72117North Little Rock, Arkansas

Area Profile

Income, jobs, climate, physical risk and development data for ZIP code 72117.

60out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 49% of 5,298 published profiles

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
OpportunityTop 43% of 6,210 published ZIP areas58
GrowthTop 31% of 5,428 published ZIP areas61
Housing affordability4211th of 6,685 published ZIP areas71
Climate4136th of 6,789 published ZIP areas66
Physical resilience4445th of 6,709 published ZIP areas44
Access3884th of 6,791 published ZIP areas90
Economic stability6056th of 6,742 published ZIP areas32
The quick read

Unemployment is 4.5% and median household income $44,319, putting employment conditions in the middle range of published ZIP profiles.

244 housing units were authorized over the past twelve months, within 9% of the prior year — steady rather than turning.

A major airport is 6 miles away, giving the area unusually direct access to the national air network.

At a glance

Population
13,438
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$44,319
Bottom 9% nationally
Density
247/sq mi
54.4 sq mi of land
Median age
36.9
2024 ACS 5-Year
City
North Little Rock
Arkansas
Metro area
Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, AR
Nearest major airport
LIT
6 mi · Bill and Hillary Clinton Ntl/Adams Fld
Median home value
$141,600
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.5% is lower than 48% of the 6,544 measured US ZIP areas.

Employment grew 2.2% over the past year, to 33,201 employed residents.

Median household income of $44,319 is below 91% of measured US ZIP areas.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$9,953$44,319Bottom 9%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$3,340$23,098Bottom 10%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate26.3%Top 10%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute23.8 minBottom 29%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher26.7%Top 41%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment33,201Bottom 34%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)4.7%Top 6%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)2.2%Top 4%June 2026
Labor force34,767Bottom 34%June 2026
Labor force participation59.4%Bottom 45%2024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$58,000Bottom 11%2025 OEWS
Median annual wage$45,790Bottom 10%2025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)0.3%Top 40%June 2026
Unemployment rate4.5%Top 48%June 2026
Median household income, successive ACS releases
202120222023202444k36k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $44,319 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.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish labor-force data for ZIP areas. This is the figure for North Little Rock, AR, the city containing this ZIP code.

There are 16.0 students for every full-time teacher, more than in most measured places.

Public schools
6
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
16.0
across all schools here
Math proficiency
Reading proficiency
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
LISA ACADEMY NORTH ELEMENTARY SCHOOL · charterLISA ACADEMY65421.8
MEADOW PARK ELEMENTARY SCHOOLNORTH LITTLE ROCK SCHOOL DISTRICT46816.1
LISA ACADEMY NORTH MIDDLE SCHOOL · charterLISA ACADEMY35316.8
GLENVIEW ELEMENTARY SCHOOLNORTH LITTLE ROCK SCHOOL DISTRICT34415.6
LISA ACADEMY NORTH HIGH SCHOOL · charterLISA ACADEMY29211.2
HARRIS ELEMENTARY SCHOOLPULASKI COUNTY SPECIAL SCHOOL DISTRICT18711.7

79.1% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with rather than how the schools perform, which is why AreaProfile shows it and does not score it.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data. Schools are placed by ZIP code, so this is which schools are in this place rather than which one a particular address is zoned for — district boundaries do not follow municipal ones, and enrollment zones change. Fully virtual schools are excluded: they enroll students from across the state while reporting one administrative address, and counting them here would describe a school population this place does not have. The assessment covers grades 3 through 8, so a high school shows no proficiency figure — a dash in those columns means the test was not given at that school, not that it performed badly. Proficiency is measured against Arkansas’s own standard, so it compares cleanly within the state and only broadly against other states; AreaProfile therefore ranks it within state. The directory is current, while the proficiency figures are from the last school year with national coverage before the pandemic interrupted testing.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $1,092 takes 30% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 3.2 times median household income here, above the historic benchmark of about three times income.

Rent as a share of income
29.6%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
3.2×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$1,092
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$141,600
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income3.20Top 47%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate63.7%Bottom 20%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±6336,735Top 23%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$82$1,092Top 43%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$26,702$141,600Bottom 24%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income29.6%Top 6%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate11.4%Top 49%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
61/ 100
Top 31% of 5,428 published city 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: only 2% of permitted units are in buildings of five or more homes.

At 3.8 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US ZIP areas.

Units permitted
244
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
3.8
Top 40% nationally
Year over year
+9%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
2.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

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

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.

Air quality measures a median index of 55, in the Moderate 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 LITTLE ROCK AP ADAMS FLD, 6.7 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND5.6"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index75.02024 calendar year
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
Days above AQI 10052024 calendar year
Median air quality index55.02024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing41°F1991-2020 Normals
Air quality
Median air quality index
55
Moderate on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
75
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. They describe what a typical year looks like rather than what the weather is doing today. Air quality is measured rather than modelled, by EPA monitors, and published by county only where a monitor sits — roughly half the counties AreaProfile publishes have one, and the rest show nothing rather than an estimate. Air masses are regional, so a county reading describes the air over a place reasonably well, but it is still the county reading.

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: strong wind, heat wave, 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. 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 offences. AreaProfile does not publish reported crime, and this is not a substitute for it — it says nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

Pulaski County records 11.7 homicide deaths per 100,000 residents a year, higher than most counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 22.7 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, because nationally most firearm deaths are suicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 19.7 per 100,000 residents in Pulaski County.

Homicide
11.7
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Firearm deaths, all intents
22.7
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Drug overdose
19.7
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Suicide
18.0
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides. The two columns overlap and should not be added.

Age-adjusted rates from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC for Pulaski County as a whole — these rates are not published below county level. A county can hold both a dense city centre and a suburb whose experience of it is nothing alike, so this describes the county around 72117 rather than 72117 itself. That is why AreaProfile shows these figures and does not put them in the Area Score. Where fewer than ten deaths were recorded the count is suppressed at source, and a rate built on single figures moves sharply between releases. What this measure has that reported crime does not: a death certificate is filed whether or not the local police agency submitted a return that year, so the figures stay comparable between places and over time.

What this profile does not cover

Three things people look for are missing from every AreaProfile page, and each is missing for a reason rather than by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.

Reported crime
The FBI’s Crime Data Explorer is the only source for reported offences with national coverage and a published method, and it requires an API key AreaProfile does not hold. Arrest counts, news volume and commercial “safety scores” are not substituted in the meantime. What is published above under Safety is a different measurement — deaths rather than offences, from death certificates rather than police returns — and it covers no property crime at all.
Taxes
No tax dataset has met the source admission test for coverage, transparent methodology and update cadence. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Full cost of living
No public source publishes one with national coverage and a documented method. Housing affordability above is computed from published rent, price and income, and excludes transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes — commuting cost in particular tends to offset suburban housing savings.

Access

1 major airport lies within 100 miles, the nearest 6 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Bill and Hillary Clinton Ntl/Adams FldLIT6 mi8,273 ft
Tunica MuniUTA102 mi8,500 ft
Greenville Mid-DeltaGLH111 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)
safetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
April, 2025 to March, 2026Quarterly, with a rolling twelve-month window alongside complete calendar years
schoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2024-25 school yearDirectory annually; assessment results as EDFacts releases them
ClimateU.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System
Daily Air Quality Index by county
2024 calendar yearAnnually, once a calendar year is complete

Profile recalculated August 30, 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.

72117 vs North Little Rock

How this ZIP area compares with North Little Rock as a whole. Both figures come from the same ACS release, so the comparison is like for like.

72117
North Little Rock
Median household income
$44,319
vs
$52,707
Per capita income
$23,098
vs
$34,174
Population density
247/sq mi
vs
1,217/sq mi
Median home value
$141,600
vs
$178,900
Median gross rent
$1,092
vs
$1,069
Homeownership rate
63.7%
vs
44.6%
Bachelor's degree or higher
26.7%
vs
30.6%
Poverty rate
26.3%
vs
20.3%
Median age
36.9
vs
38.0

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.