Photo: Brandonrush · Public domainPrairie Grove has fewer jobs than working residents: 0.4 for each
Only 7% stay in Prairie Grove for work; outside it, Fayetteville is the main destination (36%, 10 miles). Employers in Prairie Grove report 1,502 jobs, and 3,606 of its residents work somewhere. The two grades for Prairie Grove are C+ for jobs and income and C− for walkability.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Getting to work from Prairie Grove, in brief
Prairie Grove has added jobs fast
Jobs based in Prairie Grove went from 877 in 2014 to 1,502 in 2024, +71%. The jobs ↓
36% of Prairie Grove works in Fayetteville
1,285 working residents, 36%, have their main job in Fayetteville, 9.6 miles away. That’s 5 times as many as work in Prairie Grove itself. The commute map ↓
Prairie Grove makes and builds things
42% of the jobs based in Prairie Grove are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Prairie Grove residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 18%. The jobs ↓
Prairie Grove workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 28 minutes each way, against 23 across Arkansas. Over a year that’s about 215 hours of commuting, 38 more than the state’s typical worker. 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.
Prairie Grove’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Prairie Grove is better than 44% of U.S. towns, #43 of 123 in Arkansas. Unemployment holds Prairie Grove’s grade up (3.0%, U.S. 5.2%); the poverty rate pulls it down (15.2%, U.S. 12.5%).
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Prairie Grove could be anywhere from C− to B+.
Prairie Grove works in goods: 42% of its jobs
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Prairie Grove, 2014 → 2024: 877 → 1,502. 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 Prairie Grove’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Where people from Prairie Grove work
Where Prairie Grove clocks in
36% of workers
7% 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.
Each way, about 28 minutes from Prairie Grove
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Prairie Grove workers work from home, vs 9% across Arkansas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,900 commuters (the 14% 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.
In and out of Prairie Grove on a workday
On a workday 3,359 residents head out to work, 247 work right here, and 1,255 people come in from elsewhere.
About 6,900 people are in Prairie Grove on a workday afternoon, 23% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
Near or far: the trip to work from Prairie Grove
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.
Getting around Prairie Grove: mostly by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Prairie Grove is more walkable than 22% of U.S. towns, #95 of 123 in Arkansas. Both inputs place Prairie Grove 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 3,371 workers.
How TownRatings grades walkability →
Transit service (shown, not graded). 0% of residents live within a ¾-mile walk of a bus or train stop, 0% within a quarter mile. At the weekday evening rush, about under 0.1 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 20% of the 9,825 U.S. towns with transit data.
Transit at the evening rush trips an hour stopping within ¼ mile of the typical resident, EPA 2020
Households without a car (shown, not graded). 3.9% of Prairie Grove households have no vehicle (Arkansas 5.9%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Prairie Grove’s commuters take a bus or train.
Ranked on jobs and income, Prairie Grove is 1,861st among 2,862 U.S. towns of 6,300 to 12,100
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| 2 | Pimmit Hills VA | 6,589 | $173K | 1.6% | 1.3% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Braddock VA | 6,536 | $212K | 0.9% | 1.0% | 2% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 351 | Pea Ridge AR | 11,233 | $96K | 3.2% | 1.3% | 5% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 456 | Farmington AR | 10,658 | $90K | 3.8% | 0.7% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 486 | Cave Springs AR | 6,701 | $146K | 1.8% | 4.8% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,859 | German Township OH | 7,579 | $74K | 8.0% | 8.7% | 4% | C+ |
| 1,860 | Mead WA | 6,893 | $77K | 7.4% | 8.6% | 3% | C+ |
| 1,861 | Prairie Grove AR | 8,998 | $71K | 15.2% | 3.0% | 7% | C+ |
| 1,862 | Milo NY | 6,772 | $63K | 12.4% | 1.5% | 26% | C+ |
| 1,863 | Morro Bay CA | 10,613 | $96K | 8.4% | 8.0% | 18% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 2,862 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 6% | 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 Prairie Grove, the top three, the last and three more from Arkansas.
Prairie Grove and its neighbors
The biggest share goes to Farmington (2%).
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Prairie Grove workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Prairie Grove | – | C+ | C− | 28 min | $70,701 |
| Farmington | 2% | A | C | 23 min | $90,469 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Prairie Grove’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 Prairie Grove: questions
What is the median household income in Prairie Grove?
$70,701 (±$16,298) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $60,773 across Arkansas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Prairie Grove?
15.2%, against 16.0% across Arkansas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Prairie Grove?
28 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Arkansas and 26 nationally. 14% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Prairie Grove work?
7% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Fayetteville (36%, 10 mi), Springdale (13%, 16 mi), Bentonville (7%, 26 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Prairie Grove walkable?
Prairie Grove is more walkable than 22% of U.S. towns (Walkability C−): an EPA walkability index of 5.3 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Prairie Grove without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Prairie Grove, from the people who make the trip.
More of Prairie Grove
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.