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Jobs & commute in Rudy

Rudy has 2.4 jobs for every working resident: 119 people commute in to work

Rudy has 120 jobs, against 50 working residents. Only 2% work in Rudy; the top destination outside it is Fort Smith (42%, 14 miles). A typical one-way commute lasts 24 minutes (Arkansas 23, U.S. 26).

Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made

Day and night

Rudy by day and by night

On a workday 49 residents head out to work and 1 work right here.

49live here, work elsewhere
1live and work here
119work here, live elsewhere
Night and day
At night130
Workday200
130live here− 49head out to work+ 120come in to work= 200on a workday

About 200 people are in Rudy on a workday afternoon, 53% more than live here.

Job hub or commuter town?
2.40jobs per workerCommuter townJob hub

Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.

The commute map

The towns that send workers to Rudy

RudyHuntsvilleAlma: 9 workers live here (8%)De QueenMulberry: 5 workers live here (4%)Ozark: 4 workers live here (3%)Cedarville: 2 workers live here (2%)LowellVan Buren: 5 workers live here (4%)Hot SpringsBentonville: 2 workers live here (2%)Springdale: 3 workers live here (3%)Fort Smith: 18 workers live here (15%)North Little RockFayetteville: 3 workers live here (3%)Stilwell: 2 workers live here (2%)Fort SmithAlmaMulberryVan BurenOzarkSpringdaleRudy
1
Fort Smith14.3 mi away
15%18
2
Alma2.9 mi away
8%9
3
Mulberry9.4 mi away
4%5
4
Van Buren8.3 mi away
4%5
5
Ozark22.1 mi away
3%4
6
Springdale46.1 mi away
3%3
7
Fayetteville37.8 mi away
3%3
8
Cedarville7.9 mi away
2%2
9
Bentonville57 mi away
2%2
10
Stilwell, OK29.6 mi away
2%2
Everywhere elseother towns and states
56%67
The top trips

Where Rudy clocks in

Lines 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.

The jobs

Jobs in Rudy: what the 120 are

Jobs based in RudyJobs Rudy residents hold

What kind of work

Goods: factories, building, farms0%22%
Trade, transport & utilities95%18%
Services: health, schools, offices5%60%

What it pays

$1,250 a month or less31%12%
$1,251–$3,333 a month59%32%
Over $3,333 a month10%56%

Who does it

29 or younger29%12%
30 to 5445%60%
55 and older26%28%
+118%

Jobs based in Rudy, 2013 → 2023: 55 → 120. 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 Rudy’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Time on the road

Each way, about 24 minutes from Rudy

A year of commuting
186 hours

Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.8 full days in the car, bus or train.

Average commute minutes, one way

Rudy24 min
Arkansas23 min
U.S.26 min
Working from home
14%

of Rudy workers work from home, vs 9% across Arkansas. Their commute is the hallway.

About 1 in 10
How Rudy gets to work
93%Drive alone
7%Carpool

Share of the 45 commuters (the 13% 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 far

How many miles Rudy commutes

10 mi25 mi50 mi80 miFort Smith: 42% · 14.3 miAlma: 12% · 2.9 miVan Buren: 12% · 8.3 miNorth Little Rock: 4% · 124.4 miHuntsville: 2% · 48.7 miDe Queen: 2% · 102.8 miOzark: 2% · 22.1 miLowell: 2% · 50.6 miHot Springs: 2% · 98.4 miFort Smith 42%Alma 12%Van Buren 12%North Little Rock 4%Huntsville 2%Rudy
RudyTop destinations (size = commuters)
34%Under 10 mi17 residents
44%10–24 mi22 residents
6%25–50 mi3 residents
16%Over 50 mi8 residents

About 16% 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.

How to read these numbers

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.

How these figures and grades are made →

Jobs and commuting in Rudy: questions

What is the median household income in Rudy?

$56,181 (±$9,023) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $60,773 across Arkansas and $80,734 nationally.

What is the poverty rate in Rudy?

29.2%, against 16.0% across Arkansas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).

How long is the commute from Rudy?

24 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Arkansas and 26 nationally. 14% of workers work from home.

Where do people who live in Rudy work?

2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Fort Smith (42%, 14 mi), Alma (12%, 3 mi), Van Buren (12%, 8 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).

Can you get around Rudy without a car?

0% of commuters take transit and 3% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.

Commuter talk

Getting to work from Rudy, from the people who make the trip.

Town Square →
Ask neighbors
Beyond the commute

More of Rudy

Rudy home →

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.