AreaProfile

Little Rock, Arkansas

Area Profile

203,436 residents. Jobs, income, climate, physical risk, development and airport access for Little Rock, in Pulaski County.

66
Area Score
Top 33% of 133 published profiles

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
OpportunityTop 12% of 139 published cities77
Growth79th of 134 published cities49
Housing affordabilityTop 19% of 150 published cities85
Climate95th of 149 published cities66
Physical resilience103rd of 150 published cities44
Access119th of 149 published cities90
Economic stability120th of 150 published cities43
The quick read

Little Rock ranks in the top 12% of published city profiles for employment opportunity, with unemployment at 4.2% and median household income of $63,003.

Residential permitting has slowed: 628 units authorized over the past twelve months, 36% below the prior year.

Housing is more affordable relative to local incomes than in most published city profiles, with rent taking 21% of median household income.

At a glance

Population
203,436
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$63,003
Bottom 44% nationally
Density
1,678/sq mi
121.2 sq mi of land
Median age
35.9
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Pulaski County
Arkansas
Metro area
Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, AR
Nearest major airport
LIT
8 mi · Bill and Hillary Clinton Ntl/Adams Fld
Median home value
$236,400
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.2% is lower than 69% of the 140 measured US cities.

Employment grew 2.2% over the past year, to 105,041 employed residents.

45% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 85% of measured US cities.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$2,303$63,003Bottom 44%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,538$43,712Top 25%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate17.5%Top 29%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute20.2 minBottom 18%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher44.6%Top 15%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment105,041Bottom 21%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)5.3%Top 2%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)2.2%Top 1%June 2026
Labor force109,662Bottom 20%June 2026
Labor force participation63.3%Top 40%2024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$58,000Bottom 6%2025 OEWS
Median annual wage$45,790Bottom 7%2025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)0.0%Bottom 45%June 2026
Unemployment rate4.2%Bottom 31%June 2026
Unemployment rate
2021/062022/032022/122023/092024/062025/032026/012026/065.92.6
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 4.2% in June 2026.
Median household income, successive ACS releases
202120222023202463k57k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $63,003 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.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $1,106 takes 21% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 3.8 times median household income here, above the historic benchmark of about three times income.

Rent as a share of income
21.1%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
3.8×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$1,106
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$236,400
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income3.75Top 31%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate53.5%Bottom 12%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±1,21399,643Top 1%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$22$1,106Top 39%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$6,779$236,400Top 38%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income21.1%Top 34%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate11.8%Top 43%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
49/ 100
Ranks 79 of 134 published city profiles
Permitting is increasing, 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 1% since 2020, reaching 204,774 in 2024.

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

New construction is predominantly single-family: only 10% of permitted units are in buildings of five or more homes.

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

Units permitted
628
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
3.1
Bottom 39% nationally
Year over year
−36%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
9.7%
units in 5+ unit buildings
Population, annual estimates
20202021202220232024205k202k
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
202020222023202420251k486
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2020 (+20%).

Weather & climate

5 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 92°F and January a low of 31°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 50.4 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 AP ADAMS FLD, 6.8 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND5.6"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation50.4"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall3.8"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low31°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high92°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

44 / 100
Physical resilience

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

Ice stormElevated
TornadoModerate
EarthquakeModerate
Winter weatherModerate
LightningModerate
Inland floodingElevated
HailModerate
LandslideModerate

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

Taxes

AreaProfile does not yet publish tax comparisons. No tax dataset has met the source admission test for coverage, methodology transparency and update cadence, and the product rule is to omit a dimension rather than estimate it. The Area Score is calculated without a tax component and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.

Nothing on AreaProfile is individualized tax advice.

Access

1 major airport lies within 100 miles, the nearest 8 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Bill and Hillary Clinton Ntl/Adams FldLIT8 mi8,273 ft
Tunica MuniUTA114 mi8,500 ft
Greenville Mid-DeltaGLH116 mi8,001 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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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)

Profile recalculated August 29, 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 Little Rock

5 published ZIP profiles
ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeArea Score
7220931,607$40,23160
7220430,525$40,88260
7222326,986$101,06269
7220523,043$68,415
7220622,667$52,13263