72653 — Mountain Home, Arkansas

Area Profile

Income, jobs, climate, physical risk and development data for ZIP code 72653. Its median household income runs 18% above Mountain Home as a whole, which is why this ZIP carries a profile of its own.

57out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 44% of 3,113 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 12 sources
Opportunity1,666th of 3,116 ZIP areas measured52
SchoolsTop 34% of 3,047 ZIP areas measured62
GrowthTop 23% of 3,124 ZIP areas measured64
Housing affordabilityTop 39% of 3,112 ZIP areas measured72
ClimateTop 35% of 3,127 ZIP areas measured74
Physical resilience2,219th of 3,127 ZIP areas measured38
Access3,065th of 3,127 ZIP areas measured44
Economic stability2,661st of 3,127 ZIP areas measured30
The quick read

Unemployment is 4.6% and median household income $48,718, putting employment conditions in the middle range of ZIP areas measured. The unemployment rate is published for Mountain Home, AR, which contains 72653, rather than for 72653 alone.

In the public schools here, 48% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 14.3 students for every teacher.

55 housing units were authorized over the past twelve months, within 11% of the prior year — steady rather than turning. The permit count and 1 other measure here are published for Mountain Home, AR, which contains 72653, rather than for 72653 alone.

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
29,564
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$48,718
Bottom 13% nationally
Density
134/sq mi
220.8 sq mi of land
Median age
51.3
2024 ACS 5-Year
City
Mountain Home
Arkansas
Nearest major airport
SGF
84 mi · Springfield-Branson Ntl
Median home value
$174,200
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment across Mountain Home, AR, which contains 72653, is 4.6% — higher than in all but 41% of the 3,127 measured US ZIP areas.

Employment across Mountain Home, AR, which contains 72653, grew 1.6% over the past year, to 16,854 employed residents.

Median household income of $48,718 is lower than in 87% of measured US ZIP areas.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsBaxter County, AR’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$55,93623rd percentileof 2,996filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftBaxter County, AR’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$50,72610th percentileof 2,996filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$4,2102024 ACS 5-Year$48,718Bottom 13%of 31,0492024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$3,1932024 ACS 5-Year$34,181Bottom 41%of 32,8222024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year14.4%Bottom 32%of 32,8462024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±1.6 min2024 ACS 5-Year19.1 minTop 11%of 32,8872024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year20.3%Bottom 41%of 33,1932024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year75.5%48th percentileof 32,7982024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentMountain Home, AR’s figureJuly 202616,854Bottom 14%of 3,127July 2026
Employment change (3 years)Mountain Home, AR’s figureJuly 2026+4.4%Top 9%of 3,127July 2026
Employment change (year over year)Mountain Home, AR’s figureJuly 2026+1.6%Top 13%of 3,127July 2026
Labor forceMountain Home, AR’s figureJuly 202617,67413th percentileof 3,127July 2026
Labor force participation ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year65.9%Bottom 16%of 32,8832024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.0%2024 ACS 5-Year0.0%59th percentileof 32,7982024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)Mountain Home, AR’s figureJuly 2026−0.2%Top 45%of 3,127July 2026
Unemployment rateMountain Home, AR’s figureJuly 20264.6%Bottom 41%of 3,127July 2026
Worked from home ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year7.4%38th percentileof 32,7982024 ACS 5-Year

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202449k43k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $48,718 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 does not publish labor-force data for ZIP areas. This is the figure for Mountain Home, AR, the city containing this ZIP code.

48% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 50% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 14.3 students for every full-time teacher across 6 public schools, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
7
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
14.3
across 6 of them
Math proficiency
48.5%
Top 43% in Arkansas
Reading proficiency
49.9%
Top 35% in Arkansas
All 7 public schools on record, largest first.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Mountain Home Career Academies · charterMOUNTAIN HOME SCHOOL DISTRICT1,52312.036%51%
Hackler Intermediate SchoolMOUNTAIN HOME SCHOOL DISTRICT83718.661%49%
Nelson Wilks Herron ElementaryMOUNTAIN HOME SCHOOL DISTRICT55917.5——
Pinkston Middle SchoolMOUNTAIN HOME SCHOOL DISTRICT54614.464%48%
Mountain Home KindergartenMOUNTAIN HOME SCHOOL DISTRICT30016.7——
Guy Berry College and Career Academy · charterMOUNTAIN HOME SCHOOL DISTRICT528.7——
Arkansas State University-Mountain Home Career CenterASU - MOUNTAIN HOME CAREER CENTER0———

41.9% 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 $788 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.45% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $964, some 13% above the $854 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $964 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $38,600 a year, about 79% of the median household income here of $48,718.

The typical renter household here spends 31% of its income on rent, above the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $854 a month.

A median home at $174,200 costs 3.0 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $58,659, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Rent as a share of income
30.5%
Above the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
3.0×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$964
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$854
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$174,200
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against 72653’s median household income of $48,718, 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%67th percentileof 3,0712026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the non-metropolitan parts of Arkansas’s figure2026 Q2+45.2%58th percentileof 3,0712026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the non-metropolitan parts of Arkansas’s figure2026 Q2+77.1%21st percentileof 3,0712026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.32024 ACS 5-Year3.0Bottom 41%of 29,2752024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year73.9%37th percentileof 32,7502024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±5662024 ACS 5-Year15,50492nd percentileof 33,4602024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$735Top 4%of 3,031FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,274Top 7%of 3,031FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$964Top 6%of 3,031FY2026
Median gross rent ±$442024 ACS 5-Year$854Top 31%of 26,3962024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$10,0492024 ACS 5-Year$174,20037th percentileof 30,8122024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$592024 ACS 5-Year$78813th percentileof 28,9352024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$5,8502024 ACS 5-Year$58,659Bottom 15%of 29,8022024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.04%2024 ACS 5-Year0.45%9th percentileof 24,0992024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year30.5%Bottom 37%of 26,2472024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±2732024 ACS 5-Year59595th percentileof 33,7722024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year3.8%68th percentileof 32,9612024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year7.7%55th percentileof 32,7882024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±3862024 ACS 5-Year1,79295th percentileof 33,7722024 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

64/ 100
Top 23% of 3,124 published ZIP profiles

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.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 55 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes. The multifamily share is published for Mountain Home, AR, which contains 72653, rather than for 72653 alone.

At 4.2 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US ZIP areas. The permit rate is published for Mountain Home, AR, which contains 72653, rather than for 72653 alone.

Units permitted
55
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
4.2
Top 39% nationally
Year over year
−11%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

People moving in and out

Net migration
+1.1%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
61%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$55,936
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$50,726
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Marion County, AR 284 people · 13% of arrivals
  2. Fulton County, AR 60 people · 2.7% of arrivals
  3. Ozark County, MO 58 people · 2.7% of arrivals
  4. Izard County, AR 50 people · 2.3% of arrivals
  5. Washington County, AR 48 people · 2.2% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Marion County, AR 308 people · 17% of departures
  2. Izard County, AR 79 people · 4.3% of departures
  3. Washington County, AR 67 people · 3.6% of departures
  4. Benton County, AR 58 people · 3.2% of departures
  5. Fulton County, AR 57 people · 3.1% 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. This is the figure for Baxter County, AR. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

The Building Permits Survey is not published for ZIP areas. This is the figure for Mountain Home, AR, the city containing this ZIP code.

Weather & climate

7 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 90°F and January a low of 28°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 41.2 inches.

20°40°60°80°100°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station MOUNTAIN HOME BAXTER AP, 5.1 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND4.7"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals41.2"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals28°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals90°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals71991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals42°F1991-2020 Normals

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

Physical risk

38 / 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 34% of it.

Ice stormHigh
TornadoModerate
EarthquakeElevated
LandslideModerate
Winter weatherModerate
Cold waveModerate
Inland floodingModerate

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

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. ZIP values are the land-area-weighted mean of the counties the ZIP Code Tabulation Area intersects. Expected annual loss is not allocated below county level. 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.

Homicide
4.5
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
19.4
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Drug overdose
10.2
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Suicide
19.3
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.

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 72653 (Baxter County) rather than 72653 itself. 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. A ZIP area is not a jurisdiction, so no department reports for one. Mountain Home carries the figure where its 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.
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

1 major airport lies within 100 miles, the nearest Springfield-Branson Ntl at 84 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year87.6%Bottom 42%of 32,6632024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle84 miBottom 3%of 3,127NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle1Bottom 1%of 3,127NASR current cycle
No internet access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year9.9%Bottom 39%of 32,6632024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Springfield-Branson NtlSGF84 mi8,000 ft
Northwest Arkansas NtlXNA107 mi8,801 ft
Bill and Hillary Clinton Ntl/Adams FldLIT112 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
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
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.

72653 vs Mountain Home

How this ZIP area compares with Mountain Home as a whole. Both figures come from the same ACS release, so the comparison is like for like — a gap here is a real difference between the two places, not two surveys disagreeing.

72653
Mountain Home
Median household income: 72653 is the more favorable of the two.
Median household income
$48,718
vs
$41,274
Per capita income: Mountain Home is the more favorable of the two.
Per capita income
$34,181
vs
$35,579
Population density
134/sq mi
vs
1,091/sq mi
Median home value
$174,200
vs
$169,800
Median gross rent: 72653 is the more favorable of the two.
Median gross rent
$854
vs
$865
Homeownership rate
73.9%
vs
60.9%
Bachelor's degree or higher: Mountain Home is the more favorable of the two.
Bachelor's degree or higher
20.3%
vs
23.1%
Poverty rate: 72653 is the more favorable of the two.
Poverty rate
14.4%
vs
18.4%
Median age
51.3
vs
47.1

Some demographic statistics use Census ZIP Code Tabulation Areas, which approximate but do not exactly match USPS ZIP delivery geography. See the methodology for how AreaProfile maps between them.