Households in Roland earn more than those in 97% of U.S. towns
Only 3% stay in Roland for work; outside it, Little Rock is the main destination (57%, 15 miles). Home is the office for 21% of workers, where Arkansas as a whole has 9%. The average commute takes 31 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
Roland and work: the main findings
More than half of Roland works in Little Rock
191 working residents, 57%, have their main job in Little Rock, 15 miles away. That’s 19 times as many as work in Roland itself. The commute map ↓
Roland is a place people come home to
There are 67 jobs based in Roland, about two for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. Day and night ↓
A lot of Roland works from home
21% of Roland workers work from home, against 9% across Arkansas. 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; with 337 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Where Roland’s Jobs & income grade comes from
The poverty rate is its strongest input (hardly any, U.S. 12.5%); job access by car ranks lowest, though still above most U.S. towns (ahead of 62% of U.S. towns). It also does well on household income and job access by car.
Unemployment (2.7%) is left out: Roland’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Roland could be anywhere from B+ to A+.
Where people from Roland work
Where Roland clocks in
57% of workers
8% of workers
5% 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.
How many people are in Roland by day
On a workday 328 residents head out to work, 9 work right here, and 58 people come in from elsewhere.
About 880 people are in Roland on a workday afternoon, 24% fewer than live here.
0.20 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 2023, primary jobs.
Each way, about 31 minutes from Roland
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.9 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Roland workers work from home, vs 9% across Arkansas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 427 commuters (the 21% 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.
Factories, building and farms: 66% of the jobs in Roland
67 jobs are based in Roland.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Roland, 2013 → 2023: 68 → 67. 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 Roland’s own residents hold wherever they work.
The distance from Roland to work
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.
Few in Roland walk, bike or ride to work
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Roland is near the bottom of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Roland 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 542 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 0.7 trips an hour stop near the typical resident, more than in 53% 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). 0.0% of Roland households have no vehicle (Arkansas 5.9%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Roland’s commuters take a bus or train.
65th of 3,771: where Roland ranks among U.S. towns of 800 to 1,500
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Somerset MD | 1,151 | $250K | 1.9% | 2.3% | <1% | A+ |
| 2 | Bellerose NY | 1,169 | $232K | 1.6% | 6.1% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Baxter Estates NY | 1,014 | $154K | 1.0% | 3.1% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 63 | Monroe North WA | 1,456 | $170K | 0.8% | 3.7% | <1% | A+ |
| 64 | Vermillion Township MN | 1,257 | $126K | 3.0% | 2.2% | 1% | A+ |
| 65 | Roland AR | 1,147 | $175K | 0.0% | 2.7% | 3% | A+ |
| 66 | Tiki Island TX | 1,119 | $129K | 2.5% | 1.6% | 1% | A+ |
| 67 | Reed Township ND | 1,151 | $131K | 0.4% | 0.0% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 315 | Wooster AR | 1,150 | $112K | 5.8% | 2.3% | <1% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 1,006 | Redfield AR | 1,492 | $72K | 8.3% | 3.0% | 2% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 1,010 | Oak Grove Heights AR | 1,195 | $82K | 7.4% | 0.9% | <1% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 3,771 | Oglala SD | 1,071 | $21K | 68.8% | 26.5% | 0% | 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 Roland, the top three, the last and three more from Arkansas.
Work in the towns next to Roland
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Roland workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Roland | – | A+ | D− | 31 min | $175,125 |
| Natural Steps | under 1% | — | — | 26 min | — |
Same-state neighbors only. Natural Steps: fewer than 1,000 residents, not graded. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Roland’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 Roland: questions
What is the median household income in Roland?
$175,125 (±$108,025) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $60,773 across Arkansas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Roland?
0.0%, against 16.0% across Arkansas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Roland?
31 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Arkansas and 26 nationally. 21% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Roland work?
3% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Little Rock (57%, 15 mi), North Little Rock (8%, 18 mi), Conway (5%, 12 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Roland walkable?
Roland is near the bottom of U.S. towns (Walkability D−): an EPA walkability index of 2.8 out of 20, and 0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Roland without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 0% of households have no car. 0% of residents live within a quarter mile of a stop.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Roland, from the people who make the trip.
More of Roland
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.