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Place dossier plate
SheetAR-DONALDSON-AR · Donaldson, AR 376 pop · income 10th 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 Donaldson
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Donaldson on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Hermitage · lowest
20,750
Hermitage · lowest
20,750 median HH income
10.5% of the leader · rank #1
Donaldson · this city
42,188
Donaldson · this city
42,188 median HH income
21.3% of the leader · rank #2
Romeo · near
42,188
Romeo · near
42,188 median HH income
21.3% of the leader · rank #3
East Cape Gir… · near
42,188
East Cape Gir… · near
42,188 median HH income
21.3% of the leader · rank #4
Edgewood · near
42,188
Edgewood · near
42,188 median HH income
21.3% of the leader · rank #5
Garden Prairie · near
42,188
Garden Prairie · near
42,188 median HH income
21.3% of the leader · rank #6
Tall Timber · highest
198,018
Tall Timber · highest
198,018 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 Donaldson 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: 376.
Donaldson ranks in the 10th percentile for household income nationally, out of every US city with at least 1,000 residents. Source: Census ACS.
10th
percentile, household income
1st
percentile, home value
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: Donaldson, AR
376 people live in Donaldson, Arkansas - a small town by U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. The typical household in Donaldson brings in $42,188 a year, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 17.9%. Typical homes in Donaldson are valued around $56,600, and the median resident age is 35.0 years. 6.1% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 64.4% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The city is served by 2 public schools according to NCES Common Core of Data.
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. A typical two-bedroom carries a HUD Fair Market Rent of $944 per month statewide. Statewide, average monthly utility bills in Arkansas run around $210, per EIA 2023 residential energy data. 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 Donaldson'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 to housing and income to population change to schools and households; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Donaldson, city-specific coverage includes annual population history, commute-mode shares, matched public-school count.
No matched row is reported here for FBI reported-crime rates, within-city Census tract profiles, 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 Donaldson?
Within Arkansas, the closest population matches are Hector (377 residents, $51,875 income); Springfield (377 residents, $72,426 income); Hermitage (379 residents, $20,750 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Tall Timber, CO (376 residents); Melvin, IL (376 residents); Winslow, IL (376 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 Donaldson?
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.
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 30.5%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
How far does income reach against housing in Donaldson?
The home-value-to-income reference is relatively compact: the ACS median home value is 1.3 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 17.9%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
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.
Is Donaldson growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
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.
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +5 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +1.8% change. No comparable local building-permit series is available here, so population change should not be read as a housing-supply measure. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
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.
Schools and households
What does the education layer cover for Donaldson?
The NCES join finds 2 public schools within the city match. 6.1% of adults age 25+ hold a bachelor's degree or higher in the ACS estimate. These measures answer different questions: the school count describes local institutions, while adult attainment describes residents and cannot be used as a school-quality rating.
The matched institution count is small, so district boundaries and schools outside the city line may matter more than the municipal count suggests. Use the number as a coverage cue, then verify attendance zones with the district before making a household decision.
Matched public schools
2
Bachelor's degree+
6.1%
Poverty estimate
17.9%
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
Lowest-decile income · poverty 17.9% (High poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
86.9 (US=100)
Very affordable · BEA RPP 2024, Arkansas average
F
City profile score · Donaldson, AR
32/100
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.
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.
Poverty rate F
17.9%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Household income F
$42,188
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share F
6.1%
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).
Donaldson profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 97/100 (A+) · 86.9 index
Poverty rate: 17/100 (F) · 17.9%
Household income: 10/100 (F) · $42,188
Bachelor's+ share: 0/100 (F) · 6.1%
How does Donaldson compare to other US cities?
Donaldson measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Household income10% higher than other cities
Home value1% pricier 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 Donaldson 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 Donaldson near the bottom of Arkansas's cities
Among the 524 Arkansas cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Donaldson ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Donaldson only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#317 of 495
36th percentile in Arkansas
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 524
0th percentile in Arkansas
Median Home Value
#439 of 482
9th percentile in Arkansas
Poverty Rate
#169 of 524
67th percentile in Arkansas
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#444 of 524
15th 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
10th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Donaldson's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$56,600Among the most affordablemore affordable than 99% 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
Donaldson's home-value-to-income ratio: 1.3×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#207 of 15,516
More affordable than 99% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#203 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 1.3×, Donaldson sits in the affordable band:
national rank #207 of 15,516 and #203 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
$42,188Donaldson, AR median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Donaldson, 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 Donaldson, AR.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)6.1%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)17.9%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)64.4%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
376
Median Income
$42,188
Median Home Value
$56,600
Median Age
35.0
Poverty Rate
17.9%
Labor force participation
64.4%
Bachelor's Degree+
6.1%
Schools
Total Schools
2
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Donaldson's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
277 residents
2021
278 residents
2022
279 residents
2023
280 residents
2024
280 residents
2025
282 residents
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
30.5%
Carpool
65.7%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
2.3%
Work from Home
0.0%
Other
1.5%
Based on 213 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 Donaldson. 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 Donaldson 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 Donaldson sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Donaldson 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, NCES CCD, 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.