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Place dossier plate
SheetAR-WALDRON-AR · Waldron, AR 3,370 pop · income 9th 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 Waldron
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Waldron on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Marianna · lowest
20,507
Marianna · lowest
20,507 median HH income
22.4% of the leader · rank #1
Elko · near
41,023
Elko · near
41,023 median HH income
44.7% of the leader · rank #2
Chaffee · near
41,024
Chaffee · near
41,024 median HH income
44.7% of the leader · rank #3
Fairfield · near
41,026
Fairfield · near
41,026 median HH income
44.7% of the leader · rank #4
Waldron · this city
41,028
Waldron · this city
41,028 median HH income
44.7% of the leader · rank #5
Roberta · near
41,042
Roberta · near
41,042 median HH income
44.8% of the leader · rank #6
Avalon · highest
91,713
Avalon · highest
91,713 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 Waldron 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: 3,370.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Waldron - the verdict
Nationally, Waldron sits in the 9th percentile for household income and the 21st percentile for safety among US cities with a population of 1,000 or more. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
9th
percentile, household income
9th
percentile, home value
3rd
percentile, median rent
21st
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: Waldron, AR
3,370 people live in Waldron, Arkansas - a small town by U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Households in Waldron report a median income of $41,028 per year, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 13.9%. Typical homes in Waldron are valued around $99,300, and the median resident age is 37.2 years. 9.3% of adults here have a bachelor's degree or higher; 45.1% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
In 2024, 0 residential building permits were authorized in Waldron (No Permits), down 100% from five years earlier, per Census BPS data. Crime here tracks close to the national norm: FBI UCR figures show 2623.7 crimes per 100,000 residents, near 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 53.2 inches of precipitation per year and 2.9 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. A typical two-bedroom carries a HUD Fair Market Rent of $944 per month statewide. 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 Waldron'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 schools and households to within-city variation to population change to housing and income to work and mobility to reported crime to comparison shortlist; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Waldron, city-specific coverage includes local building permits, annual population history, commute-mode shares, within-city Census tract profiles, FBI reported-crime rates, matched public-school count.
All six city-specific enrichment layers used by this profile are present.
1. Climate and hazard context
What physical conditions frame life in Waldron?
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 53.2 inches of precipitation and 2.9 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 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 1 public school within the city match. 9.3% 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.
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 Waldron?
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 Fordyce (3,320 residents, $43,056 income); Paris (3,287 residents, $48,789 income); Alexander (3,488 residents, $69,022 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Newburgh, IN (3,370 residents); Rio Dell, CA (3,371 residents); Breckenridge, MN (3,369 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.
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.
Population change
Is Waldron growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +7 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +0.2% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 0 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
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.
2020 estimate
3,380
2025 estimate
3,387
Period change
+0.2%
Census Population Estimates Program, 2020–2025; permit context uses Census BPS.
How far does income reach against housing in Waldron?
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 2.4 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 13.9%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Value / income
2.4×
Home value
$99,300
Household income
$41,028
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
What does the journey to work look like in Waldron?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 76.6%. 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. 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.
Drive alone
76.6%
Work from home
1.1%
Public transit
0.0%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 1,262 workers age 16+.
What can the FBI record say about safety in Waldron?
The joined FBI UCR record reports 2623.7 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, above the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 15% higher 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
2623.7
Violent rate
298.2
Property rate
2325.6
FBI Uniform Crime Reporting, incidents per 100,000. Voluntary agency reporting; not a danger score.
Lowest-decile income · poverty 13.9% (High poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
86.9 (US=100)
Very affordable · BEA RPP 2024, Arkansas average
F
City profile score · Waldron, AR
34/100
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.
Violent crime F
298 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Poverty rate F
13.9%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Household income F
$41,028
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Bachelor's+ share F
9.3%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Waldron profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 97/100 (A+) · 86.9 index
Violent crime: 33/100 (F) · 298 /100k
Poverty rate: 25/100 (F) · 13.9%
Household income: 8/100 (F) · $41,028
Bachelor's+ share: 5/100 (F) · 9.3%
Where Waldron sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Waldron'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 - Waldron highlighted among 10 peers.Read the chart values
Waldron, AR (this city): home $99,300, crime 2,624/100k
Rio Dell, CA : home $313,400, crime 1,980/100k
Breckenridge, MN : home $142,000, crime 879/100k
Avalon, CA : home $902,800, crime 1,499/100k
Fordyce, AR : home $92,500, crime 4,155/100k
Paris, AR : home $112,700, crime 2,838/100k
Alexander, AR : home $157,700, crime 2,828/100k
Marianna, AR : home $73,800, crime 4,533/100k
Pottsville, AR : home $169,800, crime 240/100k
Ozark, AR : home $125,100, crime 1,997/100k
How does Waldron compare to other US cities?
Where Waldron sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income9% higher than other cities
Home value9% pricier than other cities
Median rent3% pricier than other cities
Safety21% 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, Waldron ranks #116 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 Waldron 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 Waldron near the bottom of Arkansas's cities
Among the 524 Arkansas cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Waldron ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Waldron only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#335 of 495
32nd percentile in Arkansas
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 524
0th percentile in Arkansas
Median Home Value
#286 of 482
41st percentile in Arkansas
Poverty Rate
#242 of 524
53rd percentile in Arkansas
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#360 of 524
31st 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
9th percentile nationally for median household income · 21st percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Waldron's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Waldron'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 Waldron's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$99,300Among the most affordablemore affordable than 91% 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
Waldron's home-value-to-income ratio: 2.4×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#3,602 of 15,516
More affordable than 77% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#3,273 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 2.4×, Waldron sits in the affordable band:
national rank #3,602 of 15,516 and #3,273 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
$41,028Waldron, AR median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Waldron, 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 Waldron, AR.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)9.3%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)13.9%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)45.1%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
3,370
Median Income
$41,028
Median Home Value
$99,300
Median Age
37.2
Poverty Rate
13.9%
Labor force participation
45.1%
Bachelor's Degree+
9.3%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
2623.7
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
298.2
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
2325.6
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
53.2"
Annual Snowfall
2.9"
Schools
Total Schools
1
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Waldron's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
3,380 residents
2021
3,359 residents
2022
3,340 residents
2023
3,350 residents
2024
3,355 residents
2025
3,387 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
Total Permits (2024)
0
housing units authorized
Single-Family
0
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
1
1
0
$0.1M
2020
0
0
0
-
2021
0
0
0
-
2022
0
0
0
-
2023
0
0
0
-
2024
0
0
0
-
Permit volume decreased 100% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
76.6%
Carpool
11.7%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
2.3%
Work from Home
1.1%
Other
8.3%
Based on 1,262 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 Waldron. 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 Waldron 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 Waldron sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Waldron 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.