Work & commute · Mena

Work & commute in Mena, AR

46% of Mena’s working residents work right in town. The top destinations are Fort Smith (4%), Bentonville (2%) and Little Rock (2%). Half commute less than 3 miles.

Census LEHD commute flows, 2023 Census ACS commute times

Work in town

46%

896 of 1,940 working residents

Typical commute

3 mi

Half commute less than this, straight-line

Average commute time

16 min

One way, from the Census survey

Work from home

of workers, from the Census survey

Coming and going

Who leaves, who stays, who comes in

On a workday 1,044 Mena residents head out of town to work, 896 work right here, and 2,864 people come in from elsewhere to fill jobs in Mena.

1,044live here, work elsewhere

896live and work here

2,864work here, live elsewhere

Leave for workStayCome in

The map

Where Mena goes to work

Mena (in town)right here

46%896

Fort Smith53.6 mi away

4%68

Bentonville122.3 mi away

2%39

Little Rock107.2 mi away

2%36

Russellville78.6 mi away

1%28

Hot Springs67.8 mi away

1%27

Rogers120.1 mi away

1%26

Acorn4.4 mi away

1%26

Springdale111.3 mi away

1%22

Texarkana80.4 mi away

1%19

Everywhere elseother towns and states

39%753

Lines run between town centers; a thicker line means more commuters. The top 10 towns each way.

How far

How far Mena commutes

Straight-line distance from home to work, for every working resident. Roads add to it, so real drives run longer.

57%

33%

57%Under 10 mi

4%10–24 mi

6%25–50 mi

33%Over 50 mi

Job hub or commuter town?

Mena is a job hub

1.94jobs per working resident

A job hub

1.9 jobs for every working resident, so more people commute in than out.

The jobs

What the jobs in Mena are

3,760 jobs are based in Mena. Here is what they are, next to the jobs Mena’s own residents hold wherever they work.

Jobs based in Mena

3,760 jobs

Goods (factories, building, farms)18%

Trade, transport & utilities18%

Services (health, schools, offices…)63%

$1,250 a month or less18%

$1,251–$3,333 a month41%

Over $3,333 a month41%

Jobs Mena residents hold

1,940 working residents

Goods (factories, building, farms)25%

Trade, transport & utilities18%

Services (health, schools, offices…)57%

$1,250 a month or less16%

$1,251–$3,333 a month43%

Over $3,333 a month41%

−5%

Jobs based in Mena, 2013 → 2023: 3,940 → 3,760. Big swings can come from how a large employer reports its locations, not only from real openings or closings.

About these numbers

How to read this page

Every worker, home to workThe Census links each worker’s home block to their main job’s block, for jobs covered by unemployment insurance. That’s most jobs, but not the self-employed.

Where the employer saysA job counts where the employer reports it. Some big employers report one address for many sites, which can make a few commutes look longer than they are.

Two surveysFlows, distances and jobs: LEHD 2023. Commute time and working from home: the Census American Community Survey.

Source: U.S. Census Bureau, LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, primary jobs; American Community Survey 5-year estimates.