 → 2023: 2,345 → 1,576. 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 Paris’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily flow of workers through Paris
On a workday 881 residents head out to work, 291 work right here, and 1,285 people come in from elsewhere.
About 3,800 people are in Paris on a workday afternoon, 12% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.34 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.
Where Paris’ working residents head each day
Where Paris clocks in
15% of workers
5% of workers
4% 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.
About 24 minutes each way, about the AR average
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.7 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Paris workers work from home, vs 9% across Arkansas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,671 commuters (the 3% 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.
Good to walk, short on transit: Paris
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Paris is more walkable than 76% of U.S. towns, #8 of 123 in Arkansas. Both inputs place Paris 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 1,731 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). 4.8% of Paris households have no vehicle (Arkansas 5.9%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Paris’ commuters take a bus or train.
For jobs and income, Paris is 3,993rd of 4,593 U.S. towns of 2,300 to 4,500
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Riverwoods IL | 3,766 | $249K | 0.7% | 0.7% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Belle Meade TN | 2,621 | $250K | 1.4% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 173 | Johnson AR | 3,684 | $96K | 2.2% | 1.2% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 225 | Austin AR | 4,017 | $114K | 1.6% | 1.9% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 270 | Goshen AR | 2,405 | $150K | 1.7% | 2.1% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 3,991 | Worth Township MI | 3,423 | $61K | 13.4% | 7.0% | 10% | D |
| 3,992 | Meadow Lake NM | 4,259 | $44K | 20.6% | 4.8% | <1% | D |
| 3,993 | Paris AR | 3,357 | $51K | 18.9% | 5.0% | 25% | D |
| 3,994 | Potosi MO | 2,568 | $40K | 25.0% | 3.7% | 22% | D |
| 3,995 | Seaside Heights NJ | 2,549 | $48K | 34.1% | 8.0% | 8% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 4,593 | 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 Paris, 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 Paris: questions
What is the median household income in Paris?
$51,416 (±$2,216) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $60,773 across Arkansas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Paris?
18.9%, against 16.0% across Arkansas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Paris?
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 Paris work?
25% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Fort Smith (15%, 36 mi), Russellville (5%, 34 mi), Clarksville (4%, 18 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Paris walkable?
Paris is more walkable than 76% of U.S. towns (Walkability A−): an EPA walkability index of 8.2 out of 20, and 4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Paris without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 5% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Paris, from the people who make the trip.
More of Paris
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.