White County, AR

County Profile

77,838 residents. Jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for White County, AR.

56out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 37% of 1,453 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 13 sources
Opportunity907th of 1,463 counties measured49
SchoolsTop 27% of 1,377 counties measured69
GrowthTop 34% of 1,453 counties measured59
Housing affordability735th of 1,462 counties measured73
Climate888th of 1,463 counties measured64
Physical resilience1,186th of 1,463 counties measured33
Access979th of 1,463 counties measured72
Economic stability1,256th of 1,463 counties measured30
The quick read

Unemployment is 4.5% and median household income $55,249, putting employment conditions in the middle range of counties measured.

In the public schools here, 49% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 11.6 students for every teacher.

248 housing units were authorized over the past twelve months, within 4% of 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

Population
77,838
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$55,249
Bottom 24% nationally
Density
75/sq mi
1,034 sq mi of land
Median age
38.8
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
White County
Arkansas
Micro area
Nearest major airport
LIT
45 mi · Bill and Hillary Clinton Ntl/Adams Fld
Median home value
$163,600
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.5% — higher than in all but 35% of the 1,467 measured US counties.

Employment grew 0.5% over the past year, to 33,500 employed residents.

Median household income of $55,249 is lower than in 76% of measured US counties.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023$51,55027th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023$49,79122nd percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$3,8502024 ACS 5-Year$55,249Bottom 24%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,3492024 ACS 5-Year$28,808Bottom 19%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per-capita personal income2023$45,927Bottom 10%of 1,3892023
Poverty rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year16.7%Bottom 27%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±1.1 min2024 ACS 5-Year24.1 minTop 38%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year20.4%Bottom 40%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year82.4%83rd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202633,500Top 50%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026+5.2%Top 8%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026+0.5%Top 30%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202635,08450th percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year70.5%Bottom 27%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.3%2024 ACS 5-Year0.4%69th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026−0.1%Bottom 43%of 1,467July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20264.5%Bottom 35%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±0.9%2024 ACS 5-Year4.8%16th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/075.12.7
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 4.5% 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

202120222023202455k46k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $55,249 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.

49% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 44% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 11.6 students for every full-time teacher across 26 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
27
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
11.6
across 26 of them
Math proficiency
48.6%
Top 32% in Arkansas
Reading proficiency
43.6%
Top 43% in Arkansas
The 12 largest of 27 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Searcy High SchoolSEARCY SCHOOL DISTRICT1,22010.537%47%
Beebe High SchoolBEEBE SCHOOL DISTRICT1,0498.339%45%
Southwest Middle SchoolSEARCY SCHOOL DISTRICT91318.665%55%
Beebe Elementary SchoolBEEBE SCHOOL DISTRICT90418.862%41%
Ahlf Junior High SchoolSEARCY SCHOOL DISTRICT57616.559%56%
White County Central Elementary SchoolWHITE COUNTY CENTRAL SCHOOL DISTRICT56014.745%40%
H.l. Lubker Elementary SchoolBALD KNOB SCHOOL DISTRICT51715.756%30%
Beebe Middle SchoolBEEBE SCHOOL DISTRICT50917.657%37%
Beebe Junior High SchoolBEEBE SCHOOL DISTRICT49113.359%50%
McRae Elementary SchoolSEARCY SCHOOL DISTRICT44519.367%52%
Beebe Early ChildhoodBEEBE SCHOOL DISTRICT43914.6——
Sidney Deener Elementary SchoolSEARCY SCHOOL DISTRICT42121.162%42%

59.8% 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.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the non-metropolitan parts of Arkansas is up 45% over five years, and up 4.0% 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 $754 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.46% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $880, close to the $850 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $880 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $35,200 a year, about 64% of the median household income here of $55,249.

The typical renter household here spends 30% of its income on rent, at the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $850 a month.

A median home at $163,600 costs 2.3 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $70,742, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Rent as a share of income
29.7%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.3×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$880
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$850
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$163,600
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against White County’s median household income of $55,249, 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
Home price change (1 year)the non-metropolitan parts of Arkansas’s figure2026 Q2+4.0%61st percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the non-metropolitan parts of Arkansas’s figure2026 Q2+45.2%52nd percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the non-metropolitan parts of Arkansas’s figure2026 Q2+77.1%24th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.22024 ACS 5-Year2.3Top 39%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year69.1%26th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±662024 ACS 5-Year33,90076th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$734Top 11%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,149Top 7%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$880Top 5%of 1,423FY2026
Median gross rent ±$302024 ACS 5-Year$850Top 46%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$5,4662024 ACS 5-Year$163,60040th percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$482024 ACS 5-Year$75413th percentileof 3,1722024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$4,2512024 ACS 5-Year$70,742Bottom 36%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.03%2024 ACS 5-Year0.46%12th percentileof 3,1262024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year29.7%Bottom 30%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±2392024 ACS 5-Year61463rd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year1.8%40th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year10.8%61st percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±5822024 ACS 5-Year4,27176th 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.

Development Momentum

59/ 100
Top 34% 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 grown 3% since 2020, reaching 79,091 in 2024.

Population is still rising but the pace is easing: 79,091 residents in 2024, up 0.7% over the year, a smaller gain than the year before.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 248 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes.

Federal tax returns show White 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 $51,550, close to the $49,791 of households that moved out.

At 3.2 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US counties.

Units permitted
248
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
3.2
Top 45% nationally
Year over year
+4%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202479k77k
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
+0.6%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
34%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$51,550
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$49,791
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Lonoke County, AR 693 people · 19% of arrivals
  2. Pulaski County, AR 358 people · 9.7% of arrivals
  3. Faulkner County, AR 254 people · 6.9% of arrivals
  4. Cleburne County, AR 210 people · 5.7% of arrivals
  5. Independence County, AR 145 people · 3.9% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Lonoke County, AR 476 people · 14% of departures
  2. Pulaski County, AR 368 people · 11% of departures
  3. Faulkner County, AR 238 people · 7.1% of departures
  4. Cleburne County, AR 232 people · 7.0% of departures
  5. Jackson County, AR 137 people · 4.1% 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

2022202320242025671216
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2022 (−62%).

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 30°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 51.8 inches, including 1.8 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 SEARCY, 2.2 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND5.9"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals51.8"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall1991-2020 Normals1.8"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals30°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals93°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals51991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals43°F1991-2020 Normals

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

Physical risk

33 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, earthquake and tornado, with inland flooding alone responsible for 35% of it. tornado is independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large that hazard is.

Ice stormHigh
EarthquakeModerate
Inland floodingElevated
Winter weatherModerate
LightningModerate
LandslideModerate
Cold waveModerate

Low or minimal exposure: tornado, strong wind, heat wave, wildfire, hail, drought, hurricane, tsunami, volcanic activity, coastal flooding, 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.

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.
Cost of living
Price parities are published for metropolitan areas, and this place lies outside one.
Death-certificate rates
The CDC publishes these rates by county, and no county figure could be attached to this 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. Cost of living is published where the Bureau of Economic Analysis measures it, though not for this place. 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 45 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year87.2%Top 47%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle45 miBottom 36%of 1,463NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle2Bottom 15%of 1,463NASR current cycle
No internet access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year10.8%Bottom 46%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Bill and Hillary Clinton Ntl/Adams FldLIT45 mi8,273 ft
Tunica MuniUTA89 mi8,500 ft
Frederick W Smith Intl/MemphisMEM101 mi11,120 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.

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56
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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
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.

Cities in White 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.