El Dorado, Arkansas

Area Profile

17,115 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for El Dorado, in Union County.

47out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 13% of 4,196 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 13 sources
Opportunity3,948th of 4,199 cities measured30
Schools2,684th of 4,162 cities measured39
Growth3,782nd of 4,224 cities measured26
Housing affordabilityTop 31% of 4,218 cities measured73
Climate2,237th of 4,225 cities measured70
Physical resilienceTop 46% of 4,226 cities measured62
Access4,112th of 4,226 cities measured46
Economic stability3,975th of 4,226 cities measured26
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable cities measured: unemployment is 5.3% and the Opportunity signal places El Dorado in the bottom 6%. The unemployment rate is published for Union County, AR, which contains El Dorado, rather than for El Dorado alone.

In the public schools here, 41% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 11.9 students for every teacher.

13 housing units were authorized over the past twelve months, within 7% 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
17,115
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$49,244
Bottom 22% nationally
Density
1,056/sq mi
16.2 sq mi of land
Median age
36.6
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Arkansas
Micro area
Nearest major airport
SHV
86 mi · Shreveport Rgnl
Median home value
$124,100
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment across Union County, AR, which contains El Dorado, is 5.3% — higher than in all but 17% of the 4,226 measured US cities.

Employment across Union County, AR, which contains El Dorado, fell 0.3% over the past year, to 14,778 employed residents.

Median household income of $49,244 is lower than in 78% of measured US cities.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsUnion County, AR’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$50,4388th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftUnion County, AR’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$52,65510th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$6,9262024 ACS 5-Year$49,244Bottom 22%of 29,2232024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$2,4142024 ACS 5-Year$26,751Bottom 26%of 31,4202024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±5%2024 ACS 5-Year22.9%Bottom 18%of 31,7732024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±1.7 min2024 ACS 5-Year18.0 minTop 11%of 31,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year17.1%Bottom 41%of 31,9192024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year81.0%63rd percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentUnion County, AR’s figureJuly 202614,778Bottom 13%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (3 years)Union County, AR’s figureJuly 2026−2.8%Bottom 15%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (year over year)Union County, AR’s figureJuly 2026−0.3%Top 39%of 4,226July 2026
Labor forceUnion County, AR’s figureJuly 202615,61313th percentileof 4,226July 2026
Labor force participation ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year73.1%Bottom 34%of 31,5132024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.3%2024 ACS 5-Year0.2%76th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)Union County, AR’s figureJuly 2026−0.8%Top 17%of 4,226July 2026
Unemployment rateUnion County, AR’s figureJuly 20265.3%Bottom 17%of 4,226July 2026
Worked from home ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year10.2%61st percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202449k42k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $49,244 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.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes city-level labor data only for places of 25,000 or more. This is the figure for Union County, AR, which contains this city.

41% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 41% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 11.9 students for every full-time teacher across 8 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
9
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
11.9
across 8 of them
Math proficiency
41.0%
Bottom 24% in Arkansas
Reading proficiency
40.9%
Bottom 29% in Arkansas
All 9 public schools on record, largest first.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
El Dorado High SchoolEL DORADO SCHOOL DISTRICT1,2359.327%38%
Washington Middle SchoolEL DORADO SCHOOL DISTRICT58113.534%38%
Yocum Elementary SchoolEL DORADO SCHOOL DISTRICT58015.732%22%
Barton Jr. High SchoolEL DORADO SCHOOL DISTRICT54012.042%42%
Hugh Goodwin Elementary SchoolEL DORADO SCHOOL DISTRICT50821.277%67%
Parkers Chapel Elementary SchoolPARKERS CHAPEL SCHOOL DISTRICT49117.556%50%
Northwest Elementary SchoolEL DORADO SCHOOL DISTRICT47716.441%33%
Parkers Chapel High SchoolPARKERS CHAPEL SCHOOL DISTRICT3565.742%46%
South Arkansas Community College Technical CenterSOUTH ARK CAREER CENTER0———

62.5% 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 $700 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.56% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $923, close to the $880 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $923 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $36,900 a year, about 75% of the median household income here of $49,244.

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 $880 a month.

A median home at $124,100 costs 2.0 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $61,862, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Rent as a share of income
29.8%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.0×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$923
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$880
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$124,100
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against El Dorado’s median household income of $49,244, 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%66th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the non-metropolitan parts of Arkansas’s figure2026 Q2+45.2%59th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the non-metropolitan parts of Arkansas’s figure2026 Q2+77.1%25th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.32024 ACS 5-Year2.0Top 33%of 26,8152024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year57.2%16th percentileof 31,7172024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±3472024 ACS 5-Year7,89592nd percentileof 32,1772024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$718Top 2%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,111Top 1%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$923Top 3%of 4,072FY2026
Median gross rent ±$392024 ACS 5-Year$880Top 39%of 23,1202024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$10,7292024 ACS 5-Year$124,10029th percentileof 29,1112024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$642024 ACS 5-Year$70013th percentileof 26,4402024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$5,6212024 ACS 5-Year$61,862Bottom 26%of 27,5482024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.07%2024 ACS 5-Year0.56%16th percentileof 20,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year29.8%Bottom 42%of 22,9502024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±1462024 ACS 5-Year36196th percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year4.6%80th percentileof 31,8952024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year12.3%72nd percentileof 31,7692024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±2282024 ACS 5-Year1,33496th 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.

Development Momentum

26/ 100
Ranks 3,782 of 4,224 published city profiles
The most recent move in permitting was upward, in 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 fallen 6% since 2020, to 16,657 in 2024.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 13 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes.

Federal tax returns show Union County, which contains El Dorado, lost about 0.7% 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 $50,438, close to the $52,655 of households that moved out.

At 0.8 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
13
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
0.8
Bottom 21% nationally
Year over year
−7%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202418k17k
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 falling for the last 4 years, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
−0.7%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
51%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$50,438
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$52,655
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Ouachita County, AR 118 people · 11% of arrivals
  2. Pulaski County, AR 80 people · 7.5% of arrivals
  3. Columbia County, AR 56 people · 5.3% of arrivals
  4. Union Parish, LA 56 people · 5.3% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Ouachita County, AR 111 people · 8.6% of departures
  2. Pulaski County, AR 105 people · 8.2% of departures
  3. Union Parish, LA 76 people · 5.9% of departures
  4. Columbia County, AR 45 people · 3.5% of departures
  5. Faulkner County, AR 45 people · 3.5% 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 Union County, AR. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

202020212022202320242025149.0
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2020 (+56%).

Weather & climate

6 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 94°F and January a low of 34°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 52.1 inches.

20°40°60°80°100°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station EL DORADO S AR RGNL AP, 8.7 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND5.6"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals52.1"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals34°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals94°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals61991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals38°F1991-2020 Normals

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

Physical risk

62 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, ice storm and tornado, with inland flooding alone responsible for 39% of it. Inland flooding and tornado are independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large those hazards are.

Ice stormHigh
Strong windModerate
EarthquakeElevated
LightningModerate
HurricaneModerate
LandslideModerate
Winter weatherModerate
Cold waveModerate

Low or minimal exposure: heat wave, tornado, hail, inland flooding, drought, wildfire, coastal flooding, tsunami, volcanic activity, avalanche.

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
1,512
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year
Property crime
2,907
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.

El Dorado's police department reported 1,512 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, higher than most places with a department reporting. Property crime runs at 2,907.

Union County has a modeled homicide rate of about 9.7 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 about 23.8 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at about 14.7 per 100,000 residents in Union County.

Homicide
9.7
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
23.8
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Drug overdose
14.7
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Suicide
18.1
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured

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 El Dorado’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 El Dorado (Union County) rather than El Dorado 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.

Cost of living
Price parities are published for metropolitan areas, and this place lies outside one.
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 Shreveport Rgnl at 86 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year84.2%Bottom 29%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle86 miBottom 3%of 4,226NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle2Bottom 8%of 4,226NASR current cycle
No internet access ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year12.4%Bottom 29%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Shreveport RgnlSHV86 mi8,348 ft
Greenville Mid-DeltaGLH99 mi8,001 ft
Bill and Hillary Clinton Ntl/Adams FldLIT107 mi8,273 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
47
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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
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
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 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 El Dorado

1 ZIP area

Every ZIP area in El Dorado with census figures of its own, largest first.

ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeMedian home valueArea Score
7173029,760$55,770$130,30049