James W. Hamer House · Photo: Bill Fitzpatrick · CC BY-SA 3.0There are 3.7 jobs in Little Rock for every working resident, and 1,022 people commute in
There are 1,046 jobs in Little Rock, and 279 of its residents work somewhere. About one in ten stay in Little Rock for work; outside it, Dillon is the main destination (13%, 3 miles). 20% of workers have no commute at all, against 12% across South Carolina.
Census ACS 2020–24, Census LEHD 2024, EPA Smart Location Database. How the two grades are made
Work in Little Rock, in a few figures
Little Rock fills up on a workday
Little Rock has 1,046 jobs, 3.8 for every working resident. On a workday afternoon about 1,100 people are in town, 4 times the 310 who live here. Day and night ↓
Little Rock makes and builds things
84% of the jobs based in Little Rock are in goods: factories, construction and farms. Across the jobs Little Rock residents hold, wherever they work, it’s 27%. The jobs ↓
A big share show a job far from home
30% of working residents have a main job more than 50 miles away. Part of that is employers that report every worker at one head office, so not all of those trips happen daily. How far ↓
Written from the Census figures on this page. Commute flows, distances and jobs are Census LEHD 2024, primary jobs only (the self-employed aren’t counted); commute time and working from home are from the Census American Community Survey; with 279 working residents, small shifts move the shares.
Who leaves Little Rock for work, and who comes in
On a workday 255 residents head out to work and 24 work right here.
About 1,100 people are in Little Rock on a workday afternoon, 251% more than live here.
3.7 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.
Workday population = residents − those who work elsewhere + those who come in (the Census “commuter-adjusted” method). Residents: Census survey; commuters: LEHD 2024, primary jobs.
Goods jobs make up 84% of work in Little Rock
What kind of work
What it pays
Who does it
Jobs based in Little Rock, 2014 → 2024: 1,050 → 1,046. 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 Little Rock’s own residents hold wherever they work.
Half of Little Rock commutes less than 21 miles
About 30% 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.
Who travels to work in Little Rock, and from where
Where Little Rock clocks in
13% of workers
4% of workers
3% 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.
From Little Rock, about 27 minutes to the job
Round trip, about 230 workdays a year: roughly 8.8 full days in the car, bus or train.
Average commute minutes, one way
of Little Rock workers work from home, vs 12% across South Carolina. Their commute is the hallway.
Share of the 111 commuters (the 20% who work from home are left out). Across South Carolina: 86% 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.
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 Little Rock: questions
What is the median household income in Little Rock?
$55,455 (±$22,620) (Census ACS 2020–24), against $69,324 across South Carolina and $80,734 nationally.
What is the poverty rate in Little Rock?
35.9%, against 14.1% across South Carolina and 12.5% nationally (Census ACS 2020–24).
How long is the commute from Little Rock?
27 minutes each way on average, against 26 across South Carolina and 26 nationally. 20% of workers work from home.
Where do people who live in Little Rock work?
9% work in town. The top destinations elsewhere are Dillon (13%, 3 mi), Florence (4%, 30 mi), Columbia (3%, 91 mi) (Census LEHD 2024).
Can you get around Little Rock without a car?
0% of commuters take transit and 16% of households have no car. EPA has no transit data for this county.
Commuter talk
Getting to work from Little Rock, from the people who make the trip.
More of Little Rock
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.