Bella Vista, Arkansas

Area Profile

31,697 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Bella Vista, in Benton County.

76out of 100
Area Score
Top 3% of 4,196 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 15 sources
OpportunityTop 12% of 4,199 cities measured77
SchoolsTop 14% of 4,162 cities measured79
GrowthTop 5% of 4,224 cities measured80
Housing affordabilityTop 2% of 4,218 cities measured91
ClimateTop 38% of 4,225 cities measured73
Physical resilienceTop 50% of 4,226 cities measured58
AccessTop 33% of 4,226 cities measured96
Economic stabilityTop 23% of 4,226 cities measured70
The quick read

Bella Vista ranks in the top 12% of cities measured for employment opportunity, with unemployment at 4.3% and median household income of $88,055.

Public schools test above most of the state: 58% of students met the mathematics standard, placing the area in the top 14% of published profiles for schools. Math proficiency is published for Benton County, AR, which contains Bella Vista, rather than for Bella Vista alone.

Residential permitting has slowed: 708 units authorized over the past twelve months, 17% below the prior year. That follows a longer stretch moving the other way, through 2025.

These sentences are written by fixed rules from the measurements below — a statement appears because a number crossed a stated threshold, and the values behind it are stored with it. No figure anywhere on this site is invented, estimated or inferred to fill a gap. How this works.

At a glance

Population
31,697
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$88,055
Top 26% nationally
Density
700/sq mi
45.3 sq mi of land
Median age
51.3
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Arkansas
Nearest major airport
XNA
13 mi · Northwest Arkansas Ntl
Median home value
$296,700
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.3%, lower than in 51% of the 4,226 measured US cities.

Employment grew 3.4% over the past year, to 15,091 employed residents.

42% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 83% of measured US cities.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsBenton County, AR’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$78,99060th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftBenton County, AR’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$76,89758th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$5,7712024 ACS 5-Year$88,055Top 26%of 29,2232024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$9,4452024 ACS 5-Year$56,409Top 12%of 31,4202024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year3.7%Top 18%of 31,7732024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±1.6 min2024 ACS 5-Year28.8 minBottom 39%of 31,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year41.8%Top 17%of 31,9192024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year70.5%29th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202615,091Bottom 14%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026+9.4%Top 1%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026+3.4%Top 2%of 4,226July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202615,76414th percentileof 4,226July 2026
Labor force participation ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year80.3%Top 42%of 31,5132024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wageFayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, AR Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$61,240Bottom 20%of 3,7292025 OEWS
Median annual wageFayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, AR Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$46,610Bottom 13%of 3,7292025 OEWS
Public transit to work ±0.2%2024 ACS 5-Year0.0%1st percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026+0.2%Bottom 31%of 4,226July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20264.3%Top 49%of 4,226July 2026
Worked from home ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year21.5%88th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/074.82.2
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 4.3% in July 2026. It has been rising for the last 3 months, over a series running from 2020-01 to 2026-07. A break in the line is a month the Bureau of Labor Statistics did not publish for this area — it is left empty rather than estimated.

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202488k75k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $88,055 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.

Largest occupations — Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, AR

OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Fast Food and Counter Workers8,370$27,170
Retail Salespersons7,940$30,300
Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers7,500$60,480
General and Operations Managers7,010$81,800
Office Clerks, General6,110$39,660
Stockers and Order Fillers5,890$35,040

Searches the 40 largest occupations here that have a published wage.

Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

58% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 56% in reading, across the schools here that reported results. Math proficiency and 1 other measure here are published for Benton County, AR, which contains Bella Vista, rather than for Bella Vista alone.

There are 14.2 students for every full-time teacher across 1 public school, fewer than in most measured places. The student-teacher ratio is published for Benton County, AR, which contains Bella Vista, rather than for Bella Vista alone.

Public schools
1
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
14.2
across all schools here
Math proficiency
58.0%
Top 24% in Arkansas
Reading proficiency
56.3%
Top 13% in Arkansas

The proficiency and staffing figures above are for Benton County, AR: too few schools in Bella Vista reported a usable figure on their own to weight one honestly. The schools listed below are this place’s own.

The one public school on record, largest first.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Cooper Elementary SchoolBENTONVILLE SCHOOL DISTRICT62819.682%71%

19.4% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with, not how the schools perform, so it is shown and not scored.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data, placed by ZIP code — which schools are in this place, not which one a particular address is zoned for. A dash in a proficiency column is a gap in the federal file, not a bad result. Proficiency is measured against Arkansas’s own standard, so it is ranked within state. How to read school figures.

Prices for everything a household buys run about 9% below the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 91.5, against 100 for the nation. Nationally, housing drives most of the spread between places in this index; other goods vary far less.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, AR Metro Area is up 58% over five years, and up 3.7% over the last year. It follows repeat sales of the same homes, so it measures price change rather than which homes happened to sell.

Homeowners here who pay a tax bill pay a median of $1,796 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.61% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,347, close to the $1,395 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,347 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $53,900 a year, about 61% of the median household income here of $88,055.

The typical renter household here spends 21% of its income on rent, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,395 a month.

A median home at $296,700 costs 3.2 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $91,974, above the historic benchmark of about 3 times income.

Cost of living
91.5

Prices here run about 9% below the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Published for the Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, AR Metro Area as a whole. Prices are regional — people shop, commute and rent across a metropolitan area rather than within a city boundary — so this describes the cost of living around this place better than a figure drawn to its own limits would.

Rent as a share of income
21.0%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
3.2×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,347
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,395
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$296,700
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Bella Vista’s median household income of $88,055, which describes the place rather than you. Enter your own and the ratio is recomputed against it. It stays in this browser.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Cost of living indexthe Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, AR Metro Area’s figure202391.5Top 11%of 3,7002023
Home price change (1 year)the Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, AR Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+3.7%62nd percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, AR Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+58.1%93rd percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, AR Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+128.2%94th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.32024 ACS 5-Year3.2Bottom 30%of 26,8152024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year88.0%75th percentileof 31,7172024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±5082024 ACS 5-Year14,51496th percentileof 32,1772024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$1,115Top 31%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,873Top 37%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,347Top 32%of 4,072FY2026
Median gross rent ±$2392024 ACS 5-Year$1,395Bottom 23%of 23,1202024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$12,0932024 ACS 5-Year$296,70072nd percentileof 29,1112024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$912024 ACS 5-Year$1,79651st percentileof 26,4402024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$6,4822024 ACS 5-Year$91,974Top 34%of 27,5482024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.04%2024 ACS 5-Year0.61%20th percentileof 20,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year21.0%Top 17%of 22,9502024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±2342024 ACS 5-Year56897th percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year3.9%78th percentileof 31,8952024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year3.5%30th percentileof 31,7692024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±2972024 ACS 5-Year1,07995th percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year

These measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with. They compare housing cost with local earnings only: transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not in them. How to read affordability, the two rent figures and the cost-of-living index.

Development Momentum

80/ 100
Top 5% of 4,224 published city profiles
Permitting has been rising for the last 2 years of a series running from 2020 to 2025. That is the direction of the recent run. The chart below compares the first year with the last, which can point the other way.

An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.

Population has grown 10% since 2020, reaching 33,274 in 2024.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 708 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes.

Federal tax returns show Benton County, which contains Bella Vista, gained about 1.9% of its residents through moves within the US in the most recent year, counting those who arrived against those who left. Households that moved in reported an average income of $78,990, close to the $76,897 of households that moved out.

At 22.3 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
708
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
22.3
Top 2% nationally
Year over year
−17%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202433k30k
Census Population Estimates Program, July 1 of each year. These annual estimates are designed for year-over-year comparison, unlike the ACS five-year figure shown as this profile's population. It has been rising for the last 4 years, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
+1.9%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
65%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$78,990
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$76,897
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Washington County, AR 4,636 people · 24% of arrivals
  2. Pulaski County, AR 360 people · 1.8% of arrivals
  3. Delaware County, OK 302 people · 1.5% of arrivals
  4. Sebastian County, AR 295 people · 1.5% of arrivals
  5. Los Angeles County, CA 284 people · 1.4% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Washington County, AR 4,021 people · 27% of departures
  2. McDonald County, MO 430 people · 2.9% of departures
  3. Delaware County, OK 370 people · 2.5% of departures
  4. Collin County, TX 290 people · 2.0% of departures
  5. Madison County, AR 231 people · 1.6% of departures

Based on the address on federal tax returns, compared with the same filers a year earlier. It counts people who file, and sees a move only when the address on a return changes. Domestic moves only: people arriving from abroad are left out. This is the figure for Benton County, AR. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

202020212022202320242025786416
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2020 (+89%).

Weather & climate

7 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 90°F and January a low of 27°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 45.4 inches.

20°40°60°80°100°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station FAYETTEVILLE NW AR AP, 12.8 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND5.9"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals45.4"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals27°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals90°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals71991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals42°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

58 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, ice storm and heat wave, with inland flooding alone responsible for 54% of it. Inland flooding and heat wave are independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large those hazards are.

Ice stormHigh
Winter weatherModerate
WildfireModerate
LandslideModerate
EarthquakeModerate
HailModerate
Cold waveElevated

Low or minimal exposure: heat wave, lightning, strong wind, inland flooding, tornado, hurricane, drought, tsunami, volcanic activity, avalanche, coastal flooding.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. City values are the population-weighted mean of the counties the city overlaps, using AreaProfile place-to-county land-area weights. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

Violent crime
167
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year
Property crime
376
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year

Below these are deaths rather than offenses, published for the county. The two measure different things and are not comparable with each other.

Bella Vista's police department reported 167 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, near the middle of places with a department reporting. Property crime runs at 376.

Benton County has a modeled homicide rate of about 2.6 per 100,000 residents a year, because the CDC suppresses counts this small, near the middle of counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 9.6 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 4.8 per 100,000 residents in Benton County.

Homicide
2.6
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
9.6
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
4.8
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
12.2
per 100,000 residents

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides, so the firearm figure and the homicide figure above it count some of the same deaths twice over. They overlap and should not be added together.

Offenses are reported to the FBI by Bella Vista’s own police department and shown only where it reported every month of the year; a partial year is withheld rather than scaled up. Reported crime is what police recorded, which is not the same as what happened. Death rates are crude rates — deaths divided by population, not adjusted for age — except where a count was too small for the CDC to publish and it modeled the rate, which the card marks. They come from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC by county and not below it. So they describe the county around Bella Vista (Benton County) rather than Bella Vista itself. Neither is part of the Area Score. How to read crime rates and death rates.

What this profile does not cover

Each of these is absent for a reason, not by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them; the weighting is on the methodology page.

Air quality
The EPA publishes an air-quality index only where a monitor sits. There is none in this county, and a modeled value would be a different kind of number from the measured ones everywhere else on this page.
Taxes
Income and sales taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Property taxes are shown in the housing section but are not part of the score. The cost-of-living index above is a price level for all consumption, not a household budget, and it excludes taxes. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.

Access

4 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Northwest Arkansas Ntl at 13 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year96.1%Top 20%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle13 miTop 36%of 4,226NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle4Bottom 38%of 4,226NASR current cycle
No internet access ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year2.5%Top 22%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Northwest Arkansas NtlXNA13 mi8,801 ft
Springfield-Branson NtlSGF72 mi8,000 ft
Fort Smith RgnlFSM78 mi9,318 ft

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.

Customize your score

What matters to you?

Choose what you weight most heavily. Nothing is saved to an account — your preferences stay in this browser, and the Area Score never changes.

Area Score
76
Your Score
—

Select one or more priorities to see how this location scores against them.

Other cities in Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, AR

Same metropolitan area, measured the same way
CityCountyPopulationArea ScoreCompare
FayettevilleWashington County99,31975Fayetteville vs Bella Vista
SpringdaleWashington County88,16073Springdale vs Bella Vista
RogersBenton County72,98177Rogers vs Bella Vista
BentonvilleBenton County58,24984
CentertonBenton County21,92080
Siloam SpringsBenton County18,69972
LowellBenton County10,84980

Every city here is measured on the same scale from the same source releases, so the comparison is like for like. A higher Area Score reflects AreaProfile’s standardized weighting rather than a judgment about which is the better place to live.

Compare

Put Bella Vista side by side with a similar place.

Bella Vista vs BrandonBella Vista vs Bryant

Moving to Bella Vista from somewhere else?

You get the difference in prices, rent and weather, and the income that would keep pace.

Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
SafetyFederal Bureau of Investigation, Crime Data Explorer
Summarized offense counts by law enforcement agency
2025 calendar year
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)
Demographics, IncomeInternal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income Division
U.S. Population Migration Data (county to county)
filing years 2022–2023
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 Normals
HousingU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWS
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
SafetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
March 2025 to February 2026; May 2025 to April 2026
SchoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2018-19 school year; 2024-25 school year
HousingU.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research
Fair Market Rents
FY2026
HousingU.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency
House Price Index (traditional, all-transactions)
2026 Q2
Current conditionsNOAA National Weather Service
National Weather Service current conditions
Live observation, read when the page opens

Profile recalculated October 8, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology, or every source with how often each updates.

ZIP codes in Bella Vista

2 ZIP areas

Every ZIP area in Bella Vista with census figures of its own, largest first. The ones linked below diverge enough from the city as a whole to carry a full profile; the rest track Bella Vista closely, so their figures are here rather than on a page that would repeat this one. An Area Score is calculated for published profiles only, which is why it is blank on those rows.

ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeMedian home valueArea Score
7271517,288$82,447$290,900—
7271414,350$103,125$306,60078