Conway, Arkansas

Area Profile

67,642 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Conway, in Faulkner County.

67out of 100
Area Score
Top 29% of 2,944 published profiles

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
OpportunityTop 17% of 3,904 published cities73
GrowthTop 35% of 2,973 published cities58
Housing affordabilityTop 41% of 4,223 published cities86
Climate2468th of 4,223 published cities68
Physical resilience2456th of 4,182 published cities49
Access3328th of 4,226 published cities79
Economic stability2964th of 4,226 published cities49
The quick read

Conway ranks in the top 17% of published city profiles for employment opportunity, with unemployment at 4.1% and median household income of $63,004.

Residential permitting has slowed: 297 units authorized over the past twelve months, 51% below the prior year.

Rent takes 19% of median household income here, below the 30% threshold conventionally called cost-burdened, and the median home is 4.0 times that income.

At a glance

Population
67,642
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$63,004
Bottom 44% nationally
Density
1,450/sq mi
46.6 sq mi of land
Median age
30.3
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Faulkner County
Arkansas
Metro area
Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, AR
Nearest major airport
LIT
28 mi · Bill and Hillary Clinton Ntl/Adams Fld
Median home value
$252,100
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.1% is lower than 59% of the 3,904 measured US cities.

Employment grew 2.2% over the past year, to 37,743 employed residents.

43% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 84% of measured US cities.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$3,569$63,004Bottom 44%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,708$35,011Top 46%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate16.9%Top 31%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute24.7 minBottom 39%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher42.7%Top 16%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment37,743Bottom 43%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)6.8%Top 3%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)2.2%Top 4%June 2026
Labor force39,341Bottom 43%June 2026
Labor force participation63.7%Top 39%2024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$58,000Bottom 9%2025 OEWS
Median annual wage$45,790Bottom 8%2025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)0.1%Top 49%June 2026
Unemployment rate4.1%Bottom 41%June 2026
Unemployment rate
2021/062022/032022/122023/092024/062025/032025/102026/064.22.3
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 4.1% in June 2026. 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
202120222023202463k48k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $63,004 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 — Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, AR
OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Registered Nurses11,550$81,070
Retail Salespersons10,620$29,150
General and Operations Managers9,330$76,080
Fast Food and Counter Workers8,720$27,470
Stockers and Order Fillers7,990$35,340
Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers7,910$57,050

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.

There are 16.2 students for every full-time teacher, more than in most measured places.

Public schools
16
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
16.2
across all schools here
Math proficiency
Reading proficiency
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
CONWAY HIGH SCHOOLCONWAY SCHOOL DISTRICT2,35017.3
CONWAY JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOLCONWAY SCHOOL DISTRICT1,56815.2
CARL STUART MIDDLE SCHOOLCONWAY SCHOOL DISTRICT75215.7
RUTH DOYLE MIDDLE SCHOOLCONWAY SCHOOL DISTRICT54714.0
CAROLYN LEWIS ELEMENTARY SCHOOLCONWAY SCHOOL DISTRICT51417.7
BOB COURTWAY MIDDLE SCHOOLCONWAY SCHOOL DISTRICT49814.6
THEODORE JONES ELEMENTARY SCHOOLCONWAY SCHOOL DISTRICT49118.2
ELLEN SMITH ELEMENTARY SCHOOLCONWAY SCHOOL DISTRICT46117.1
RAY PHYLLIS SIMON MIDDLE SCHOOLCONWAY SCHOOL DISTRICT45913.1
WOODROW CUMMINS ELEMENTARY SCHOOLCONWAY SCHOOL DISTRICT45018.0
PRESTON & FLORENCE MATTISON ELEMENTARY SCHOOLCONWAY SCHOOL DISTRICT41717.4
IDA BURNS ELEMENTARY SCHOOLCONWAY SCHOOL DISTRICT38417.5

53.2% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with rather than how the schools perform, which is why AreaProfile shows it and does not score it.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data. Schools are placed by ZIP code, so this is which schools are in this place rather than which one a particular address is zoned for — district boundaries do not follow municipal ones, and enrollment zones change. Fully virtual schools are excluded: they enroll students from across the state while reporting one administrative address, and counting them here would describe a school population this place does not have. The assessment covers grades 3 through 8, so a high school shows no proficiency figure — a dash in those columns means the test was not given at that school, not that it performed badly. Proficiency is measured against Arkansas’s own standard, so it compares cleanly within the state and only broadly against other states; AreaProfile therefore ranks it within state. The directory is current, while the proficiency figures are from the last school year with national coverage before the pandemic interrupted testing.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $1,011 takes 19% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 4.0 times median household income here, above the historic benchmark of about three times income.

Rent as a share of income
19.3%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
4.0×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$1,011
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$252,100
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income4.00Top 27%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate45.4%Bottom 7%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±43729,267Top 2%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$38$1,011Top 47%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$12,694$252,100Top 35%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income19.3%Top 46%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate7.4%Bottom 40%2024 ACS 5-Year

Both affordability measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with, so the comparison is like for like. They describe housing cost against local earnings and are not a cost-of-living index — transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not included, and a place can look affordable here and still be expensive to live in for reasons this does not capture.

Growth & development

How it’s calculated →
Development Momentum
58/ 100
Top 35% of 2,973 published city profiles
Permitting is decreasing, measured from 2020 to 2025.

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 70,711 in 2024.

Permitting has turned downward after moving the other way the year before.

Population is still rising, but more slowly than in the preceding year.

At 4.4 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
297
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
4.4
Top 33% nationally
Year over year
−51%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
33.7%
units in 5+ unit buildings
Population, annual estimates
2020202120222023202471k64k
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.
Housing units permitted per year
20202022202320242025982354
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2020 (+25%).

Weather & climate

5 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 91°F and January a low of 32°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 51.8 inches, including 3.8 inches of snow.

20°40°60°80°100°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station LITTLE ROCK, 20.1 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND5.5"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation51.8"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall3.8"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low32°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high91°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months51991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing41°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. They describe what a typical year looks like rather than what the weather is doing today.

Physical risk

49 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, earthquake and ice storm.

Ice stormHigh
EarthquakeModerate
Winter weatherModerate
LightningModerate
Inland floodingModerate
LandslideModerate

Low or minimal exposure: tornado, strong wind, heat wave, wildfire, hail, hurricane, cold wave, drought.

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.

These are deaths, not offences. AreaProfile does not publish reported crime, and this is not a substitute for it — it says nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

Faulkner County records 6.0 homicide deaths per 100,000 residents a year, higher than most counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 8.5 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, because nationally most firearm deaths are suicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 7.4 per 100,000 residents in Faulkner County.

Homicide
6.0
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Firearm deaths, all intents
8.5
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Drug overdose
7.4
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Suicide
14.6
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides. The two columns overlap and should not be added.

Age-adjusted rates from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC for Faulkner County as a whole — these rates are not published below county level. A county can hold both a dense city centre and a suburb whose experience of it is nothing alike, so this describes the county around Conway rather than Conway itself. That is why AreaProfile shows these figures and does not put them in the Area Score. Where fewer than ten deaths were recorded the count is suppressed at source, and a rate built on single figures moves sharply between releases. What this measure has that reported crime does not: a death certificate is filed whether or not the local police agency submitted a return that year, so the figures stay comparable between places and over time.

What this profile does not cover

Three things people look for are missing from every AreaProfile page, and each is missing for a reason rather than by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.

Reported crime
The FBI’s Crime Data Explorer is the only source for reported offences with national coverage and a published method, and it requires an API key AreaProfile does not hold. Arrest counts, news volume and commercial “safety scores” are not substituted in the meantime. What is published above under Safety is a different measurement — deaths rather than offences, from death certificates rather than police returns — and it covers no property crime at all.
Taxes
No tax dataset has met the source admission test for coverage, transparent methodology and update cadence. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Full cost of living
No public source publishes one with national coverage and a documented method. Housing affordability above is computed from published rent, price and income, and excludes transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes — commuting cost in particular tends to offset suburban housing savings.

Access

1 major airport lies within 100 miles, the nearest 28 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Bill and Hillary Clinton Ntl/Adams FldLIT28 mi8,273 ft
Fort Smith RgnlFSM109 mi9,318 ft
Tunica MuniUTA123 mi8,500 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.

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Area Score
67
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Other cities in Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, AR

Same metropolitan area, measured the same way
CityCountyPopulationArea ScoreCompare
Little RockPulaski County203,43665vs Conway
North Little RockPulaski County64,53863vs Conway
BentonSaline County36,59575vs Conway
SherwoodPulaski County33,07068vs Conway
JacksonvillePulaski County29,22160vs Conway
CabotLonoke County26,96071vs Conway
BryantSaline County21,50475vs Conway
MaumellePulaski County19,37373vs Conway

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.

Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource periodUpdated
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle28-day NASR cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)Periodic dataset versions (v1.20.0 current)
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 NormalsEvery ten years (next release follows the 2001–2030 period)
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
June 2026Monthly
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWSAnnual (spring release)
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimateAnnual (vintage released each spring)
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026Monthly, roughly three weeks after the reference month
Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-YearAnnual (5-year estimates released each December)
safetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
April, 2025 to March, 2026Quarterly, with a rolling twelve-month window alongside complete calendar years
schoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2024-25 school yearDirectory annually; assessment results as EDFacts releases them

Profile recalculated August 30, 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 browse every source.

ZIP codes in Conway

3 published ZIP profiles
ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeArea Score
7203450,285$65,63567
7203234,469$64,69567
720352,151