Marion, Arkansas

Area Profile

13,623 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Marion, in Crittenden County.

51out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 23% of 4,196 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 16 sources
Opportunity2,756th of 4,199 cities measured49
Schools3,591st of 4,162 cities measured21
Growth3,006th of 4,224 cities measured40
Housing affordabilityTop 9% of 4,218 cities measured82
Climate2,457th of 4,225 cities measured68
Physical resilience3,134th of 4,226 cities measured33
AccessTop 45% of 4,226 cities measured94
Economic stabilityTop 33% of 4,226 cities measured66
The quick read

Unemployment is 5.9% and median household income $78,330, putting employment conditions in the middle range of cities measured. The unemployment rate is published for Crittenden County, AR, which contains Marion, rather than for Marion alone.

In the public schools here, 29% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 13.9 students for every teacher.

29 housing units were authorized over the past twelve months, within 9% 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
13,623
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$78,330
Top 35% nationally
Density
672/sq mi
20.3 sq mi of land
Median age
35.8
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Arkansas
Nearest major airport
MEM
17 mi · Frederick W Smith Intl/Memphis
Median home value
$212,400
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment across Crittenden County, AR, which contains Marion, is 5.9% — higher than in all but 9% of the 4,226 measured US cities.

Employment across Crittenden County, AR, which contains Marion, grew 1.1% over the past year, to 20,084 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsCrittenden County, AR’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$41,1621st percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftCrittenden County, AR’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$45,6043rd percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$8,7242024 ACS 5-Year$78,330Top 35%of 29,2232024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$4,5702024 ACS 5-Year$37,700Top 38%of 31,4202024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year8.1%Top 39%of 31,7732024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±1.8 min2024 ACS 5-Year23.3 minTop 32%of 31,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year24.7%Top 40%of 31,9192024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year78.5%55th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentCrittenden County, AR’s figureJuly 202620,084Bottom 23%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (3 years)Crittenden County, AR’s figureJuly 2026−0.3%Bottom 49%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (year over year)Crittenden County, AR’s figureJuly 2026+1.1%Top 15%of 4,226July 2026
Labor forceCrittenden County, AR’s figureJuly 202621,34224th percentileof 4,226July 2026
Labor force participation ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year84.8%Top 25%of 31,5132024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wageMemphis, TN-MS-AR Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$60,240Bottom 15%of 3,7292025 OEWS
Median annual wageMemphis, TN-MS-AR Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$46,890Bottom 16%of 3,7292025 OEWS
Public transit to work ±0.3%2024 ACS 5-Year0.0%1st percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)Crittenden County, AR’s figureJuly 2026−0.6%Top 23%of 4,226July 2026
Unemployment rateCrittenden County, AR’s figureJuly 20265.9%Bottom 9%of 4,226July 2026
Worked from home ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year7.7%50th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202481k77k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $78,330 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 — Memphis, TN-MS-AR

OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand37,750$39,510
Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers19,460$63,070
Retail Salespersons17,050$32,580
Fast Food and Counter Workers15,320$27,490
Registered Nurses13,760$81,500
Stockers and Order Fillers12,200$37,280

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.

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

29% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 33% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 13.9 students for every full-time teacher across 5 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
5
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
13.9
across all schools here
Math proficiency
29.3%
Bottom 8% in Arkansas
Reading proficiency
33.5%
Bottom 8% in Arkansas
All 5 public schools on record, largest first.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Marion High SchoolMARION SCHOOL DISTRICT92710.314%30%
Herbert Carter Global Community Magnet SchoolMARION SCHOOL DISTRICT67019.142%38%
Marion Math Science & Technology Magnet SchoolMARION SCHOOL DISTRICT65419.842%35%
Marion Junior High SchoolMARION SCHOOL DISTRICT58813.125%32%
Marion Seventh Grade AcademyMARION SCHOOL DISTRICT28713.0——

75.6% 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 8% below the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 91.9, 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 Memphis, TN-MS-AR Metro Area is up 33% over five years, and up 1.8% 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 $1,686 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.79% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,110, close to the $1,148 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,110 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $44,400 a year, about 57% of the median household income here of $78,330.

The typical renter household here spends 26% of its income on rent, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,148 a month.

A median home at $212,400 costs 2.2 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $94,559, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Cost of living
91.9

Prices here run about 8% below the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Published for the Memphis, TN-MS-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
25.7%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.2×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,110
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,148
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$212,400
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Marion’s median household income of $78,330, 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 Memphis, TN-MS-AR Metro Area’s figure202391.9Top 13%of 3,7002023
Home price change (1 year)the Memphis, TN-MS-AR Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+1.8%32nd percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Memphis, TN-MS-AR Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+33.1%22nd percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Memphis, TN-MS-AR Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+87.8%42nd percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.22024 ACS 5-Year2.2Top 42%of 26,8152024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year71.6%41st percentileof 31,7172024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±2922024 ACS 5-Year5,42089th percentileof 32,1772024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$998Top 23%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,464Top 16%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,110Top 14%of 4,072FY2026
Median gross rent ±$512024 ACS 5-Year$1,148Bottom 35%of 23,1202024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$11,9472024 ACS 5-Year$212,40056th percentileof 29,1112024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$1512024 ACS 5-Year$1,68648th percentileof 26,4402024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$7,9652024 ACS 5-Year$94,559Top 32%of 27,5482024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.08%2024 ACS 5-Year0.79%37th percentileof 20,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year25.7%Top 36%of 22,9502024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±212024 ACS 5-Year01st percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year0.0%1st percentileof 31,8952024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year5.0%39th percentileof 31,7692024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±1422024 ACS 5-Year27182nd 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 and the cost-of-living index.

Development Momentum

40/ 100
Ranks 3,006 of 4,224 published city profiles
Permitting has been rising for the last 2 years of 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 2% since 2020, to 13,524 in 2024.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 29 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes.

Federal tax returns show Crittenden County, which contains Marion, lost about 0.4% 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 $41,162, below the $45,604 of households that moved out.

At 2.1 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
29
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
2.1
Bottom 44% nationally
Year over year
−9%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202414k14k
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, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
−0.4%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
68%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$41,162
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$45,604
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Shelby County, TN 599 people · 31% of arrivals
  2. Craighead County, AR 112 people · 5.8% of arrivals
  3. DeSoto County, MS 97 people · 5.0% of arrivals
  4. St. Francis County, AR 84 people · 4.3% of arrivals
  5. Poinsett County, AR 68 people · 3.5% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Shelby County, TN 539 people · 26% of departures
  2. Craighead County, AR 188 people · 9.0% of departures
  3. DeSoto County, MS 109 people · 5.2% of departures
  4. St. Francis County, AR 89 people · 4.3% of departures
  5. Pulaski County, AR 77 people · 3.7% 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. This is the figure for Crittenden County, AR. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

2020202120222023202420254523
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2020 (−21%).

Weather & climate

5 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 33°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 50.4 inches.

Air quality measures a median index of 41, in the Good band, and about 5 days a year pass 100, the threshold at which the air is unhealthy for sensitive groups.

20°40°60°80°100°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station WEST MEMPHIS MUNI AP, 5.0 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND5.1"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year582024 calendar year
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals50.4"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals33°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals91°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals51991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year52024 calendar year
Median air quality index2024 calendar year412024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals41°F1991-2020 Normals

Air quality

Median air quality index
41
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
58
90th percentile index
Days above 100
5
unhealthy for sensitive groups

A comfortable median and a bad tail are different problems. Wildfire smoke and summer ozone show up in the worst tenth of days, not in the middle of the year.

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. Air quality is measured by EPA monitors and published by county only where a monitor sits; a county without one shows nothing rather than an estimate, and a county reading is still the county’s. 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 earthquake, inland flooding and heat wave, with earthquake alone responsible for 47% of it. Heat wave is independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large that hazard is.

EarthquakeModerate
Ice stormModerate
DroughtModerate
TornadoModerate
Inland floodingElevated
Winter weatherModerate
LandslideModerate

Low or minimal exposure: heat wave, cold wave, lightning, hurricane, strong wind, hail, wildfire, avalanche, coastal flooding, tsunami, volcanic activity.

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
564
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year
Property crime
1,597
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.

Marion's police department reported 564 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, higher than most places with a department reporting. Property crime runs at 1,597.

Crittenden County has a modeled homicide rate of about 17.0 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 31.8 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 12.7 per 100,000 residents in Crittenden County.

Homicide
17.0
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
31.8
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
12.7
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Suicide
16.3
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 Marion’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 Marion (Crittenden County) rather than Marion 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.

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 Frederick W Smith Intl/Memphis at 17 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year94.4%Top 28%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle17 miTop 48%of 4,226NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle4Bottom 38%of 4,226NASR current cycle
No internet access ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year4.7%Top 35%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Frederick W Smith Intl/MemphisMEM17 mi11,120 ft
Millington/MemphisNQA22 mi8,001 ft
Tunica MuniUTA37 mi8,500 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
51
Your Score
—

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Other cities in Memphis, TN-MS-AR

Same metropolitan area, measured the same way
CityCountyPopulationArea ScoreCompare
MemphisShelby County618,98043Memphis vs Marion
BartlettShelby County56,87663Bartlett vs Marion
SouthavenDeSoto County56,22660Southaven vs Marion
ColliervilleShelby County51,51571
Olive BranchDeSoto County47,01969
GermantownShelby County40,67365
Horn LakeDeSoto County26,64753
West MemphisCrittenden County23,92943
HernandoDeSoto County17,94967
ArlingtonShelby County15,20557
LakelandShelby County14,19261
MillingtonShelby County11,28947

Every city here is measured on the same scale from the same source releases, so the comparison is like for like. A higher Area Score reflects AreaProfile’s standardized weighting rather than a judgment about which is the better place to live.

Compare

Put Marion side by side with a similar place.

Marion vs ByramMarion vs Sand Springs

Moving to Marion from somewhere else?

You get the difference in prices, rent and weather, and the income that would keep pace.

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
HousingU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWS
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
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
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
ClimateU.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System
Daily Air Quality Index by county
2024 calendar year
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 Marion

1 ZIP area

Every ZIP area in Marion with census figures of its own, largest first. The ones linked below diverge enough from the city as a whole to carry a full profile; the rest track Marion closely, so their figures are here rather than on a page that would repeat this one. An Area Score is calculated for published profiles only, which is why it is blank on those rows.

ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeMedian home valueArea Score
7236416,034$74,462$212,300—