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.
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.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by population, income
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Vanndale 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: 356.
Arkansas's Vanndale counts 356 residents. Source: Census ACS.
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: Vanndale, AR
Arkansas's Vanndale is a small town, with 356 residents per the latest Census Bureau ACS figures. The median resident age is 60.8 years. 4.4% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 19.0% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
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). Commute times here average 46.7 minutes, with 100.0% driving alone and 0.0% working from home, per Census ACS commuting data. Natural-hazard exposure scores 55.5 out of 100 on FEMA's National Risk Index (Moderate).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Vanndale'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; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Vanndale, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares.
No matched row is reported here for local building permits, FBI reported-crime rates, within-city Census tract profiles, matched public-school count, annual population history; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
1. Comparison shortlist
Which cities make useful reference points for Vanndale?
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.
Within Arkansas, the closest population matches are Cherokee (356 residents); Maynard (358 residents, $32,750 income); New Blaine (358 residents, $39,706 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Bondville, IL (356 residents); London Mills, IL (356 residents); Towanda, IL (356 residents). These are mechanical peer sets, not claims that the places share a labor market, climate, culture, or metro context.
What does the journey to work look like in Vanndale?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 100.0%. The reported mean trip to work is 46.7 minutes.
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.
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
56.2%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share F
4.4%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Household income N/A
N/A
No ACS median household income on file for this place.
Violent crime N/A
N/A
No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).
Vanndale profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 97/100 (A+) · 86.9 index
Poverty rate: 0/100 (F) · 56.2%
Bachelor's+ share: 0/100 (F) · 4.4%
How does Vanndale compare to other US cities?
Where Vanndale sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
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 Vanndale 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 Vanndale near the bottom of Arkansas's cities
Among the 524 Arkansas cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Vanndale ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Vanndale only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 524
0th percentile in Arkansas
Poverty Rate
#6 of 524
99th percentile in Arkansas
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#468 of 524
10th 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.
Income distribution context
Median household income is not available for Vanndale in the current Census ACS release (common for very small places).
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)4.4%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)56.2%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)19.0%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
356
Median Income
N/A
Median Home Value
N/A
Median Age
60.8
Poverty Rate
56.2%
Labor force participation
19.0%
Bachelor's Degree+
4.4%
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Average Commute Time
46.7 minutes
Drive Alone
100.0%
Carpool
0.0%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
0.0%
Work from Home
0.0%
Based on 63 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 Vanndale. 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 Vanndale 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 Vanndale sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Vanndale 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.