Arkoma School · Photo: Valis55 · CC BY-SA 3.0Households in Arkoma have lower incomes than those in 94% of U.S. towns
22.1% of residents are in poverty, next to 15.3% for Oklahoma as a whole. Jobs and income earn Arkoma C−; getting around on foot earns it C. Only 5% work in Arkoma; the top destination outside it is Fort Smith (49%, 5 miles).
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2023, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
The short version on getting to work from Arkoma
Much of Arkoma works one town over
53% of working residents work in a town that borders Arkoma: Fort Smith (49%) and Pocola (4%). Next door ↓
Many Arkoma workers cross into Arkansas
70% of Arkoma workers work outside Oklahoma, most of them in Arkansas, the Census survey finds. The commute map ↓
Most Arkoma residents work close to home
67% of working residents have their main job less than 10 miles from home, about two in three. How far ↓
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; with 678 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
How Arkoma earns its Jobs & income grade
On income, poverty and job access, Arkoma is better than 20% of U.S. towns. Job access by car holds Arkoma’s grade up (ahead of 67% of U.S. towns); household income pulls it down ($43,929, U.S. $80,734).
Unemployment (7.8%) is left out: Arkoma’s labor force is under 1,000, too few workers for a steady figure.
A fairly firm grade. Within the Census margins of error for income and poverty, Arkoma could be anywhere from C− to C.
The towns that employ Arkoma’s residents
Where Arkoma clocks in
49% of workers
4% of workers
4% 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.
How far Arkoma goes to work
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 2023.
Every working resident’s trip, home to work, as the crow flies. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.
How a workday changes Arkoma
On a workday 643 residents head out to work, 35 work right here, and 131 people come in from elsewhere.
About 1,400 people are in Arkoma on a workday afternoon, 27% fewer than live here.
0.24 jobs for every working resident, so most people commute out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2023, primary jobs.
Health, schools and offices: most of the jobs in Arkoma
166 jobs are based in Arkoma.
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Arkoma, 2013 → 2023: 249 → 166. 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 Arkoma’s own residents hold wherever they work.
About 18 minutes each way, quicker than most of Oklahoma
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 5.6 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Arkoma workers work from home, vs 9% across Oklahoma. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 752 commuters (the 5% who work from home are left out). Across Oklahoma: 85% 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.
Getting around Arkoma: mostly by car
On EPA’s walkability index and the share of commuters who walk, bike or take transit, Arkoma is more walkable than 28% of U.S. towns. Both inputs place Arkoma 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 795 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). 11.6% of Arkoma households have no vehicle (Oklahoma 5.6%, U.S. 8.4%). 0% of Arkoma’s commuters take a bus or train.
Arkoma next to U.S. towns of 1,300 to 2,500: 4,067th of 5,656 on jobs and income
| # | 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% | 3% | A+ |
| 3 | Plandome NY | 1,482 | $250K | 0.9% | 1.4% | 1% | A+ |
| … | |||||||
| 936 | Justice OK | 1,530 | $98K | 7.5% | 2.7% | 1% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 1,235 | Kiefer OK | 2,310 | $83K | 10.4% | 3.0% | 1% | B+ |
| 1,236 | Union City OK | 2,129 | $106K | 11.5% | 2.9% | 3% | B+ |
| … | |||||||
| 4,065 | Nicholson GA | 1,941 | $52K | 11.5% | 11.0% | <1% | C− |
| 4,066 | Lanark IL | 1,452 | $59K | 12.7% | 2.3% | 8% | C− |
| 4,067 | Arkoma OK | 1,863 | $44K | 22.1% | 7.8% | 5% | C− |
| 4,068 | Freeport PA | 1,672 | $49K | 27.3% | 5.6% | 6% | C− |
| 4,069 | Baxter TN | 2,128 | $59K | 20.5% | 0.8% | 2% | C− |
| … | |||||||
| 5,656 | Paraje NM | 1,333 | $33K | 61.7% | 0.0% | 0% | 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 Arkoma, the top three, the last and three more from Oklahoma.
Bordering towns draw 53% of Arkoma’s workers
Average commute minutes, one way
Jobs & commute next door
The biggest share goes to Fort Smith. Darker towns draw more of Arkoma’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 Arkoma: questions
What is the median household income in Arkoma?
$43,929 (±$12,864) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $65,039 across Oklahoma and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Arkoma?
22.1%, against 15.3% across Oklahoma and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Arkoma?
18 minutes each way on average, against 22 across Oklahoma and 26 nationally. 5% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Arkoma work?
5% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Fort Smith (49%, 5 mi), Van Buren (4%, 10 mi), Oklahoma City (4%, 173 mi) (Census LEHD 2023).
Is Arkoma walkable?
Arkoma is more walkable than 28% of U.S. towns (Walkability C): an EPA walkability index of 5.7 out of 20, and 1% of commuters walk, bike or take transit.
Can you get around Arkoma without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 12% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Arkoma, from the people who make the trip.
More of Arkoma
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.