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Place dossier plate
SheetAR-WICKES-AR · Wickes, AR 895 pop · income 2nd 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 Wickes
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Wickes on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Hughes · lowest
26,850
Hughes · lowest
26,850 median HH income
34.5% of the leader · rank #1
Wickes · this city
28,429
Wickes · this city
28,429 median HH income
36.6% of the leader · rank #2
Dennehotso · near
28,438
Dennehotso · near
28,438 median HH income
36.6% of the leader · rank #3
Blum · near
28,438
Blum · near
28,438 median HH income
36.6% of the leader · rank #4
Supreme · near
28,455
Supreme · near
28,455 median HH income
36.6% of the leader · rank #5
Preston · near
28,462
Preston · near
28,462 median HH income
36.6% of the leader · rank #6
Desha · highest
77,768
Desha · highest
77,768 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 Wickes 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: 895.
Out of every US city with 1,000+ residents, Wickes places in the 2nd percentile for household income. Source: Census ACS.
2nd
percentile, household income
2nd
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: Wickes, AR
Wickes is a small town in Arkansas, home to 895 residents per U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Wickes households earn a median of $28,429 annually, in the lower quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 35.5%. Typical homes in Wickes are valued around $70,900, and the median resident age is 26.6 years. Educational attainment runs 7.6% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 52.4% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The city is served by 1 public schools according to NCES Common Core of Data.
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. HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in this state is $944 per month. Statewide, average monthly utility bills in Arkansas run around $210, per EIA 2023 residential energy 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 Wickes'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 schools and households to work and mobility to population change to housing and income; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Wickes, city-specific coverage includes matched public-school count, commute-mode shares, annual population history.
No matched row is reported here for local building permits, within-city Census tract profiles, FBI reported-crime rates; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
Which cities make useful reference points for Wickes?
Within Arkansas, the closest population matches are Magazine (893 residents, $49,375 income); Hughes (898 residents, $26,850 income); Higginson (901 residents, $66,806 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Hayneville, AL (895 residents); Sterrett, AL (895 residents); White Plains, AL (895 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 NCES join finds 1 public school within the city match. 7.6% 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 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.
What does the journey to work look like in Wickes?
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 57.6%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
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 +16 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +2.5% 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.
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 Wickes?
The home-value-to-income reference is relatively compact: the ACS median home value is 2.5 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 35.5%, 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.
Household income
$28,429
Home value
$70,900
Value / income
2.5×
City-level Census ACS 2023 medians. The ratio divides two separate medians and is descriptive only.
Lowest-decile income · poverty 35.5% (Highest-decile poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
86.9 (US=100)
Very affordable · BEA RPP 2024, Arkansas average
F
City profile score · Wickes, AR
24/100
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
$28,429
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Poverty rate F
35.5%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share F
7.6%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Violent crime N/A
N/A
No FBI UCR violent-crime rate for this place (coverage is incomplete).
Wickes profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 97/100 (A+) · 86.9 index
Household income: 0/100 (F) · $28,429
Poverty rate: 0/100 (F) · 35.5%
Bachelor's+ share: 0/100 (F) · 7.6%
How does Wickes compare to other US cities?
Here's how Wickes stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income2% higher than other cities
Home value2% 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 Wickes 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 Wickes near the bottom of Arkansas's cities
Among the 524 Arkansas cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Wickes ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Wickes only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#457 of 495
8th percentile in Arkansas
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 524
0th percentile in Arkansas
Median Home Value
#408 of 482
15th percentile in Arkansas
Poverty Rate
#26 of 524
95th percentile in Arkansas
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#408 of 524
22nd 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
2nd percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Wickes's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$70,900Among the most affordablemore affordable than 98% 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
Wickes's home-value-to-income ratio: 2.5×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#3,968 of 15,516
More affordable than 74% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#3,575 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 2.5×, Wickes sits in the affordable band:
national rank #3,968 of 15,516 and #3,575 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
$28,429Wickes, AR median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Wickes, 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 Wickes, AR.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)7.6%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)35.5%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)52.4%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
895
Median Income
$28,429
Median Home Value
$70,900
Median Age
26.6
Poverty Rate
35.5%
Labor force participation
52.4%
Bachelor's Degree+
7.6%
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
Wickes's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
639 residents
2021
645 residents
2022
649 residents
2023
654 residents
2024
652 residents
2025
655 residents
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
57.6%
Carpool
36.8%
Public Transit
1.0%
Walk
0.0%
Work from Home
0.7%
Other
3.9%
Based on 304 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 Wickes. 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 Wickes 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 Wickes sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Wickes 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, 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.