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-SOUTHSIDE-AR · Southside, AR 4,254 pop · income 28th 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 Southside
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Southside on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Paintsville · lowest
26,713
Paintsville · lowest
26,713 median HH income
29.2% of the leader · rank #1
Southside · this city
55,469
Southside · this city
55,469 median HH income
60.6% of the leader · rank #2
Southgate · near
55,469
Southgate · near
55,469 median HH income
60.6% of the leader · rank #3
Sarepta · near
55,469
Sarepta · near
55,469 median HH income
60.6% of the leader · rank #4
Dutton · near
55,469
Dutton · near
55,469 median HH income
60.6% of the leader · rank #5
Spencer · near
55,469
Spencer · near
55,469 median HH income
60.6% of the leader · rank #6
Elverta · highest
91,563
Elverta · highest
91,563 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 Southside 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: 4,254.
Measured against every US city with at least 1,000 residents, Southside lands in the 28th percentile for household income. Source: Census ACS.
28th
percentile, household income
20th
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: Southside, AR
Arkansas's Southside is a small town, with 4,254 residents per the latest Census Bureau ACS figures. The typical household in Southside brings in $55,469 a year, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 15.8%. Southside's housing stock carries a median value of $127,400, and the median resident age is 34.5 years. About 15.8% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 60.5% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
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. 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 Southside'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 housing and income to comparison shortlist to population change to work and mobility; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Southside, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares, annual population history.
No matched row is reported here for local building permits, FBI reported-crime rates, matched public-school count, within-city Census tract profiles; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
How far does income reach against housing in Southside?
The home-value-to-income reference is relatively compact: the ACS median home value is 2.3 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 15.8%, 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.
Which cities make useful reference points for Southside?
Within Arkansas, the closest population matches are Lonoke (4,260 residents, $49,323 income); Brookland (4,230 residents, $59,677 income); Ashdown (4,225 residents, $47,398 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Elmira Heights, NY (4,254 residents); Suncoast Estates, FL (4,255 residents); Sullivan, IL (4,253 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.
Is Southside growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
The recent population line is broadly flat. That makes the composition of change more important than the headline count: housing turnover, household size, and age structure can shift even when the total barely moves.
Census PEP estimates show the population declined by -10 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -0.2% 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.
What does the journey to work look like in Southside?
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 75.8%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
Below median income · poverty 15.8% (High poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
86.9 (US=100)
Very affordable · BEA RPP 2024, Arkansas average
D
City profile score · Southside, AR
42/100
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.
Household income F
$55,469
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share F
15.8%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Poverty rate F
15.8%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Violent crime N/A
N/A
No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).
Southside profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 97/100 (A+) · 86.9 index
Household income: 28/100 (F) · $55,469
Bachelor's+ share: 22/100 (F) · 15.8%
Poverty rate: 21/100 (F) · 15.8%
How does Southside compare to other US cities?
Where Southside sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income28% higher than other cities
Home value20% 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 Southside 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 Southside near the bottom of Arkansas's cities
Among the 524 Arkansas cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Southside ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Southside only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#174 of 495
65th percentile in Arkansas
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 524
0th percentile in Arkansas
Median Home Value
#177 of 482
63rd percentile in Arkansas
Poverty Rate
#207 of 524
60th percentile in Arkansas
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#200 of 524
61st 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
28th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Southside's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$127,400Among 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
Southside's home-value-to-income ratio: 2.3×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#2,930 of 15,516
More affordable than 81% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#2,706 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 2.3×, Southside sits in the affordable band:
national rank #2,930 of 15,516 and #2,706 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
$55,469Southside, AR median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Southside, 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 Southside, AR.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)15.8%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)15.8%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)60.5%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
4,254
Median Income
$55,469
Median Home Value
$127,400
Median Age
34.5
Poverty Rate
15.8%
Labor force participation
60.5%
Bachelor's Degree+
15.8%
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Southside's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
4,284 residents
2021
4,223 residents
2022
4,254 residents
2023
4,269 residents
2024
4,274 residents
2025
4,274 residents
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
75.8%
Carpool
12.1%
Public Transit
0.8%
Walk
3.1%
Work from Home
4.6%
Other
3.6%
Based on 1,883 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 Southside. 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 Southside 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 Southside sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Southside 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, 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.