Photo: Photolitherland Chris Litherland · CC BY 3.0Households in Walnut Ridge have lower incomes than those in 93% of U.S. towns
Home is the office for 1% of workers, where Arkansas as a whole has 9%. Poverty touches 25.6% of residents, next to 16.0% for Arkansas as a whole. For jobs and income Walnut Ridge is better than 12% of U.S. towns (D); for walkability it is more walkable than 62% of U.S. towns (B).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The commute and the jobs: Walnut Ridge in brief
Walnut Ridge trades workers with the towns around it
Walnut Ridge has about as many jobs (2,196) as working residents (1,937), but they are mostly different people: 1,466 residents leave for work each day while 1,725 people come in. Only 21% of the jobs in Walnut Ridge are held by people who live here. Day and night ↓
Walnut Ridge’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Walnut Ridge is Jonesboro, 24 miles away as the crow flies. 21% of working residents (405) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Few Walnut Ridge workers work from home
Only 1% of workers work from home, against 9% across Arkansas. Almost everyone here travels to a job. 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.
What’s behind Walnut Ridge’s Jobs & income grade
Unemployment holds Walnut Ridge’s grade up (5.0%, 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, Walnut Ridge could be anywhere from D− to C.
The workday shuffle in and out of Walnut Ridge
On a workday 1,466 residents head out to work, 471 work right here, and 1,725 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 (1.13 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.
Short hops and long hauls from Walnut Ridge
About 19% 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.
Walnut Ridge’s commute takes about 24 minutes
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 7.5 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Walnut Ridge workers work from home, vs 9% across Arkansas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,305 commuters (the 1% 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.
21% of working residents work in Jonesboro
Where Walnut Ridge clocks in
21% of workers
7% 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.
Jobs in Walnut Ridge: what the 2,196 are
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Walnut Ridge, 2013 → 2023: 2,449 → 2,196. 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 Walnut Ridge’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Walnut Ridge is a driving town
A firm grade. EPA’s index has no published margin of error; the commuting share comes from a Census survey of 2,326 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). 6.5% of Walnut Ridge households have no vehicle (Arkansas 5.9%, U.S. 8.4%). 1% of Walnut Ridge’s commuters take a bus or train.
How Walnut Ridge compares with U.S. towns of 3,800 to 7,400
| # | Town | People | Household income | Poverty | Unemployment | Work in town | Grade |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Huntington Woods MI | 6,274 | $190K | 2.2% | 0.9% | 2% | A+ |
| 2 | Glendale MO | 6,060 | $171K | 2.0% | 0.3% | 2% | A+ |
| 3 | Ho-Ho-Kus NJ | 4,313 | $250K | 0.0% | 1.7% | 6% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 229 | Austin AR | 4,017 | $114K | 1.6% | 1.9% | 1% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 467 | Cave Springs AR | 6,701 | $146K | 1.8% | 4.8% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 757 | Haskell AR | 4,362 | $86K | 7.6% | 0.8% | 5% | A− |
| … | |||||||
| 3,267 | Pauls Valley OK | 6,157 | $50K | 24.4% | 5.2% | 36% | D |
| 3,268 | Livingston TX | 5,386 | $49K | 27.5% | 4.3% | 18% | D |
| 3,269 | Walnut Ridge AR | 5,478 | $45K | 25.6% | 5.0% | 24% | D |
| 3,270 | Coquille OR | 3,943 | $58K | 19.8% | 4.7% | 18% | D |
| 3,271 | Bowie TX | 6,113 | $57K | 16.7% | 6.2% | 19% | D |
| … | |||||||
| 3,612 | Lake Isabella CA | 4,059 | $27K | 40.7% | 8.6% | 18% | 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 Walnut Ridge, the top three, the last and three more from Arkansas.
Next door to Walnut Ridge
The biggest share goes to Hoxie (5%).
Jobs & commute next door
| Town | Walnut Ridge workers there | Jobs & income | Walkability | Commute | Household income |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Walnut Ridge | – | D | B | 24 min | $45,027 |
| Hoxie | 5% | C− | D | 26 min | $35,268 |
Same-state neighbors only. Commute: average minutes each way, Census ACS 2020–24.
Darker towns draw more of Walnut Ridge’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 Walnut Ridge: questions
What is the median household income in Walnut Ridge?
$45,027 (±$5,602) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $60,773 across Arkansas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Walnut Ridge?
25.6%, against 16.0% across Arkansas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Walnut Ridge?
24 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Arkansas and 26 nationally. 1% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Walnut Ridge work?
24% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Jonesboro (21%, 24 mi), Pocahontas (7%, 12 mi), Hoxie (5%, 4 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Walnut Ridge walkable?
Walnut Ridge is more walkable than 62% 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 Walnut Ridge without a car?
1% of commuters take transit and 6% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Walnut Ridge, from the people who make the trip.
More of Walnut Ridge
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.