More people are out of work in Piney (9.2%) than in 92% of U.S. towns
Measured by household income, Piney is behind 87% of U.S. towns. Piney grades D for jobs and income and B for walkability. Only 7% work in Piney itself; outside it, Hot Springs draws the most (40%, 5 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Where Piney stands out on work
Piney trades workers with the towns around it
Piney has about as many jobs (2,015) as working residents (1,843), but they are mostly different people: 1,711 residents leave for work each day while 1,883 people come in. Only 7% of the jobs in Piney are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
A lot of Piney works one town over
43% of working residents work in a town that borders Piney: Hot Springs (40%) and Rockwell (3%). Next door ↓
The jobs in Piney pay better than its residents’ jobs
59% of the jobs based in Piney pay over $3,333 a month (about $40,000 a year), against 40% of the jobs Piney residents hold. 93% of the jobs here are held by people who live outside Piney. The jobs ↓
Commutes from Piney are quick
The average trip to work takes 16 minutes, against 23 across Arkansas. That’s about 54 hours a year less on the road than the typical Arkansas worker. Time on the road ↓
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.
Jobs & income in Piney: the grade in detail
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Piney is better than 9% of U.S. towns, #90 of 123 in Arkansas. Job access by car holds Piney’s grade up (ahead of 48% of U.S. towns); the poverty rate pulls it down (28.5%, U.S. 12.5%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Piney could be anywhere from D to C+.
Piney on a workday afternoon
On a workday 1,711 residents head out to work, 132 work right here, and 1,883 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 (1.09 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.
What work there is in Piney: 2,015 jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Piney, 2013 → 2023: 1,728 → 2,015. 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 Piney’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The daily trip from Piney: about 16 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Piney workers work from home, vs 9% across Arkansas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,921 commuters (the 7% 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 people from Piney work
Where Piney clocks in
40% of workers
11% 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.
Near or far: the trip to work from Piney
About 22% 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 Piney, most people drive to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Piney is more walkable than 59% of U.S. towns, #34 of 123 in Arkansas. Both inputs place Piney 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 2,065 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). 6.8% of Piney households have no vehicle (Arkansas 5.9%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Piney’s commuters take a bus or train.
Piney and other U.S. towns of 3,100 to 6,000
| # | 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+ |
| … | |||||||
| 220 | Austin AR | 4,017 | $114K | 1.6% | 1.9% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 421 | Highfill AR | 3,676 | $93K | 4.2% | 0.7% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 3,695 | Lincoln ME | 4,971 | $56K | 16.5% | 6.1% | 37% | D |
| 3,696 | Ladonia AL | 3,346 | $53K | 16.0% | 10.7% | 2% | D |
| 3,697 | Piney AR | 4,458 | $51K | 28.5% | 9.2% | 7% | D |
| 3,698 | Luray VA | 4,823 | $50K | 12.3% | 9.4% | 26% | D |
| 3,699 | Blakely GA | 5,156 | $50K | 26.8% | 4.2% | 24% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 4,000 | 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 Piney, the top three, the last and three more from Arkansas.
43% of Piney works in a bordering town
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Piney workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Piney | – | D | B | 16 min | $50,901 |
| Hot Springs | 40% | C− | A− | 17 min | $47,760 |
| Rockwell | 3% | B− | C | 21 min | $63,500 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Hot Springs. Darker towns draw more of Piney’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 Piney: questions
What is the median household income in Piney?
$50,901 (±$4,837) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $60,773 across Arkansas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Piney?
28.5%, against 16.0% across Arkansas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Piney?
16 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Arkansas and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Piney work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Hot Springs (40%, 5 mi), Little Rock (11%, 47 mi), Rockwell (3%, 3 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Piney walkable?
Piney is more walkable than 59% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 6.9 out of 20, and 3% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Piney without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 7% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Piney, from the people who make the trip.
More of Piney
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.