Garland County, AR

County Profile

100,035 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Garland 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.

57out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 42% of 1,453 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 13 sources
Opportunity852nd of 1,463 counties measured51
SchoolsTop 32% of 1,377 counties measured64
GrowthTop 19% of 1,453 counties measured67
Housing affordabilityTop 25% of 1,462 counties measured79
Climate828th of 1,463 counties measured66
Physical resilience1,226th of 1,463 counties measured30
Access1,103rd of 1,463 counties measured67
Economic stability1,114th of 1,463 counties measured39
The quick read

Unemployment is 4.4% and median household income $57,181, putting employment conditions in the middle range of counties measured.

In the public schools here, 48% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 13.5 students for every teacher.

Rent takes 27% of renter income here, below the 30% threshold conventionally called cost-burdened, and the median home is 2.9 times what its owners earn.

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
100,035
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$57,181
Bottom 28% nationally
Density
148/sq mi
677.6 sq mi of land
Median age
45.5
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Garland County
Arkansas
Metro area
Nearest major airport
LIT
53 mi · Bill and Hillary Clinton Ntl/Adams Fld
Median home value
$194,300
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.4% — higher than in all but 38% of the 1,467 measured US counties.

Employment grew 0.3% over the past year, to 43,625 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023$61,96258th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023$57,61650th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$2,4522024 ACS 5-Year$57,181Bottom 28%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,2942024 ACS 5-Year$34,085Bottom 46%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per-capita personal income2023$51,137Bottom 29%of 1,3892023
Poverty rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year15.8%Bottom 32%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±0.9 min2024 ACS 5-Year23.0 minTop 31%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year25.3%Top 37%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year78.2%54th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202643,625Top 44%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026+2.1%Top 27%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026+0.3%Top 34%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202645,65157th percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year73.0%Bottom 38%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.3%2024 ACS 5-Year0.3%61st percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026−0.2%Bottom 47%of 1,467July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20264.4%Bottom 38%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year7.7%41st percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/075.22.8
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 4.4% in July 2026. It has been holding roughly steady, 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

202120222023202457k50k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $57,181 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 — Hot Springs, AR

OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Retail Salespersons1,620$27,890
Fast Food and Counter Workers1,260$23,350
Registered Nurses1,160$78,590
Cashiers1,120$27,840
General and Operations Managers1,080$62,810
Waiters and Waitresses1,030$23,550

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.

48% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 45% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 13.5 students for every full-time teacher across 26 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
28
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
13.5
across 26 of them
Math proficiency
48.4%
Top 39% in Arkansas
Reading proficiency
44.6%
Top 36% in Arkansas
The 12 largest of 28 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Lakeside High SchoolLAKESIDE SCHOOL DISTRICT (Garland)1,10710.645%55%
Lake Hamilton High SchoolLAKE HAMILTON SCHOOL DISTRICT936—32%46%
Hot Springs Junior Academy · charterHOT SPRINGS SCHOOL DISTRICT80314.633%33%
Hot Springs World Class High School · charterHOT SPRINGS SCHOOL DISTRICT75910.420%34%
Lakeside Intermediate SchoolLAKESIDE SCHOOL DISTRICT (Garland)72116.881%55%
Main Street Visual & Performing Arts Magnet SchoolHOT SPRINGS SCHOOL DISTRICT64716.242%33%
Lake Hamilton Junior High SchoolLAKE HAMILTON SCHOOL DISTRICT63611.247%49%
Lake Hamilton Middle SchoolLAKE HAMILTON SCHOOL DISTRICT63316.759%52%
Lake Hamilton Primary SchoolLAKE HAMILTON SCHOOL DISTRICT61918.2——
Lakeside Primary SchoolLAKESIDE SCHOOL DISTRICT (Garland)58319.4——
Lakeside Junior High SchoolLAKESIDE SCHOOL DISTRICT (Garland)58115.7——
Lake Hamilton Intermediate SchoolLAKE HAMILTON SCHOOL DISTRICT56616.664%48%

72.1% 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 14% below the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 86.1, 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 Hot Springs, AR Metro Area is up 40% over five years, but down 1.3% 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 $933 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.48% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,090, some 13% above the $966 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,090 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $43,600 a year, about 76% of the median household income here of $57,181.

The typical renter household here spends 27% of its income on rent, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $966 a month.

A median home at $194,300 costs 2.9 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $67,148, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Cost of living
86.1

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 Hot Springs, 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
27.1%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.9×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,090
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$966
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$194,300
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Garland County’s median household income of $57,181, 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 Hot Springs, AR Metro Area’s figure202386.1Top 3%of 8872023
Home price change (1 year)the Hot Springs, AR Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2−1.3%1st percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Hot Springs, AR Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+39.9%28th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Hot Springs, AR Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+86.8%36th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.22024 ACS 5-Year2.9Bottom 33%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year69.4%27th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±712024 ACS 5-Year52,76083rd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$834Top 31%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,393Top 38%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,090Top 39%of 1,423FY2026
Median gross rent ±$272024 ACS 5-Year$966Bottom 35%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$11,6772024 ACS 5-Year$194,30054th percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$562024 ACS 5-Year$93321st percentileof 3,1722024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$2,9422024 ACS 5-Year$67,148Bottom 29%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.04%2024 ACS 5-Year0.48%14th percentileof 3,1262024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year27.1%Top 43%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±6092024 ACS 5-Year4,55193rd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year8.6%77th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year8.6%47th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±8082024 ACS 5-Year9,09390th percentileof 3,2222024 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

67/ 100
Top 19% of 1,453 published county profiles
Permitting has been rising for the last 2 years of a series running from 2022 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 been broadly flat since 2020, at 99,902 in 2024.

71% of the 315 units permitted over the past twelve months are in buildings of five or more homes, so new supply is concentrated in apartments and condominiums rather than detached houses.

Federal tax returns show that people moving in from elsewhere in the US and people moving out roughly balanced across Garland County in the most recent year. Households that moved in reported an average income of $61,962, above the $57,616 of households that moved out.

At 3.1 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US counties.

Units permitted
315
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
3.1
Top 46% nationally
Year over year
+209%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
71.1%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

20202021202220232024100k100k
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 holding roughly steady, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
0.0%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
49%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$61,962
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$57,616
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Hot Spring County, AR 426 people · 9.6% of arrivals
  2. Saline County, AR 416 people · 9.4% of arrivals
  3. Pulaski County, AR 269 people · 6.1% of arrivals
  4. Clark County, AR 99 people · 2.2% of arrivals
  5. Faulkner County, AR 83 people · 1.9% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Saline County, AR 662 people · 15% of departures
  2. Hot Spring County, AR 449 people · 10% of departures
  3. Pulaski County, AR 317 people · 7.2% of departures
  4. Clark County, AR 139 people · 3.2% of departures
  5. Washington County, AR 121 people · 2.7% 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

202220232024202532976
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2022 (+232%).

Weather & climate

5 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 93°F and January a low of 33°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 52.9 inches.

20°40°60°80°100°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station HOT SPRINGS ASOS, 20.6 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND5.9"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals52.9"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals33°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals93°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals51991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals40°F1991-2020 Normals

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

Physical risk

30 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, tornado and ice storm, with inland flooding alone responsible for 49% of it.

Ice stormHigh
TornadoModerate
HailElevated
LandslideModerate
Winter weatherModerate
Inland floodingElevated
LightningModerate
EarthquakeElevated
Cold waveModerate

Low or minimal exposure: strong wind, heat wave, wildfire, 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). 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.

Garland County has a modeled homicide rate of about 6.0 per 100,000 residents a year, because the CDC suppresses counts this small, higher than most counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 15.0 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at about 10.0 per 100,000 residents in Garland County.

Homicide
6.0
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
15.0
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
10.0
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Suicide
20.0
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.

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 Garland 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

2 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Bill and Hillary Clinton Ntl/Adams Fld at 53 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±0.8%2024 ACS 5-Year85.2%Bottom 38%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle53 miBottom 27%of 1,463NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle2Bottom 15%of 1,463NASR current cycle
No internet access ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year12.1%Bottom 35%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Bill and Hillary Clinton Ntl/Adams FldLIT53 mi8,273 ft
Fort Smith RgnlFSM87 mi9,318 ft
Northwest Arkansas NtlXNA135 mi8,801 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
57
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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
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
Housing, IncomeU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
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 September 26, 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 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.