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Place dossier plate
SheetAR-MURFREESBORO-AR · Murfreesboro, AR 1,815 pop · income 17th pct · 3 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 Murfreesboro
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Murfreesboro on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Calico Rock · lowest
26,250
Calico Rock · lowest
26,250 median HH income
29.1% of the leader · rank #1
Murfreesboro · this city
48,125
Murfreesboro · this city
48,125 median HH income
53.3% of the leader · rank #2
Russian Missi… · near
48,125
Russian Missi… · near
48,125 median HH income
53.3% of the leader · rank #3
Snelling · near
48,125
Snelling · near
48,125 median HH income
53.3% of the leader · rank #4
Rockvale · near
48,125
Rockvale · near
48,125 median HH income
53.3% of the leader · rank #5
Rockville · near
48,125
Rockville · near
48,125 median HH income
53.3% of the leader · rank #6
Pleasant Vall… · highest
90,250
Pleasant Vall… · highest
90,250 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 Murfreesboro 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: 1,815.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Murfreesboro - the verdict
Murfreesboro ranks in the 17th percentile for household income and the 70th percentile for safety nationally, out of every US city with at least 1,000 residents. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
17th
percentile, household income
11th
percentile, home value
3rd
percentile, median rent
70th
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: Murfreesboro, AR
Arkansas's Murfreesboro is a small town, with 1,815 residents per the latest Census Bureau ACS figures. Households in Murfreesboro report a median income of $48,125 per year, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 19.2%. Home values in Murfreesboro run a median of $105,500, and the median resident age is 41.0 years. About 14.4% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 50.2% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Murfreesboro reports a comparatively low crime rate: FBI UCR figures show 867.2 crimes per 100,000 residents, below the national average (reporting is voluntary across agencies, so treat this as reporting activity rather than a definitive danger score). NOAA climate normals record an annual average temperature of 60.1°F with 58.4 inches of precipitation per year and 1.4 inches of snowfall.
Living costs in Arkansas run below the national norm: BEA Regional Price Parities 2024 puts Arkansas at 86.9 on a 100-equals-national-average scale (Well Below Average). A typical two-bedroom carries a HUD Fair Market Rent of $944 per month statewide. Monthly utility costs average around $210 across Arkansas, per EIA 2023 residential energy estimates. 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 Murfreesboro'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 housing and income to reported crime to schools and households to work and mobility to comparison shortlist to within-city variation; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Murfreesboro, city-specific coverage includes annual population history, commute-mode shares, matched public-school count, FBI reported-crime rates, within-city Census tract profiles.
No matched row is reported here for local building permits; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
1. Climate and hazard context
What physical conditions frame life in Murfreesboro?
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.
NOAA normals put the annual mean temperature at 60.1°F, with 58.4 inches of precipitation and 1.4 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.
Is Murfreesboro growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Census PEP estimates show the population declined by -52 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -3.5% 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.
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.
Which cities make useful reference points for Murfreesboro?
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 Leachville (1,818 residents, $48,500 income); Lamar (1,826 residents, $41,579 income); Calico Rock (1,795 residents, $26,250 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Moodus, CT (1,815 residents); Bourbon, IN (1,816 residents); Decatur, MI (1,814 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 3 Census tracts reveal inside Murfreesboro?
PlainCities matches 3 Census tracts to this city.
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.
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 Murfreesboro?
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 2.2 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 19.2%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Value / income
2.2×
Home value
$105,500
Household income
$48,125
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
What can the FBI record say about safety in Murfreesboro?
The joined FBI UCR record reports 867.2 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, below the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 62% 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.
Total reported rate
867.2
Violent rate
133.4
Property rate
733.8
FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, incidents per 100,000. Voluntary agency reporting; not a danger score.
What does the education layer cover for Murfreesboro?
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.
The NCES join finds 2 public schools within the city match. 14.4% 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.
Poverty estimate
19.2%
Bachelor's degree+
14.4%
Matched public schools
2
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
What does the journey to work look like in Murfreesboro?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 86.3%. 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. 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.
Drive alone
86.3%
Work from home
0.6%
Public transit
0.0%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 721 workers age 16+.
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 C+
133 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Household income F
$48,125
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share F
14.4%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Poverty rate F
19.2%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Murfreesboro profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 97/100 (A+) · 86.9 index
Violent crime: 62/100 (C+) · 133 /100k
Household income: 18/100 (F) · $48,125
Bachelor's+ share: 18/100 (F) · 14.4%
Poverty rate: 15/100 (F) · 19.2%
Where Murfreesboro sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Murfreesboro'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 - Murfreesboro highlighted among 27 peers.Read the chart values
Murfreesboro, AR (this city): home $105,500, crime 867/100k
Decatur, MI : home $121,900, crime 2,727/100k
Leachville, AR : home $115,800, crime 1,429/100k
Lamar, AR : home $139,500, crime 1,301/100k
Eudora, AR : home $52,200, crime 1,022/100k
Gurdon, AR : home $94,300, crime 1,581/100k
Lepanto, AR : home $66,900, crime 1,467/100k
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 Murfreesboro compare to other US cities?
Murfreesboro measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Household income17% higher than other cities
Home value11% pricier than other cities
Median rent3% pricier than other cities
Safety70% safer than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
A national percentile can hide a lot of local variation: narrowed to Arkansas alone, Murfreesboro ranks #30 of 160 Arkansas cities by lowest crime rate - a different, more locally useful comparison than stacking it against the entire country.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Murfreesboro 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 Murfreesboro near the bottom of Arkansas's cities
Among the 524 Arkansas cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Murfreesboro ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Murfreesboro only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#246 of 495
50th percentile in Arkansas
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 524
0th percentile in Arkansas
Median Home Value
#265 of 482
45th percentile in Arkansas
Poverty Rate
#153 of 524
71st percentile in Arkansas
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#234 of 524
54th 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
17th percentile nationally for median household income · 70th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Murfreesboro's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Murfreesboro'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 Murfreesboro's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$105,500Among the most affordablemore affordable than 89% 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
Murfreesboro's home-value-to-income ratio: 2.2×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#2,419 of 15,516
More affordable than 84% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#2,271 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 2.2×, Murfreesboro sits in the affordable band:
national rank #2,419 of 15,516 and #2,271 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
$48,125Murfreesboro, AR median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Murfreesboro, 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 Murfreesboro, AR.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)14.4%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)19.2%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)50.2%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
1,815
Median Income
$48,125
Median Home Value
$105,500
Median Age
41.0
Poverty Rate
19.2%
Labor force participation
50.2%
Bachelor's Degree+
14.4%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
867.2
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
133.4
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
733.8
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
60.1°F
Annual Precipitation
58.4"
Annual Snowfall
1.4"
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
Murfreesboro's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
1,495 residents
2021
1,481 residents
2022
1,473 residents
2023
1,478 residents
2024
1,459 residents
2025
1,443 residents
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
86.3%
Carpool
12.9%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
0.3%
Work from Home
0.6%
Based on 721 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 Murfreesboro. 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 Murfreesboro 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 Murfreesboro sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Murfreesboro 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 ACS B08301/B08136, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023, BEA Regional Price Parities 2024, HUD Fair Market Rents 2026, FEMA National Risk Index.