Side-by-side metrics and state or size-class ranks use the same Census and FBI fields shown on this profile. Results stay in the URL so you can bookmark or share them.
Place dossier plate
SheetAR-BETHESDA-AR · Bethesda, AR 136 pop · income 67th pct
Instrument codes from this place’s ACS population and household income, BEA state COL, FBI safety, national income percentile, photo-finish peer city, home-value band, and matched Census-tract book - not a moving recommendation.
Income neighbourhood around Bethesda
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Bethesda on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Bovill · lowest
34,750
Bovill · lowest
34,750 median HH income
13.9% of the leader · rank #1
Bethesda · this city
85,500
Bethesda · this city
85,500 median HH income
34.2% of the leader · rank #2
Casa · near
85,500
Casa · near
85,500 median HH income
34.2% of the leader · rank #3
Fincastle · near
85,500
Fincastle · near
85,500 median HH income
34.2% of the leader · rank #4
East Bend · near
85,500
East Bend · near
85,500 median HH income
34.2% of the leader · rank #5
Marshallberg · near
85,500
Marshallberg · near
85,500 median HH income
34.2% of the leader · rank #6
Sail Harbor · highest
250,001
Sail Harbor · highest
250,001 median HH income
100.0% of the leader · rank #7
What this shows Neighbourhood peers only - not a full nationwide city board. Open a near peer when the gap is small; open the poles when the spread is wide.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by population, income
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Bethesda on ACS population and median household income
. Link sets are deduped so each column is a distinct comparison path, not a forecast that peers share a labor market or climate.
Similar population
Nearest out-of-state cities by ACS population. This city: 136.
Out of every US city with 1,000+ residents, Bethesda places in the 67th percentile for household income. Source: Census ACS.
67th
percentile, household income
3rd
percentile, median rent
📝 How we sourced this
Population, income, and housing-cost figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates (B-series tables). Crime data uses FBI UCR; climate uses NOAA Climate Normals; school counts come from NCES Common Core of Data; permits use the Census Building Permits Survey (BPS). See our methodology page for the full ETL pipeline and OMB / FIPS join keys.
Data Snapshot: Bethesda, AR
136 people live in Bethesda, Arkansas - a small town by U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Bethesda households earn a median of $85,500 annually, above the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 0.0%. The median resident age is 39.9 years. About 0.0% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 76.9% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Living costs in Arkansas run below the national norm: on BEA's 100-equals-national-average cost index, Arkansas scores 86.9 (Well Below Average), per the 2024 Regional Price Parities release. HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in this state is $944 per month. Statewide, average monthly utility bills in Arkansas run around $210, per EIA 2023 residential energy data. Workers in Bethesda report an average commute of 58.9 minutes, with 87.1% driving alone and 12.9% working from home. On FEMA's National Risk Index, this area rates 55.5 out of 100 for natural-hazard exposure (Moderate).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Bethesda's data
How this reading path is ordered
This is not a composite city score. It is a city-specific route through the available public records, ordered for this profile so the page starts with questions the joined data can actually answer. The route here runs from comparison shortlist to work and mobility; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Bethesda, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares.
No matched row is reported here for annual population history, within-city Census tract profiles, FBI reported-crime rates, matched public-school count, local building permits; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
Which cities make useful reference points for Bethesda?
Within Arkansas, the closest population matches are Uniontown (136 residents); Black Springs (138 residents); Casa (134 residents, $85,500 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Huslia, AK (136 residents); Moskowite Corner, CA (136 residents); Sail Harbor, CT (136 residents). A third, income-matched reference set of 6 out-of-state cities sits in the income neighbourhood chart near the Place Dossier plate. These are mechanical peer sets, not claims that the places share a labor market, climate, culture, or metro context.
Use the in-state set to hold state policy and broad price conditions more nearly constant. Use the nationwide size set to ask whether cities with a similar resident count produce different housing, income, or commute outcomes. The income set is a third lens, deliberately separate from population matching.
What does the journey to work look like in Bethesda?
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. The profile is strongly car-oriented, so a relocation comparison should put trip distance, vehicle access, and household fuel costs ahead of a citywide commute average. The same-state peer links offer a more relevant benchmark than a national label.
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 87.1%. The reported mean trip to work is 58.9 minutes.
Above median income · poverty 0.0% (Very low poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
86.9 (US=100)
Very affordable · BEA RPP 2024, Arkansas average
B
City profile score · Bethesda, AR
70/100
4 published dimensions · ACS/FBI 2023
Comparative score against U.S. cities with population of 1,000 or more on Census ACS medians
(income, poverty, bachelor's share, cost of living) and FBI UCR violent-crime rates when
published. Higher means a stronger standing on those published figures, not a livability
rating, not a recommendation to move, buy, or pick a "best" city. Missing inputs drop out
and redistribute weight.
How it is calculated.
Poverty rate A+
0.0%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Cost of living A+
86.9 index
BEA state Regional Price Parities index (100 ≈ national average); lower is stronger on this axis. Same value for every city in the state.
Household income B-
$85,500
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share F
0.0%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Violent crime N/A
N/A
No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).
Bethesda profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Poverty rate: 100/100 (A+) · 0.0%
Cost of living: 97/100 (A+) · 86.9 index
Household income: 65/100 (B-) · $85,500
Bachelor's+ share: 0/100 (F) · 0.0%
How does Bethesda compare to other US cities?
Where Bethesda sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income67% higher than other cities
Median rent3% pricier than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Bethesda against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to Arkansas only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
Arkansas-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places Bethesda near the bottom of Arkansas's cities
Among the 524 Arkansas cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Bethesda ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Bethesda only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#36 of 495
93rd percentile in Arkansas
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 524
0th percentile in Arkansas
Poverty Rate
#467 of 524
0th percentile in Arkansas
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#502 of 524
0th percentile in Arkansas
How in-state ranks are ordered
Ranked by raw value (highest first); a higher rank is not automatically "better" for every measure, see each metric's own context above. This is a comparison within Arkansas only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
67th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Income distribution context
$85,500Bethesda, AR median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Bethesda, AR median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Bethesda, AR.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)0.0%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)0.0%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)76.9%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
136
Median Income
$85,500
Median Home Value
N/A
Median Age
39.9
Poverty Rate
0.0%
Labor force participation
76.9%
Bachelor's Degree+
0.0%
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Average Commute Time
58.9 minutes
Drive Alone
87.1%
Carpool
0.0%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
0.0%
Work from Home
12.9%
Based on 93 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
Arkansas statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $210
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across Arkansas at $210 (electricity about $110 , water and sewer about $42 ).
These are Arkansas statewide averages, not a meter reading for Bethesda. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
Arkansas's BEA cost-of-living index is 86.9 (Well Below Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Bethesda is $944/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to Arkansas statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 55.5 / 100 (Moderate).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a Arkansas statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Bethesda sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Bethesda compares to similar-size Arkansas cities
Same-state peer method
Closest same-state population matches, not geographic neighbors. Population + median household income come from Census Bureau ACS 5-year B01001 and B19013.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year 2023, Census ACS B08301/B08136, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023, BEA Regional Price Parities 2024, HUD Fair Market Rents 2026, FEMA National Risk Index.