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Place dossier plate
SheetAR-HUNTSVILLE-AR · Huntsville, AR 3,086 pop · income 23rd pct · 4 tracts
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 Huntsville
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Huntsville on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Prescott · lowest
29,403
Prescott · lowest
29,403 median HH income
25.9% of the leader · rank #1
Paonia · near
52,466
Paonia · near
52,466 median HH income
46.2% of the leader · rank #2
St. Maries · near
52,468
St. Maries · near
52,468 median HH income
46.2% of the leader · rank #3
Shenandoah · near
52,469
Shenandoah · near
52,469 median HH income
46.2% of the leader · rank #4
Huntsville · this city
52,472
Huntsville · this city
52,472 median HH income
46.2% of the leader · rank #5
Buchanan · near
52,474
Buchanan · near
52,474 median HH income
46.2% of the leader · rank #6
DeCordova · highest
113,676
DeCordova · highest
113,676 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 Huntsville 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: 3,086.
Nationally, Huntsville sits in the 23rd percentile for household income among US cities with a population of 1,000 or more. Source: Census ACS.
23rd
percentile, household income
26th
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: Huntsville, AR
Census ACS 2023 estimates count 3,086 residents in Huntsville, a small town within Arkansas. Households in Huntsville report a median income of $52,472 per year, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 17.0%. Typical homes in Huntsville are valued around $146,300, and the median resident age is 34.4 years. 13.2% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 54.9% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Housing supply pressure shows in Census Building Permit Survey data: 29 residential units were authorized in 2024 (Building Boom), up 142% from five years earlier. NOAA climate normals record an annual average temperature of 59.1°F with 45.6 inches of precipitation per year.
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 Huntsville'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 climate and hazard context to population change to work and mobility to within-city variation to schools and households to housing and income to comparison shortlist; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Huntsville, city-specific coverage includes within-city Census tract profiles, annual population history, local building permits, commute-mode shares, matched public-school count.
No matched row is reported here for FBI reported-crime rates; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
What physical conditions frame life in Huntsville?
NOAA normals put the annual mean temperature at 59.1°F, with 45.6 inches of precipitation. FEMA's state-averaged National Risk Index score for Arkansas is 55.5 out of 100. Climate normals describe long-run weather; the FEMA score on PlainCities is a state average of county NRI inputs and combines hazards, exposure, vulnerability, and resilience.
The two sources should not be blended into one comfort or safety score. Use the climate values for baseline conditions and the risk index as a prompt to inspect specific hazards, insurance, and local emergency guidance for a particular address.
Is Huntsville 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 +689 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +23.9% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 29 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
What can 4 Census tracts reveal inside Huntsville?
That layer breaks the citywide income, rent, and home-value medians into smaller Census geographies, which can reveal differences that one municipal median necessarily hides. A tract is a statistical area, not a locally defined neighborhood or a promise about conditions on a particular block. Start with the city profile for the broad comparison, then use the tract layer to test whether the same housing and income pattern is consistent across the city. Large within-city spreads are a reason to avoid treating any citywide median as a universal resident experience.
Which cities make useful reference points for Huntsville?
Within Arkansas, the closest population matches are Green Forest (3,072 residents, $63,813 income); Prescott (3,063 residents, $29,403 income); West Fork (3,131 residents, $70,486 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Mount Pocono, PA (3,086 residents); DeCordova, TX (3,086 residents); Calais, ME (3,087 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.
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.
Work and mobility
What does the journey to work look like in Huntsville?
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 84.9%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
Public transit
0.0%
Work from home
4.8%
Drive alone
84.9%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 1,111 workers age 16+.
What does the education layer cover for Huntsville?
The NCES join finds 4 public schools within the city match. 13.2% 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 city has a broader matched school footprint, but count alone does not describe performance, capacity, program availability, or attendance boundaries. This profile deliberately avoids converting it into an unsupported family-friendliness score.
Matched public schools
4
Bachelor's degree+
13.2%
Poverty estimate
17.0%
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
How far does income reach against housing in Huntsville?
The home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 2.8 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 17.0%, 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. Income and home value move within the same broad scale here. The useful next check is not a generic affordability label, but whether similar-size cities offer a materially different income, housing, or commute trade-off.
Household income
$52,472
Home value
$146,300
Value / income
2.8×
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
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.
Household income F
$52,472
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Poverty rate F
17.0%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share F
13.2%
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).
Huntsville profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 97/100 (A+) · 86.9 index
Household income: 24/100 (F) · $52,472
Poverty rate: 19/100 (F) · 17.0%
Bachelor's+ share: 15/100 (F) · 13.2%
How does Huntsville compare to other US cities?
Where Huntsville sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income23% higher than other cities
Home value26% 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 Huntsville 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 Huntsville near the bottom of Arkansas's cities
Among the 524 Arkansas cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Huntsville ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Huntsville only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#202 of 495
59th percentile in Arkansas
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 524
0th percentile in Arkansas
Median Home Value
#140 of 482
71st percentile in Arkansas
Poverty Rate
#188 of 524
64th percentile in Arkansas
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#270 of 524
48th 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
23rd percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Huntsville's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$146,300Among the most affordablemore affordable than 74% 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
Huntsville's home-value-to-income ratio: 2.8×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#5,515 of 15,516
More affordable than 64% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#4,797 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 2.8×, Huntsville sits in the affordable band:
national rank #5,515 of 15,516 and #4,797 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
$52,472Huntsville, AR median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Huntsville, 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 Huntsville, AR.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)13.2%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)17.0%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)54.9%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
3,086
Median Income
$52,472
Median Home Value
$146,300
Median Age
34.4
Poverty Rate
17.0%
Labor force participation
54.9%
Bachelor's Degree+
13.2%
Climate
Avg Temperature
59.1°F
Annual Precipitation
45.6"
Annual Snowfall
N/A
Schools
Total Schools
4
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Huntsville's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
2,887 residents
2021
3,047 residents
2022
3,276 residents
2023
3,374 residents
2024
3,456 residents
2025
3,576 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📈 Building Boom
Total Permits (2024)
29
housing units authorized
Single-Family
29
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
9.4
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
12
10
2
$1.9M
2020
51
51
0
$7.8M
2021
76
76
0
$12.9M
2022
24
24
0
$4.8M
2023
22
22
0
$4.7M
2024
29
29
0
$6.2M
Permit volume increased 142% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
84.9%
Carpool
9.7%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
0.6%
Work from Home
4.8%
Based on 1,111 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 Huntsville. 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 Huntsville 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 Huntsville sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Huntsville 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, NOAA Climate Normals, NCES CCD, 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.