Sears House · Photo: Valis55 · CC BY-SA 3.0Ward has 0.1 jobs for every working resident, so most commute out
There are 276 jobs in Ward, against 2,530 working residents. The two grades for Ward are C+ for jobs and income and D for walkability. Only 2% work in Ward itself; outside it, Little Rock draws the most (24%, 30 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Jobs and commuting in Ward: the gist
Ward is a place people come home to
There are 276 jobs based in Ward, about one for every ten working residents, so almost everyone works somewhere else. On a workday Ward has about 5,000 people in it, 31% fewer than live here. Day and night ↓
Ward’s biggest commute is a long one
The top workplace outside Ward is Little Rock, 30 miles away as the crow flies. 24% of working residents (609) make that trip; no town closer to home draws more of them. How far ↓
Ward workers spend longer getting to work
The average trip takes 29 minutes each way, against 23 across Arkansas. Over a year that’s about 222 hours of commuting, 46 more than the state’s typical worker. 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.
Income, poverty and work: Ward’s grade explained
On income, poverty, unemployment and job access, Ward is better than 41% of U.S. towns, #45 of 123 in Arkansas. Job access by car holds Ward’s grade up (ahead of 62% of U.S. towns); unemployment pulls it down (6.3%, U.S. 5.2%).
A rough placement. Within the Census margins of error for income, poverty and unemployment, Ward could be anywhere from C− to A−.
The daily flow of workers through Ward
On a workday 2,485 residents head out to work, 45 work right here, and 231 people come in from elsewhere.
About 5,000 people are in Ward on a workday afternoon, 31% fewer than live here.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Near or far: the trip to work from Ward
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.
About 29 minutes each way, longer than most of Arkansas
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 9.3 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Ward workers work from home, vs 9% across Arkansas. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 2,629 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.
Where the trip to work from Ward ends
Where Ward clocks in
24% of workers
11% 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.
Ward makes things: 40% of its jobs are in goods
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Ward, 2013 → 2023: 243 → 276. 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 Ward’s own residents hold wherever they work.
For most of Ward, work means a drive
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Ward is more walkable than 13% of U.S. towns, #114 of 123 in Arkansas. Both inputs place Ward 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 3,035 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). 3.8% of Ward households have no vehicle (Arkansas 5.9%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Ward’s commuters take a bus or train.
2,054th of 3,122: where Ward ranks among U.S. towns of 5,100 to 9,800
| # | 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 | Des Peres MO | 9,102 | $224K | 2.0% | 0.5% | 5% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 469 | Cave Springs AR | 6,701 | $146K | 1.8% | 4.8% | 2% | A |
| … | |||||||
| 1,302 | Tontitown AR | 8,046 | $86K | 4.7% | 6.0% | 6% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,407 | White Hall AR | 5,532 | $78K | 8.6% | 3.1% | 12% | B |
| … | |||||||
| 2,052 | Morris MN | 5,150 | $68K | 15.9% | 0.6% | 51% | C+ |
| 2,053 | Talent OR | 6,296 | $63K | 11.7% | 4.0% | 5% | C+ |
| 2,054 | Ward AR | 7,258 | $73K | 11.1% | 6.3% | 2% | C+ |
| 2,055 | Wickenburg AZ | 8,305 | $68K | 12.9% | 0.4% | 32% | C+ |
| 2,056 | Elsmere KY | 9,521 | $61K | 15.6% | 5.1% | 2% | C+ |
| … | |||||||
| 3,122 | Shiprock NM | 7,610 | $36K | 34.6% | 14.9% | 14% | 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 Ward, the top three, the last and three more from Arkansas.
Around Ward: the bordering towns
Jobs & commute next door
Darker towns draw more of Ward’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 Ward: questions
What is the median household income in Ward?
$72,734 (±$11,418) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $60,773 across Arkansas and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Ward?
11.1%, against 16.0% across Arkansas and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Ward?
29 minutes each way on average, against 23 across Arkansas and 26 nationally. 13% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Ward work?
2% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Little Rock (24%, 30 mi), Cabot (15%, 5 mi), North Little Rock (11%, 22 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Ward walkable?
Ward is more walkable than 13% of U.S. towns (Walkability D): an EPA walkability index of 5.1 out of 20, and <1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Ward without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 4% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Ward, from the people who make the trip.
More of Ward
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.