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These Are The 10 Worst Places In Arkansas To Get A Job

By Chris Kolmar
May. 21, 2016

Find a Job You Really Want In

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We’re on a mission at Zippia to criss-cross the country looking for the best and worst places for jobs.

Today, we set our sites on the worst cities to find a job in Arkansas after looking at the best places in Arkansas a short while ago.

These cities did not have the grit needed to make it to the big leagues and get that big promotion we all hope to get.

After looking at the data for the 100 biggest cities in Arkansas, the ten worst cities to find a job in the Natural State are:

  1. Marianna
  2. Dumas
  3. Helena-West Helena
  4. Mcgehee
  5. Corning
  6. Piggott
  7. Forrest City
  8. Newport
  9. Fordyce
  10. West Memphis

Read on to see how we did it.

How We Determined The Worst Places For Jobs In The Natural State

After getting the data for every place in Arkansas, we ultimately decided to limit our analysis to the biggest places with over 5,000 people.

That left us with 100 cities.

We then ranked each place across a number of criteria from one to 100, with 1 being the worst in any given category.

Finally, we took the average rank across all criteria, with the place posting the lowest overall score gaining the title “Worst City In Arkansas To Find A Job”.

The criteria we looked at were:

1. Marianna

Population: 4,134Recent Job Growth: -8.30%
Future Job Growth: 14.00%

2. Dumas

Population: 4,666Recent Job Growth: -4.97%
Future Job Growth: 20.80%

3. Helena-West Helena

Population: 12,227Recent Job Growth: -3.87%
Future Job Growth: 23.00%

4. Mcgehee

Population: 4,185 Recent Job Growth: -4.97%
Future Job Growth: 20.80%

5. Corning

Population: 3,349Recent Job Growth: -4.18%
Future Job Growth: 22.50%

6. Piggott

Population: 3,818Recent Job Growth: -4.18%
Future Job Growth: 22.50%

7. Forrest City

Population: 15,245Recent Job Growth: -1.94%
Future Job Growth: 26.70%

8. Newport

Population: 7,848Recent Job Growth: -3.78%
Future Job Growth: 23.80%

9. Fordyce

Population: 4,302 Recent Job Growth: -1.51%
Future Job Growth: 28.00%

10. West Memphis

Population: 26,133Recent Job Growth: -1.15%
Future Job Growth: 26.60%

Wrapping It Up With Friday Night Drinks

After crunching all the numbers, Marianna took the “top” spot as the worst city in Arkansas for a job.

So while the economy continues to improve and jobs become available across the state of Arkansas, these cities lag behind.

Hopefully they can catch up before they miss their next bonus.

Detailed List Of Worst Places In Arkansas To Get A Job

City Rank Population Recent Job Growth Future Job Growth
marianna 1 4,134 -8.30% 14.00%
dumas 2 4,666 -4.97% 20.80%
helena-west helena 3 12,227 -3.87% 23.00%
mcgehee 4 4,185 -4.97% 20.80%
corning 5 3,349 -4.18% 22.50%
piggott 6 3,818 -4.18% 22.50%
forrest city 7 15,245 -1.94% 26.70%
newport 8 7,848 -3.78% 23.80%
fordyce 9 4,302 -1.51% 28.00%
west memphis 10 26,133 -1.15% 26.60%
pine bluff 11 48,704 -1.26% 27.40%
blytheville 12 15,614 -1.61% 27.70%
brinkley 13 3,186 -3.11% 27.90%
osceola 14 7,726 -1.61% 27.70%
ozark 15 3,684 -1.70% 30.60%
magnolia 16 11,707 -1.84% 29.50%
crossett 17 5,493 -1.09% 28.00%
manila 18 3,308 -1.61% 27.70%
walnut ridge 19 4,859 -1.08% 30.70%
gosnell 20 3,547 -1.61% 27.70%
monticello 21 9,599 -0.29% 30.70%
north crossett 22 3,541 -1.09% 28.00%
mena 23 5,735 -1.09% 31.20%
wynne 24 8,372 -2.13% 29.10%
hot springs 25 35,459 -1.16% 31.10%
warren 26 5,997 -0.33% 31.20%
van buren 27 22,722 -1.70% 30.70%
alma 28 5,384 -1.70% 30.70%
pocahontas 29 6,617 -0.49% 31.50%
marion 30 12,166 -1.14% 28.00%
dardanelle 31 4,703 -1.28% 32.00%
fort smith 32 86,382 -1.70% 30.90%
batesville 33 10,252 -0.14% 32.30%
barling 34 4,648 -1.70% 31.00%
piney 35 4,419 -1.16% 31.60%
russellville 36 28,068 -1.27% 31.60%
jacksonville 37 28,551 -0.94% 31.20%
white hall 38 5,434 -1.26% 28.90%
atkins 39 3,013 -1.28% 31.60%
greenwood 40 8,940 -1.70% 31.00%
texarkana 41 29,972 -0.87% 31.50%
morrilton 42 6,753 0.09% 33.80%
hope 43 10,085 -0.17% 33.90%
hot springs village 44 13,251 -1.16% 31.60%
camden 45 12,066 0.91% 33.80%
prescott 46 3,297 -0.19% 34.20%
rockwell 47 4,041 -1.16% 31.60%
el dorado 48 18,882 0.68% 33.50%
conway 49 59,664 -0.94% 32.30%
north little rock 50 62,817 -0.94% 32.40%
nashville 51 4,634 0.41% 34.90%
little rock 52 193,691 -0.94% 32.40%
beebe 53 7,347 0.80% 34.10%
greenbrier 54 4,706 -0.94% 32.30%
clarksville 55 9,170 0.11% 34.40%
de queen 56 6,557 0.65% 35.50%
searcy 57 22,873 0.80% 34.10%
landmark 58 3,282 -0.94% 32.50%
vilonia 59 3,821 -0.94% 32.30%
malvern 60 10,468 -0.18% 34.20%
sherwood 61 29,406 -0.94% 32.50%
lonoke 62 4,259 -0.94% 32.90%
sheridan 63 4,691 -0.95% 32.60%
paragould 64 26,222 1.11% 35.30%
arkadelphia 65 10,779 1.22% 36.30%
gibson 66 3,817 -0.94% 32.50%
booneville 67 3,990 0.55% 35.40%
trumann 68 7,218 1.53% 36.80%
maumelle 69 16,965 -0.94% 32.50%
harrison 70 13,026 1.07% 36.00%
heber springs 71 7,131 1.54% 35.80%
mountain home 72 12,371 1.57% 36.70%
ward 73 4,114 -0.94% 32.90%
paris 74 3,539 0.55% 35.40%
cabot 75 23,670 -0.94% 32.90%
ashdown 76 4,681 0.80% 35.40%
haskell 77 4,019 -0.94% 33.10%
east end 78 6,110 -0.94% 33.10%
waldron 79 3,597 0.65% 36.20%
dewitt 80 3,292 0.08% 35.30%
fayetteville 81 74,191 0.07% 35.50%
benton 82 30,736 -0.94% 33.20%
bryant 83 17,172 -0.94% 33.10%
shannon hills 84 3,137 -0.94% 33.10%
stuttgart 85 9,313 0.08% 35.30%
cherokee village 86 4,747 2.07% 38.40%
siloam springs 87 15,103 0.07% 35.60%
gentry 88 3,177 0.07% 35.60%
rogers 89 56,208 0.07% 35.60%
jonesboro 90 67,550 1.53% 37.70%
berryville 91 5,321 2.72% 40.90%
farmington 92 5,974 0.07% 35.60%
bella vista 93 26,267 0.07% 35.60%
springdale 94 70,087 0.07% 35.90%
prairie grove 95 4,418 0.07% 35.60%
centerton 96 9,395 0.07% 35.60%
pea ridge 97 4,751 0.07% 35.60%
johnson 98 3,348 0.07% 35.60%
lowell 99 7,377 0.07% 35.60%
bentonville 100 35,635 0.07% 35.70%
Never miss an opportunity that’s right for you.

Author

Chris Kolmar

Chris Kolmar is a co-founder of Zippia and the editor-in-chief of the Zippia career advice blog. He has hired over 50 people in his career, been hired five times, and wants to help you land your next job. His research has been featured on the New York Times, Thrillist, VOX, The Atlantic, and a host of local news. More recently, he's been quoted on USA Today, BusinessInsider, and CNBC.

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