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
SheetMO-DES-ARC-MO · Des Arc, MO 193 pop · income 39th 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 Des Arc
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Des Arc on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Prestonville · lowest
17,315
Prestonville · lowest
17,315 median HH income
11.1% of the leader · rank #1
Des Arc · this city
62,188
Des Arc · this city
62,188 median HH income
39.8% of the leader · rank #2
Mountain · near
62,188
Mountain · near
62,188 median HH income
39.8% of the leader · rank #3
Easton · near
62,188
Easton · near
62,188 median HH income
39.8% of the leader · rank #4
Eden Valley · near
62,188
Eden Valley · near
62,188 median HH income
39.8% of the leader · rank #5
Angola on the… · near
62,188
Angola on the… · near
62,188 median HH income
39.8% of the leader · rank #6
Martell · highest
156,094
Martell · highest
156,094 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 Des Arc 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: 193.
Out of every US city with 1,000+ residents, Des Arc places in the 39th percentile for household income. Source: Census ACS.
39th
percentile, household income
4th
percentile, home value
7th
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: Des Arc, MO
Des Arc is a small town in Missouri, home to 193 residents per U.S. Census Bureau ACS 2023 estimates. Des Arc households earn a median of $62,188 annually, below the median for U.S. cities on this measure, with a poverty rate of 34.0%. Des Arc's housing stock carries a median value of $81,700, and the median resident age is 26.7 years. About 4.7% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 57.9% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Living costs in Missouri run below the national norm: BEA Regional Price Parities 2024 puts Missouri at 90.8 on a 100-equals-national-average scale (Well Below Average). A typical two-bedroom carries a HUD Fair Market Rent of $972 per month statewide. EIA 2023 residential energy data puts Missouri's average monthly utility costs around $219 (state average). Natural-hazard exposure scores 50.6 out of 100 on FEMA's National Risk Index (Low).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Des Arc'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 population change to comparison shortlist to housing and income; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Des Arc, city-specific coverage includes 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, matched public-school count; 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 Des Arc?
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 83.0%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
Recent estimates point downward. A falling count can reflect migration, household size, annexation boundaries, or estimation noise, so it is a prompt to inspect the full series rather than a claim about local economic health.
Census PEP estimates show the population declined by -3 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -2.4% 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.
Which cities make useful reference points for Des Arc?
Within Missouri, the closest population matches are Miramiguoa Park (193 residents, $82,250 income); Wyaconda (193 residents, $48,672 income); Plato (195 residents, $57,750 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Goodmanville, CA (193 residents); Martell, CA (193 residents); Harrison Lake, IN (193 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.
How far does income reach against housing in Des Arc?
The home-value-to-income reference is relatively compact: the ACS median home value is 1.3 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 34.0%, 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.
Below median income · poverty 34.0% (Highest-decile poverty)
Cost of Living Index (state)
90.8 (US=100)
Affordable · BEA RPP 2024, Missouri average
F
City profile score · Des Arc, MO
33/100
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-
90.8 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
$62,188
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Poverty rate F
34.0%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Bachelor's+ share F
4.7%
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).
Des Arc profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Cost of living: 83/100 (A-) · 90.8 index
Household income: 38/100 (F) · $62,188
Poverty rate: 0/100 (F) · 34.0%
Bachelor's+ share: 0/100 (F) · 4.7%
How does Des Arc compare to other US cities?
Here's how Des Arc stacks up against the full field of US cities (population 1,000+), computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income39% higher than other cities
Home value4% pricier than other cities
Median rent7% 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 Des Arc against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to Missouri only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
Missouri-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places Des Arc near the bottom of Missouri's cities
Among the 875 Missouri cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Des Arc ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Des Arc only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#286 of 842
66th percentile in Missouri
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 875
0th percentile in Missouri
Median Home Value
#630 of 833
24th percentile in Missouri
Poverty Rate
#54 of 875
94th percentile in Missouri
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#784 of 875
10th percentile in Missouri
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 Missouri only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
39th percentile nationally for median household income. Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
How Des Arc's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$81,700Among the most affordablemore affordable than 96% 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
Des Arc's home-value-to-income ratio: 1.3×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#186 of 15,516
More affordable than 99% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#183 of 11,323
Micro cities (under 10,000)
At 1.3×, Des Arc sits in the affordable band:
national rank #186 of 15,516 and #183 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
$62,188Des Arc, MO median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Des Arc, MO median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Des Arc, MO.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)4.7%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)34.0%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)57.9%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
193
Median Income
$62,188
Median Home Value
$81,700
Median Age
26.7
Poverty Rate
34.0%
Labor force participation
57.9%
Bachelor's Degree+
4.7%
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Des Arc's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
124 residents
2021
123 residents
2022
122 residents
2023
123 residents
2024
122 residents
2025
121 residents
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
83.0%
Carpool
5.7%
Public Transit
0.0%
Walk
0.0%
Work from Home
11.4%
Based on 88 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
Missouri statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $219
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across Missouri at $219 (electricity about $105 , water and sewer about $42 ).
These are Missouri statewide averages, not a meter reading for Des Arc. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
Missouri's BEA cost-of-living index is 90.8 (Well Below Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Des Arc is $972/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to Missouri statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 50.6 / 100 (Low).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a Missouri statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Des Arc sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Des Arc compares to similar-size Missouri 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.