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Place dossier plate
SheetAR-BLACK-ROCK-AR · Black Rock, AR 790 pop · income 34th 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 Black Rock
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Black Rock on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Bearden · lowest
28,143
Bearden · lowest
28,143 median HH income
28.5% of the leader · rank #1
Chisholm · near
59,524
Chisholm · near
59,524 median HH income
60.3% of the leader · rank #2
Black Rock · this city
59,531
Black Rock · this city
59,531 median HH income
60.3% of the leader · rank #3
Barboursville · near
59,531
Barboursville · near
59,531 median HH income
60.3% of the leader · rank #4
Monroe · near
59,532
Monroe · near
59,532 median HH income
60.3% of the leader · rank #5
Taylor · near
59,537
Taylor · near
59,537 median HH income
60.3% of the leader · rank #6
Woodlawn Park · highest
98,661
Woodlawn Park · highest
98,661 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, and FBI crime rate
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Black Rock on ACS population and median household income
, plus FBI UCR reporting rate when the extract covers this place. 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: 790.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Black Rock - the verdict
Out of every US city with 1,000+ residents, Black Rock places in the 34th percentile for household income and the 79th percentile for safety. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
34th
percentile, household income
2nd
percentile, home value
3rd
percentile, median rent
79th
percentile, safety
📝 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: Black Rock, AR
Census ACS 2023 estimates count 790 residents in Black Rock, a small town within Arkansas. Households in Black Rock report a median income of $59,531 per year, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 14.8%. Typical homes in Black Rock are valued around $68,300, and the median resident age is 39.3 years. About 4.3% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 46.9% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Housing supply pressure shows in Census Building Permit Survey data: 39 residential units were authorized in 2024 (Low Activity). Black Rock reports a comparatively low crime rate: FBI UCR reporting places total crime at 651.5 incidents per 100,000 residents, below the national average (voluntary agency reporting, reflects reporting activity, not a definitive danger score).
Living costs in Arkansas run below the national norm: the state registers 86.9 on a 100-equals-national-average index (Well Below Average) per BEA Regional Price Parities 2024. Statewide, HUD pegs Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom unit at $944 monthly. EIA 2023 residential energy data puts Arkansas's average monthly utility costs around $210 (state average). 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 Black Rock'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 reported crime to work and mobility to population change to housing and income; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Black Rock, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares, local building permits, FBI reported-crime rates, annual population history.
No matched row is reported here for matched public-school count, within-city Census tract profiles; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
1. Comparison shortlist
Which cities make useful reference points for Black Rock?
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. The nationwide peer panel below adds a fourth FBI UCR reporting-rate lens, not personal risk.
Within Arkansas, the closest population matches are Bearden (793 residents, $28,143 income); Keiser (796 residents, $53,053 income); Floyd (800 residents, $80,795 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Talbotton, GA (790 residents); Hennepin, IL (790 residents); Waynetown, IN (790 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.
What can the FBI record say about safety in Black Rock?
The joined FBI UCR record reports 651.5 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, below the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 71% lower in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
Treat this as a reporting-rate comparison, not a prediction of personal risk or a neighborhood-level safety grade. Tourism, daytime population, reporting practices, and variation inside the city are not adjusted away. The state rank and same-state peer table are the narrower comparisons available on this page.
What does the journey to work look like in Black Rock?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 55.6%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. No single mode completely explains the work trip here. The mix is more useful than a one-number commute grade, especially when comparing places where transit, walking, and remote work divide the non-driving share differently.
Is Black Rock growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +107 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +18.1% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 39 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
Recent estimates point upward. Growth can increase housing demand and service needs, but the permit record must move in the same direction before calling it a supply response; the two series measure different things.
These joined records add useful context, but they do not need another full-size panel. Each remains a separate measure with its own geography and source boundary.
Housing and income
How far does income reach against housing in Black Rock?
This is a citywide price-to-income reference, not a mortgage-affordability test; it does not include interest rates, taxes, insurance, household size, or an individual buyer's down payment. The ratio makes housing the clearest place to start this profile, but a low multiple can coexist with slow demand, older stock, or household-level hardship. Compare the home-value distribution and same-state peer table before treating it as an advantage.
The home-value-to-income reference is relatively compact: the ACS median home value is 1.1 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 14.8%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Value / income
1.1×
Home value
$68,300
Household income
$59,531
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
Below median income · poverty 14.8% (High poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
86.9 (US=100)
Very affordable · BEA RPP 2024, Arkansas average
C-
City profile score · Black Rock, AR
52/100
5 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.
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.
Violent crime A+
0 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Household income F
$59,531
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Poverty rate F
14.8%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share F
4.3%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Black Rock profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 97/100 (A+) · 86.9 index
Violent crime: 97/100 (A+) · 0 /100k
Household income: 34/100 (F) · $59,531
Poverty rate: 23/100 (F) · 14.8%
Bachelor's+ share: 0/100 (F) · 4.3%
Where Black Rock sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Black Rock's median home value and FBI crime rate plotted with similar-size and
same-state peers (padded with large cities when the peer set is thin). The second
read: pricey does not always mean safer, check which quadrant this city lands in.
Census ACS median home value vs FBI UCR crime rate - Black Rock highlighted among 23 peers.Read the chart values
Black Rock, AR (this city): home $68,300, crime 652/100k
Science Hill, KY : home $129,300, crime 153/100k
Luxora, AR : home $38,000, crime 347/100k
New York, NY : home $751,700, crime 3,039/100k
Los Angeles, CA : home $879,500, crime 2,212/100k
Chicago, IL : home $315,200, crime 4,012/100k
Houston, TX : home $253,400, crime 5,442/100k
Phoenix, AZ : home $381,900, crime 3,125/100k
Philadelphia, PA : home $232,400, crime 5,457/100k
San Antonio, TX : home $219,700, crime 5,218/100k
San Diego, CA : home $848,500, crime 2,082/100k
Dallas, TX : home $295,300, crime 4,010/100k
San Jose, CA : home $1,187,800, crime 3,195/100k
Austin, TX : home $512,700, crime 3,709/100k
Fort Worth, TX : home $277,300, crime 3,158/100k
Columbus, OH : home $234,500, crime 3,088/100k
Indianapolis, IN : home $207,000, crime 4,214/100k
San Francisco, CA : home $1,380,500, crime 4,526/100k
Seattle, WA : home $912,100, crime 5,783/100k
Denver, CO : home $586,700, crime 5,755/100k
Oklahoma City, OK : home $215,100, crime 3,570/100k
El Paso, TX : home $171,700, crime 1,772/100k
Washington, DC : home $724,600, crime 4,514/100k
How does Black Rock compare to other US cities?
Where Black Rock sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income34% higher than other cities
Home value2% pricier than other cities
Median rent3% pricier than other cities
Safety79% safer than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
Zoom in to just Arkansas and the picture shifts: Black Rock ranks #17 of 160 Arkansas cities by lowest crime rate, a different read than the national percentile above.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Black Rock 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 Black Rock near the bottom of Arkansas's cities
Among the 524 Arkansas cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Black Rock ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Black Rock only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#146 of 495
70th percentile in Arkansas
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 524
0th percentile in Arkansas
Median Home Value
#409 of 482
15th percentile in Arkansas
Poverty Rate
#227 of 524
56th percentile in Arkansas
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#471 of 524
10th 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
34th percentile nationally for median household income · 79th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Black Rock's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Black Rock's percentile rank on 3 favorable-direction measures (income, affordability, safety) vs. every tracked US city -- higher on every axis is more favorable. Not a composite quality score, just the arithmetic mean of the axes shown.
How Black Rock's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$68,300Among the most affordablemore affordable than 98% of 15,600 US cities
Show national distribution
Each bar is a $25K-wide band; taller bars hold more US cities. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2023
Black Rock's home-value-to-income ratio: 1.1×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#87 of 15,516
More affordable than 99% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#86 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 1.1×, Black Rock sits in the affordable band:
national rank #87 of 15,516 and #86 of 11,323micro cities (under 10,000).
The multiple is comparatively compact among tracked cities, but a low ratio can still coexist with slow demand or household-level hardship.
How this ratio is calculated
Ratio = Census ACS 2023 median home value ÷ median household income for cities with both fields and population ≥ 1,000.
Rank 1 = lowest ratio (most compact). Bands match the fleet affordability thresholds used on guides (<3.0 / 3.0–5.0 / >5.0).
This is not a mortgage payment estimate and does not include rates, taxes, insurance, or down payment.
Income distribution context
$59,531Black Rock, AR median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Black Rock, 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 Black Rock, AR.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)4.3%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)14.8%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)46.9%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
790
Median Income
$59,531
Median Home Value
$68,300
Median Age
39.3
Poverty Rate
14.8%
Labor force participation
46.9%
Bachelor's Degree+
4.3%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
651.5
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
0.0
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
651.5
per 100,000 residents
Crime reporting caveat
Reflects incidents reported to the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program — agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies by jurisdiction and year, so this reflects reporting activity, not a definitive danger score. Not adjusted for tourism, commuter, or daytime population.
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Black Rock's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
590 residents
2021
590 residents
2022
584 residents
2023
604 residents
2024
627 residents
2025
697 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
🏗️ Low Activity
Total Permits (2024)
39
housing units authorized
Single-Family
19
detached homes
Multifamily
20
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
49.4
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
0
0
0
-
2020
0
0
0
-
2021
2
2
0
$0.4M
2022
12
8
4
$0.9M
2023
15
15
0
$4.3M
2024
39
19
20
$8.0M
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
55.6%
Carpool
38.6%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
2.9%
Work from Home
2.9%
Based on 277 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 Black Rock. 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 Black Rock 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 Black Rock sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Black Rock 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, FBI UCR, Census BPS 2024, 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.