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-MONTICELLO-AR · Monticello, AR 8,320 pop · income 2nd pct · 5 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 Monticello
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Monticello on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Ripley · lowest
27,957
Ripley · lowest
27,957 median HH income
19.1% of the leader · rank #1
Stonewall · near
27,981
Stonewall · near
27,981 median HH income
19.1% of the leader · rank #2
Monticello · this city
27,998
Monticello · this city
27,998 median HH income
19.1% of the leader · rank #3
Placedo · near
28,000
Placedo · near
28,000 median HH income
19.2% of the leader · rank #4
Naturita · near
28,021
Naturita · near
28,021 median HH income
19.2% of the leader · rank #5
Lenora · near
28,036
Lenora · near
28,036 median HH income
19.2% of the leader · rank #6
Mayo · highest
146,206
Mayo · highest
146,206 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 Monticello 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: 8,320.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Monticello - the verdict
Nationally, Monticello sits in the 2nd percentile for household income and the 37th percentile for safety among US cities with a population of 1,000 or more. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
2nd
percentile, household income
20th
percentile, home value
3rd
percentile, median rent
37th
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: Monticello, AR
Arkansas's Monticello is a small town, with 8,320 residents per the latest Census Bureau ACS figures. Median household income here is $27,998 per year, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 21.1%. Typical homes in Monticello are valued around $128,900, and the median resident age is 37.4 years. About 26.6% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 42.0% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Housing supply pressure shows in Census Building Permit Survey data: 13 residential units were authorized in 2024 (Growing), up 8% from five years earlier. Monticello reports a comparatively low crime rate: FBI UCR reporting places total crime at 1778.9 incidents per 100,000 residents, below the national average (voluntary agency reporting, reflects reporting activity, not a definitive danger score). NOAA puts Monticello's yearly average temperature at 64.1°F with 53.0 inches of precipitation per year and 0.7 inches of snowfall.
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. EIA 2023 residential energy data puts Arkansas's average monthly utility costs around $210 (state average). FEMA's National Risk Index rates natural-hazard exposure at 55.5 out of 100 (Moderate).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Monticello'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 population change to within-city variation to comparison shortlist to climate and hazard context to work and mobility to reported crime to housing and income to schools and households; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Monticello, city-specific coverage includes within-city Census tract profiles, annual population history, matched public-school count, FBI reported-crime rates, local building permits, commute-mode shares.
All six city-specific enrichment layers used by this profile are present.
1. Population change
Is Monticello growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Recent estimates point downward. A falling count can reflect migration, household size, annexation boundaries, or estimation noise, so it is a prompt to inspect the full series rather than a claim about local economic health.
Census PEP estimates show the population declined by -176 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -2.1% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 13 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 5 Census tracts reveal inside Monticello?
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 Monticello?
Within Arkansas, the closest population matches are Wynne (8,220 residents, $40,102 income); Farmington (8,469 residents, $88,541 income); Beebe (8,580 residents, $56,424 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Elwood, IN (8,320 residents); St. Marys, OH (8,319 residents); Mayo, MD (8,322 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. The nationwide peer panel below adds a fourth FBI UCR reporting-rate lens, not personal risk.
What physical conditions frame life in Monticello?
NOAA normals put the annual mean temperature at 64.1°F, with 53.0 inches of precipitation and 0.7 inches of annual snowfall. 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.
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 Monticello?
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 81.5%. 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
81.5%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 2,939 workers age 16+.
What can the FBI record say about safety in Monticello?
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.
The joined FBI UCR record reports 1778.9 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, below the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 22% lower in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
Property rate
1235.3
Violent rate
543.5
Total reported rate
1778.9
FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, incidents per 100,000. Voluntary agency reporting; not a danger score.
How far does income reach against housing in Monticello?
The home-value-to-income reference is comparatively stretched: the ACS median home value is 4.6 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 21.1%, 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. Housing value is high relative to the citywide income median. That flags a question for comparison, not a verdict: tenure, household composition, financing costs, and the age of the ACS estimate can all change what a resident actually pays.
Household income
$27,998
Home value
$128,900
Value / income
4.6×
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
What does the education layer cover for Monticello?
The NCES join finds 7 public schools within the city match. 26.6% 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
7
Bachelor's degree+
26.6%
Poverty estimate
21.1%
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
Lowest-decile income · poverty 21.1% (High poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
86.9 (US=100)
Very affordable · BEA RPP 2024, Arkansas average
F
City profile score · Monticello, AR
32/100
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.
Bachelor's+ share C-
26.6%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Violent crime F
544 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Poverty rate F
21.1%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Household income F
$27,998
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Monticello profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 97/100 (A+) · 86.9 index
Bachelor's+ share: 52/100 (C-) · 26.6%
Violent crime: 13/100 (F) · 544 /100k
Poverty rate: 11/100 (F) · 21.1%
Household income: 0/100 (F) · $27,998
Where Monticello sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Monticello'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 - Monticello highlighted among 8 peers.Read the chart values
Monticello, AR (this city): home $128,900, crime 1,779/100k
Elwood, IN : home $92,800, crime 558/100k
Wynne, AR : home $125,300, crime 4,470/100k
Farmington, AR : home $249,900, crime 594/100k
Beebe, AR : home $163,400, crime 2,383/100k
Stuttgart, AR : home $150,600, crime 3,599/100k
Newport, AR : home $132,200, crime 1,725/100k
Hope, AR : home $87,800, crime 3,908/100k
How does Monticello compare to other US cities?
Here's how Monticello stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income2% higher than other cities
Home value20% pricier than other cities
Median rent3% pricier than other cities
Safety37% safer than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
National percentiles can mask local variation. Looking only at Arkansas, Monticello ranks #83 of 160 Arkansas cities by lowest crime rate - a narrower, more locally useful cut than the national comparison above.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Monticello 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 Monticello near the bottom of Arkansas's cities
Among the 524 Arkansas cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Monticello ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Monticello only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#460 of 495
7th percentile in Arkansas
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 524
0th percentile in Arkansas
Median Home Value
#174 of 482
64th percentile in Arkansas
Poverty Rate
#127 of 524
76th percentile in Arkansas
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#70 of 524
86th 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
2nd percentile nationally for median household income · 37th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Monticello's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Monticello'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 Monticello's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$128,900Among the most affordablemore affordable than 80% 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
Monticello's home-value-to-income ratio: 4.6×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#12,188 of 15,516
More affordable than 21% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#9,307 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 4.6×, Monticello sits in the moderate band:
national rank #12,188 of 15,516 and #9,307 of 11,323micro cities (under 10,000).
Income and home value move in the same broad scale; check same-state peers before treating the multiple as an advantage or a warning.
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
$27,998Monticello, AR median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Monticello, 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 Monticello, AR.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)26.6%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)21.1%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)42.0%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
8,320
Median Income
$27,998
Median Home Value
$128,900
Median Age
37.4
Poverty Rate
21.1%
Labor force participation
42.0%
Bachelor's Degree+
26.6%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
1778.9
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
543.5
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
1235.3
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.
Climate
Avg Temperature
64.1°F
Annual Precipitation
53.0"
Annual Snowfall
0.7"
Schools
Total Schools
7
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Monticello's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
8,445 residents
2021
8,290 residents
2022
8,204 residents
2023
8,252 residents
2024
8,240 residents
2025
8,269 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
🏗️ Growing
Total Permits (2024)
13
housing units authorized
Single-Family
2
detached homes
Multifamily
11
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
1.6
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
12
6
6
$0.7M
2020
3
3
0
$0.7M
2021
0
0
0
-
2022
8
8
0
$1.3M
2023
8
4
4
$1.8M
2024
13
2
11
$2.0M
Permit volume increased 8% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
81.5%
Carpool
9.3%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
3.9%
Work from Home
4.8%
Based on 2,939 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 Monticello. 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 Monticello 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 Monticello sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Monticello 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, 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.