Craighead County, AR
County Profile
113,249 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Craighead County, AR.
Several figures AreaProfile publishes are measured by county and nowhere finer — death rates by intent among them. On this page those describe the geography they are printed on, which is not true of the city and ZIP pages that inherit them.
How this area ranks
Data updated · 13 sourcesUnemployment is 4.2% and median household income $59,548, putting employment conditions in the middle range of counties measured.
In the public schools here, 44% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 14.3 students for every teacher.
919 housing units were authorized over the past twelve months, essentially level with the prior year — steady rather than turning.
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
Jobs & opportunity
Unemployment of 4.2% — higher than in all but 47% of the 1,467 measured US counties.
Employment grew 1.9% over the past year, to 56,593 employed residents.
30% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 76% of measured US counties.
| Metric | Value | Compared nationally | Source period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023 | $46,593 | 13th percentileof 1,417 | filing years 2022–2023 |
| Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023 | $49,879 | 23rd percentileof 1,417 | filing years 2022–2023 |
| Median household income ±$3,4932024 ACS 5-Year | $59,548 | Bottom 34%of 3,221 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Per capita income ±$1,4642024 ACS 5-Year | $33,774 | Bottom 44%of 3,222 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Per-capita personal income2023 | $48,695 | Bottom 19%of 1,389 | 2023 |
| Poverty rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year | 19.3% | Bottom 18%of 3,222 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Average commute ±0.7 min2024 ACS 5-Year | 21.3 min | Top 21%of 3,222 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Bachelor's degree or higher ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year | 29.7% | Top 24%of 3,222 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Drove alone to work ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year | 81.5% | 78th percentileof 3,222 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| EmploymentJuly 2026 | 56,593 | Top 36%of 1,467 | July 2026 |
| Employment change (3 years)July 2026 | +4.9% | Top 9%of 1,467 | July 2026 |
| Employment change (year over year)July 2026 | +1.9% | Top 12%of 1,467 | July 2026 |
| Labor forceJuly 2026 | 59,051 | 64th percentileof 1,467 | July 2026 |
| Labor force participation ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year | 77.3% | Top 41%of 3,222 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Public transit to work ±0.1%2024 ACS 5-Year | 0.0% | 29th percentileof 3,222 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026 | −0.3% | Top 42%of 1,467 | July 2026 |
| Unemployment rateJuly 2026 | 4.2% | Bottom 47%of 1,467 | July 2026 |
| Worked from home ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year | 6.8% | 32nd percentileof 3,222 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
Unemployment rate
Median household income, successive ACS releases
Largest occupations — Jonesboro, AR
| Occupation | People employed | Median annual wage |
|---|---|---|
| Registered Nurses | 1,990 | $78,940 |
| Retail Salespersons | 1,940 | $28,960 |
| Fast Food and Counter Workers | 1,900 | $26,260 |
| General and Operations Managers | 1,470 | $69,370 |
| Cashiers | 1,340 | $28,090 |
| Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand | 1,280 | $37,500 |
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.
44% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 45% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.
There are 14.3 students for every full-time teacher across 36 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.
| School | District | Students | Per teacher | Math | Reading |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Academies at Jonesboro High School | JONESBORO SCHOOL DISTRICT | 1,505 | 14.9 | 23% | 31% |
| Nettleton High School | NETTLETON SCHOOL DISTRICT | 1,054 | 11.8 | 24% | 37% |
| Valley View Intermediate School | VALLEY VIEW SCHOOL DISTRICT | 933 | 15.8 | 74% | 69% |
| Douglas Macarthur Junior High School | JONESBORO SCHOOL DISTRICT | 765 | 14.4 | 35% | 33% |
| Westside Elementary School | WESTSIDE CONSOLIDATED SCHOOL DISTRICT (Craighead) | 756 | 18.4 | 61% | 36% |
| Brookland Middle School | BROOKLAND SCHOOL DISTRICT | 755 | 18.9 | 70% | 57% |
| Visual & Performing Arts Magnet | JONESBORO SCHOOL DISTRICT | 731 | 18.3 | 55% | 42% |
| Brookland Elementary School | BROOKLAND SCHOOL DISTRICT | 728 | 16.9 | — | — |
| Brookland Junior High School | BROOKLAND SCHOOL DISTRICT | 701 | 11.1 | 56% | 54% |
| Annie Camp Junior High School | JONESBORO SCHOOL DISTRICT | 701 | 13.2 | 32% | 37% |
| Valley View Junior High School | VALLEY VIEW SCHOOL DISTRICT | 699 | 12.5 | 63% | 74% |
| Valley View High School | VALLEY VIEW SCHOOL DISTRICT | 675 | 13.8 | 44% | 62% |
66.8% 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.
Housing & affordability
How it’s calculated — housing affordability →Prices for everything a household buys run about 14% below the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 86.0, 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 Jonesboro, AR Metro Area is up 29% over five years, but down 1.0% 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 $1,125 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.53% of the median home value.
HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,040, some 9% above the $958 tenants already here pay.
At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,040 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $41,600 a year, about 70% of the median household income here of $59,548.
The typical renter household here spends 31% of its income on rent, above the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $958 a month.
A median home at $210,400 costs 2.5 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $83,438, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.
Prices here run about 14% below the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.
Published for the Jonesboro, 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.
The figures above are measured against Craighead County’s median household income of $59,548, which describes the place rather than you. Enter your own and the ratio is recomputed against it. It stays in this browser.
| Metric | Value | Compared nationally | Source period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cost of living indexthe Jonesboro, AR Metro Area’s figure2023 | 86.0 | Top 2%of 887 | 2023 |
| Home price change (1 year)the Jonesboro, AR Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2 | −1.0% | 2nd percentileof 1,431 | 2026 Q2 |
| Home price change (5 years)the Jonesboro, AR Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2 | +29.2% | 9th percentileof 1,431 | 2026 Q2 |
| Home price change (10 years)the Jonesboro, AR Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2 | +59.1% | 5th percentileof 1,431 | 2026 Q2 |
| Home price to income ±0.22024 ACS 5-Year | 2.5 | Bottom 49%of 3,217 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Homeownership rate ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year | 60.1% | 7th percentileof 3,221 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Housing units ±522024 ACS 5-Year | 48,885 | 82nd percentileof 3,221 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Market rent, one bedroomFY2026 | $870 | Top 37%of 1,423 | FY2026 |
| Market rent, three bedroomFY2026 | $1,402 | Top 38%of 1,423 | FY2026 |
| Market rent, two bedroomFY2026 | $1,040 | Top 32%of 1,423 | FY2026 |
| Median gross rent ±$242024 ACS 5-Year | $958 | Bottom 36%of 3,215 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Median home value ±$6,9132024 ACS 5-Year | $210,400 | 60th percentileof 3,219 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Median property taxes ±$612024 ACS 5-Year | $1,125 | 29th percentileof 3,172 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Owner household income ±$4,8172024 ACS 5-Year | $83,438 | Top 36%of 3,218 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Property tax rate ±0.03%2024 ACS 5-Year | 0.53% | 20th percentileof 3,126 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Rent as a share of income ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year | 30.6% | Bottom 23%of 3,216 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Seasonal and second homes ±3292024 ACS 5-Year | 718 | 67th percentileof 3,222 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year | 1.5% | 34th percentileof 3,222 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year | 7.6% | 38th percentileof 3,221 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Vacant housing units ±6562024 ACS 5-Year | 4,448 | 77th percentileof 3,222 | 2024 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.
Growth & development
How it’s calculated — growth →Development Momentum
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 4% since 2020, reaching 115,852 in 2024.
Permitting has turned upward after moving the other way the year before: 976 units authorized in 2025, up 5% on the prior year.
New construction is predominantly single-family: of 919 units permitted over the past twelve months, only 13% are in buildings of five or more homes.
Federal tax returns show Craighead County gained about 0.6% 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 $46,593, below the $49,879 of households that moved out.
At 8.1 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US counties.
Population, annual estimates
People moving in and out
Where newcomers came from
- Poinsett County, AR 572 people · 9.9% of arrivals
- Greene County, AR 538 people · 9.3% of arrivals
- Mississippi County, AR 474 people · 8.2% of arrivals
- Crittenden County, AR 188 people · 3.3% of arrivals
- Cross County, AR 187 people · 3.2% of arrivals
Where people who left went
- Greene County, AR 660 people · 13% of departures
- Poinsett County, AR 497 people · 9.5% of departures
- Mississippi County, AR 302 people · 5.8% of departures
- Pulaski County, AR 247 people · 4.7% of departures
- Lawrence County, AR 185 people · 3.6% 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. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.
Housing units permitted per year
Weather & climate
6 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 31°F.
Normal annual precipitation is 48.5 inches.
Precipitation
| Metric | Value | Source period |
|---|---|---|
| Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals | 48.5" | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Average January low1991-2020 Normals | 31°F | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Average July high1991-2020 Normals | 91°F | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals | 6 | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals | 43°F | 1991-2020 Normals |
Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. How to read climate and air quality.
Physical risk
The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are earthquake, tornado and inland flooding, with earthquake alone responsible for 40% of it. Tornado and inland flooding are independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large those hazards are.
Low or minimal exposure: tornado, heat wave, lightning, inland flooding, strong wind, hail, hurricane, wildfire, coastal flooding, tsunami, volcanic activity, avalanche.
Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). These are FEMA’s own figures for this county rather than a value derived from surrounding geographies. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.
These are deaths, not offenses — they say nothing about burglary, theft or assault.
Craighead County has a modeled homicide rate of about 5.4 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 15.8 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.
Drug overdose deaths run at 9.6 per 100,000 residents in Craighead County.
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.
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 Craighead County as a whole. They are shown and not scored. How to read 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.
- Reported crime
- Offenses reported to police are published by department rather than by town, so AreaProfile shows a rate only on city profiles, and only where that city’s department submitted every month of a year. City profiles inside this area carry their own figure where their department reported a full year. A partial year is never scaled up to look complete, and arrest counts or news volume are never substituted for it.
- 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 Arkansas Intl at 40 miles.
| Metric | Value | Compared nationally | Source period |
|---|---|---|---|
| Broadband access ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year | 88.0% | Top 41%of 3,221 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Distance to major airportNASR current cycle | 40 mi | Bottom 44%of 1,463 | NASR current cycle |
| Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle | 4 | Top 43%of 1,463 | NASR current cycle |
| No internet access ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year | 7.0% | Top 24%of 3,221 | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Airport | Code | Distance | Longest runway |
|---|---|---|---|
| Arkansas Intl | BYH | 40 mi | 11,602 ft |
| Millington/Memphis | NQA | 54 mi | 8,001 ft |
| Frederick W Smith Intl/Memphis | MEM | 66 mi | 11,120 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.
Select one or more priorities to see how this location scores against them.
Similar places
Matched on AreaProfile signals, not geographyData & methodology
| Used for | Source | Source period |
|---|---|---|
| Access | Federal Aviation Administration Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service | NASR current cycle |
| Physical risk | Federal Emergency Management Agency National Risk Index | National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0) |
| Demographics, Income | Internal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income Division U.S. Population Migration Data (county to county) | filing years 2022–2023 |
| Climate | NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly) | 1991-2020 Normals |
| Housing, Income | U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis Regional price parities and county personal income | 2023 |
| Jobs | U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Local Area Unemployment Statistics | July 2026 |
| Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, Jobs | U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File) | 2024 ACS 5-Year |
| Development | U.S. Census Bureau Building Permits Survey | 12 months ending July 2026 |
| Demographics | U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program | July 1, 2024 estimate |
| Safety | U.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 |
| Schools | U.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments | 2018-19 school year; 2024-25 school year |
| Housing | U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research Fair Market Rents | FY2026 |
| Housing | U.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency House Price Index (traditional, all-transactions) | 2026 Q2 |
| Current conditions | NOAA 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.
Cities in Craighead County, AR
ZIP areas
Only ZIP areas whose income or home value differ from their city’s by at least ten percent get a profile of their own, so this is a selection rather than every ZIP code in the county.