Henry Atchley House · Photo: Valis55 · CC BY-SA 3.0Earning a living in Sparkman
Sparkman has 121 jobs, and 143 of its residents work somewhere. Only 8% work in Sparkman itself; outside it, Fordyce draws the most (8%, 26 miles). The average commute takes 19 minutes each way, against 23 across Arkansas and 26 nationally.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
A workday in Sparkman: who goes, who stays, who comes
On a workday 132 residents head out to work, 11 work right here, and 110 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 (0.85 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.
Commuting out of Sparkman: the destinations
Where Sparkman clocks in
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.
Sparkman makes things: 79% of its jobs are in goods
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Sparkman, 2013 → 2023: 190 → 121. 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 Sparkman’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 19 minutes each way for Sparkman’s commuters
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Sparkman workers work from home, vs 9% across Arkansas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 156 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.
How far Sparkman’s workers travel
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.
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 Sparkman: questions
What is the median household income in Sparkman?
$39,063 (±$5,169) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $60,773 across Arkansas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Sparkman?
17.2%, against 16.0% across Arkansas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Sparkman?
19 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Arkansas and 26 nationally. 7% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Sparkman work?
8% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Fordyce (8%, 26 mi), Camden (8%, 24 mi), Bearden (5%, 19 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Can you get around Sparkman without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 21% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Sparkman, from the people who make the trip.
More of Sparkman
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.