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Place dossier plate
SheetAR-WEST-FORK-AR · West Fork, AR 3,131 pop · income 50th 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 West Fork
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest West Fork on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Prescott · lowest
29,403
Prescott · lowest
29,403 median HH income
29.1% of the leader · rank #1
Groves · near
70,485
Groves · near
70,485 median HH income
69.7% of the leader · rank #2
Needville · near
70,485
Needville · near
70,485 median HH income
69.7% of the leader · rank #3
West Fork · this city
70,486
West Fork · this city
70,486 median HH income
69.7% of the leader · rank #4
Ackermanville · near
70,486
Ackermanville · near
70,486 median HH income
69.7% of the leader · rank #5
Spangle · near
70,486
Spangle · near
70,486 median HH income
69.7% of the leader · rank #6
Chenango Brid… · highest
101,111
Chenango Brid… · highest
101,111 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 West Fork 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: 3,131.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
West Fork - the verdict
West Fork ranks in the 50th percentile for household income and the 72nd percentile for safety nationally, out of every US city with at least 1,000 residents. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
50th
percentile, household income
37th
percentile, home value
3rd
percentile, median rent
72nd
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: West Fork, AR
West Fork is a small town in Arkansas, home to 3,131 residents per U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. West Fork households earn a median of $70,486 annually, above the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 0.6%. Home values in West Fork run a median of $182,800, and the median resident age is 38.6 years. Educational attainment runs 25.8% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 69.3% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The Census Building Permit Survey recorded 12 residential units authorized here in 2024 (Building Boom), up 300% from five years earlier. West Fork reports a comparatively low crime rate: the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program logs 804.4 total incidents per 100,000 residents here, below the national average (agency reporting is voluntary, so this measures reporting activity, not a definitive danger score).
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. 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 West Fork'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 work and mobility to comparison shortlist to housing and income to reported crime to schools and households to population change; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For West Fork, city-specific coverage includes commute-mode shares, FBI reported-crime rates, annual population history, local building permits, matched public-school count.
No matched row is reported here for within-city Census tract profiles; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
1. Work and mobility
What does the journey to work look like in West Fork?
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 82.7%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
Which cities make useful reference points for West Fork?
Within Arkansas, the closest population matches are Corning (3,169 residents, $44,197 income); Huntsville (3,086 residents, $52,472 income); Green Forest (3,072 residents, $63,813 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Shenandoah, VA (3,131 residents); Mount Morris, MI (3,130 residents); Chenango Bridge, NY (3,132 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.
How far does income reach against housing in West Fork?
The home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 2.6 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 0.6%, 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. Income and home value move within the same broad scale here. The useful next check is not a generic affordability label, but whether similar-size cities offer a materially different income, housing, or commute trade-off.
What can the FBI record say about safety in West Fork?
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 804.4 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, below the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 65% lower in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
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.
Schools and households
What does the education layer cover for West Fork?
The NCES join finds 3 public schools within the city match. 25.8% 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
3
Bachelor's degree+
25.8%
Poverty estimate
0.6%
NCES Common Core of Data school locations plus Census ACS resident characteristics.
Is West Fork growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Recent estimates point upward. Growth can increase housing demand and service needs, but the permit record must move in the same direction before calling it a supply response; the two series measure different things.
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +35 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +1.5% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 12 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
Period change
+1.5%
2025 estimate
2,373
2020 estimate
2,338
Census Population Estimates Program, 2020–2025; permit context uses Census BPS.
Above median income · poverty 0.6% (Very low poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
86.9 (US=100)
Very affordable · BEA RPP 2024, Arkansas average
B+
City profile score · West Fork, AR
76/100
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.
Poverty rate A+
0.6%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Violent crime A
42 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share C-
25.8%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Household income C-
$70,486
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
West Fork profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 97/100 (A+) · 86.9 index
Poverty rate: 96/100 (A+) · 0.6%
Violent crime: 86/100 (A) · 42 /100k
Bachelor's+ share: 51/100 (C-) · 25.8%
Household income: 50/100 (C-) · $70,486
Where West Fork sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
West Fork'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 - West Fork highlighted among 8 peers.Read the chart values
West Fork, AR (this city): home $182,800, crime 804/100k
Shenandoah, VA : home $187,300, crime 363/100k
Mount Morris, MI : home $79,500, crime 4,301/100k
Corning, AR : home $85,800, crime 907/100k
Green Forest, AR : home $127,100, crime 1,151/100k
Prescott, AR : home $95,100, crime 2,378/100k
Pottsville, AR : home $169,800, crime 240/100k
Little Flock, AR : home $383,900, crime 759/100k
How does West Fork compare to other US cities?
Here's how West Fork stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income50% higher than other cities
Home value37% pricier than other cities
Median rent3% pricier than other cities
Safety72% safer than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
Zoom in to just Arkansas and the picture shifts: West Fork ranks #27 of 160 Arkansas cities by lowest crime rate, a different read than the national percentile above.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares West Fork 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 West Fork near the bottom of Arkansas's cities
Among the 524 Arkansas cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, West Fork ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares West Fork only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#76 of 495
85th percentile in Arkansas
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 524
0th percentile in Arkansas
Median Home Value
#76 of 482
84th percentile in Arkansas
Poverty Rate
#465 of 524
11th percentile in Arkansas
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#73 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
50th percentile nationally for median household income · 72nd percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
West Fork's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
West Fork'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 West Fork's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$182,800Among the most affordablemore affordable than 63% 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
West Fork's home-value-to-income ratio: 2.6×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#4,471 of 15,516
More affordable than 71% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#3,983 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 2.6×, West Fork sits in the affordable band:
national rank #4,471 of 15,516 and #3,983 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
$70,486West Fork, AR median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context West Fork, 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 West Fork, AR.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)25.8%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)0.6%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)69.3%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
3,131
Median Income
$70,486
Median Home Value
$182,800
Median Age
38.6
Poverty Rate
0.6%
Labor force participation
69.3%
Bachelor's Degree+
25.8%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
804.4
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
42.3
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
762.1
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.
Schools
Total Schools
3
Public schools in this city
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
West Fork's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
2,338 residents
2021
2,338 residents
2022
2,345 residents
2023
2,373 residents
2024
2,382 residents
2025
2,373 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
📈 Building Boom
Total Permits (2024)
12
housing units authorized
Single-Family
10
detached homes
Multifamily
2
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
3.8
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
3
3
0
$0.3M
2020
4
4
0
$0.6M
2021
7
7
0
$1.3M
2022
13
5
8
$2.0M
2023
1
1
0
$0.2M
2024
12
10
2
$3.3M
Permit volume increased 300% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
82.7%
Carpool
10.5%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
0.0%
Work from Home
5.8%
Other
1.0%
Based on 1,712 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 West Fork. 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 West Fork 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 West Fork sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How West Fork 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, 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.