Photo: Brandonrush · CC BY-SA 3.0Household incomes in Star City trail those of 87% of U.S. towns
Poverty touches 23.9% of residents; Arkansas has 16.0%. The two grades for Star City are C− for jobs and income and B for walkability. About one in four work in Star City itself; outside it, Pine Bluff draws the most (13%, 21 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Star City’s Jobs & income grade, measure by measure
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Star City is better than 17% of U.S. towns. Unemployment holds Star City’s grade up (3.3%, U.S. 5.2%); the poverty rate pulls it down.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Star City could be anywhere from D− to C+.
Who leaves Star City for work, and who comes in
On a workday 593 residents head out to work, 248 work right here, and 993 people come in from elsewhere.
About 2,500 people are in Star City on a workday afternoon, 19% more than live here.
About as many jobs as working residents (1.48 per resident).
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
Where Star City’s working residents head each day
Where Star City clocks in
13% of workers
6% 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.
The 1,241 jobs based in Star City
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Star City, 2014 → 2024: 1,326 → 1,241. 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 Star City’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Each way, about 19 minutes from Star City
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 6.1 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Star City workers work from home, vs 9% across Arkansas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 921 commuters (the 5% 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.
The commute from Star City, by distance
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.
For most of Star City, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Star City is more walkable than 57% of U.S. towns. The street layout scores higher than the way people actually get to work: 2.0% of commuters walk, bike or take transit, above the 2.0% across Arkansas.
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 969 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). 13.2% of Star City households have no vehicle (Arkansas 5.9%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Star City’s commuters take a bus or train.
4,443rd of 5,793: where Star City ranks among U.S. towns of 1,400 to 2,800
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kenilworth IL | 2,437 | $250K | 2.1% | 4.0% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Chevy Chase Village MD | 1,978 | $250K | 1.2% | 2.6% | 1% | A+ |
| 3 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 139 | Avilla AR | 1,833 | $106K | 0.0% | 0.0% | <1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 233 | Goshen AR | 2,405 | $150K | 1.7% | 2.1% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 353 | Salem AR | 2,642 | $74K | 2.4% | 0.0% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 4,441 | Gorham Township OH | 2,120 | $53K | 14.9% | 1.1% | 7% | C− |
| 4,442 | Heidelberg TX | 2,215 | $34K | 13.5% | 27.5% | <1% | C− |
| 4,443 | Star City AR | 2,059 | $51K | 23.9% | 3.3% | 29% | C− |
| 4,444 | Silver Creek NY | 2,575 | $64K | 21.5% | 6.7% | 13% | C− |
| 4,445 | Adams Township IL | 1,591 | $67K | 26.7% | 6.3% | 3% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,793 | Lame Deer MT | 1,872 | $24K | 55.8% | 42.2% | 61% | 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 Star City, the top three, the last and three more from Arkansas.
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 Star City: questions
What is the median household income in Star City?
$51,051 (±$12,024) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $60,773 across Arkansas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Star City?
23.9%, against 16.0% across Arkansas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Star City?
19 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Arkansas and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Star City work?
29% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Pine Bluff (13%, 21 mi), Little Rock (6%, 62 mi), Monticello (6%, 22 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Is Star City walkable?
Star City is more walkable than 57% of U.S. towns (Walkability B): an EPA walkability index of 7.8 out of 20, and 2% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Star City without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 13% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Star City, from the people who make the trip.
More of Star City
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.