Photo: Photolitherland · CC BY-SA 3.0Work means Russellville for about two in five of Pottsville’s working residents
For 1% of workers, the job is at home, next to 9% for Arkansas as a whole. The two grades for Pottsville are B− for jobs and income and D for walkability. Household incomes here are lower than in 61% of U.S. towns.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
What sets Pottsville apart on work
41% of Pottsville works in Russellville
567 working residents, 41%, have their main job in Russellville, 5.4 miles away across the town line. That’s 7 times as many as work in Pottsville itself. The commute map ↓
Pottsville has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Pottsville went from 595 in 2014 to 812 in 2024, +36%. The jobs ↓
Few Pottsville workers work from home
Only 1% of workers work from home, against 9% across Arkansas. Almost everyone here travels to a job. Time on the road ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; a jump in jobs can partly be a big employer changing how it reports its locations.
The figures behind Pottsville’s Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Pottsville is better than 52% of U.S. towns, #31 of 123 in Arkansas. Unemployment holds Pottsville’s grade up (2.2%, U.S. 5.2%); household income pulls it down ($68,558, U.S. $80,734).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Pottsville could be anywhere from C to A−.
The places Pottsville commutes to
Where Pottsville clocks in
41% 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.
Making and building: 30% of jobs based in Pottsville
812 jobs are based in Pottsville.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Pottsville, 2014 → 2024: 595 → 812. 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 2024.
Here is what they are, next to the jobs Pottsville’s own residents hold wherever they work.
How long Pottsville spends getting to work: about 20 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Pottsville workers work from home, vs 9% across Arkansas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 1,594 commuters (the 1% 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.
How a workday changes Pottsville
On a workday 1,316 residents head out to work, 78 work right here, and 734 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,700 people are in Pottsville on a workday afternoon, 17% fewer than live here.
0.58 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
Short hops and long hauls from Pottsville
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 2024.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
Pottsville is a driving town
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Pottsville is more walkable than 14% of U.S. towns, #113 of 123 in Arkansas. How people get to work scores higher than the street layout: 1.4% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, against 2.0% across Arkansas, on an EPA index of 3.7.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 1,614 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). 3.5% of Pottsville households have no vehicle (Arkansas 5.9%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Pottsville’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Pottsville is 2,160th among 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% | 3% | 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 |
| … | |||||||
| 2,158 | Halifax Township PA | 3,352 | $71K | 6.9% | 5.0% | 6% | B− |
| 2,159 | Norco LA | 2,781 | $71K | 14.8% | 3.9% | 6% | B− |
| 2,160 | Pottsville AR | 3,326 | $69K | 11.9% | 2.2% | 6% | B− |
| 2,161 | Randolph NY | 2,405 | $77K | 9.1% | 2.8% | 18% | B− |
| 2,162 | Vergennes VT | 2,559 | $77K | 11.6% | 1.6% | 18% | B− |
| … | |||||||
| 4,593 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 19% | 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 Pottsville, the top three, the last and three more from Arkansas.
Work next door: 41% of Pottsville’s workers
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Pottsville workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pottsville | – | B− | D | 20 min | $68,558 |
| Russellville | 41% | C− | B+ | 16 min | $50,877 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
The biggest share goes to Russellville. Darker towns draw more of Pottsville’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 2024, 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 Pottsville: questions
What is the median household income in Pottsville?
$68,558 (±$13,498) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $60,773 across Arkansas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Pottsville?
11.9%, against 16.0% across Arkansas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Pottsville?
20 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Arkansas and 26 nationally. 1% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Pottsville work?
6% work in town.
Is Pottsville walkable?
Pottsville is more walkable than 14% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 3.7 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Pottsville without a car?
0% 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 Pottsville, from the people who make the trip.
More of Pottsville
Flows, distances and jobs: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2024, 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.