Searcy, Arkansas

Area Profile

23,340 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Searcy, in White County.

56out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 41% of 4,196 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 13 sources
OpportunityTop 47% of 4,199 cities measured57
SchoolsTop 25% of 4,162 cities measured70
GrowthTop 38% of 4,224 cities measured55
Housing affordabilityTop 37% of 4,218 cities measured71
Climate2,857th of 4,225 cities measured64
Physical resilience3,230th of 4,226 cities measured30
Access3,671st of 4,226 cities measured72
Economic stability3,764th of 4,226 cities measured31
The quick read

Unemployment is 4.5% and median household income $52,170, putting employment conditions in the middle range of cities measured. The unemployment rate is published for White County, AR, which contains Searcy, rather than for Searcy alone.

In the public schools here, 53% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 12.7 students for every teacher.

Residential permitting has slowed: 78 units authorized over the past twelve months, 18% below the prior year. That follows a longer stretch moving the other way, through 2025.

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
23,340
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$52,170
Bottom 26% nationally
Density
1,274/sq mi
18.3 sq mi of land
Median age
32.4
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Arkansas
Micro area
Nearest major airport
LIT
45 mi · Bill and Hillary Clinton Ntl/Adams Fld
Median home value
$188,500
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment across White County, AR, which contains Searcy, is 4.5% — higher than in all but 43% of the 4,226 measured US cities.

Employment across White County, AR, which contains Searcy, grew 0.5% over the past year, to 33,500 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsWhite County, AR’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$51,55010th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftWhite County, AR’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$49,7916th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$5,1232024 ACS 5-Year$52,170Bottom 26%of 29,2232024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$2,2512024 ACS 5-Year$28,824Bottom 33%of 31,4202024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year16.5%Bottom 31%of 31,7732024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±1.7 min2024 ACS 5-Year18.0 minTop 12%of 31,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year29.6%Top 31%of 31,9192024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year81.2%64th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentWhite County, AR’s figureJuly 202633,500Bottom 38%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (3 years)White County, AR’s figureJuly 2026+5.2%Top 5%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (year over year)White County, AR’s figureJuly 2026+0.5%Top 28%of 4,226July 2026
Labor forceWhite County, AR’s figureJuly 202635,08438th percentileof 4,226July 2026
Labor force participation ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year72.0%Bottom 31%of 31,5132024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.2%2024 ACS 5-Year0.3%77th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)White County, AR’s figureJuly 2026−0.1%Bottom 47%of 4,226July 2026
Unemployment rateWhite County, AR’s figureJuly 20264.5%Bottom 43%of 4,226July 2026
Worked from home ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year5.6%40th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202452k42k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $52,170 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 White County, AR, which contains this city.

53% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 51% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 12.7 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
12.7
across 8 of them
Math proficiency
53.2%
Top 34% in Arkansas
Reading proficiency
51.0%
Top 34% in Arkansas
All 9 public schools on record, largest first.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Searcy High SchoolSEARCY SCHOOL DISTRICT1,22010.537%47%
Southwest Middle SchoolSEARCY SCHOOL DISTRICT91318.665%55%
Ahlf Junior High SchoolSEARCY SCHOOL DISTRICT57616.559%56%
McRae Elementary SchoolSEARCY SCHOOL DISTRICT44519.367%52%
Sidney Deener Elementary SchoolSEARCY SCHOOL DISTRICT42121.162%42%
Westside Elementary SchoolSEARCY SCHOOL DISTRICT39819.972%62%
Riverview High SchoolRIVERVIEW SCHOOL DISTRICT3404.527%42%
Riverview Junior High SchoolRIVERVIEW SCHOOL DISTRICT17911.237%52%
Asu Beebe Regional Career Center - SearcyASU BEEBE REGIONAL CAREER CENTER - SEARCY0———

53.6% 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.

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 $1,108 a year in real estate taxes, about 0.59% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $880, close to the $905 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $880 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $35,200 a year, about 67% of the median household income here of $52,170.

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 $905 a month.

A median home at $188,500 costs 2.4 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $79,666, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Rent as a share of income
30.8%
Above the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.4×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$880
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$905
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$188,500
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Searcy’s median household income of $52,170, 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-Year2.4Top 46%of 26,8152024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year53.6%12th percentileof 31,7172024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±4722024 ACS 5-Year10,01694th percentileof 32,1772024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$734Top 3%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,149Top 2%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$880Top 1%of 4,072FY2026
Median gross rent ±$372024 ACS 5-Year$905Top 42%of 23,1202024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$10,4652024 ACS 5-Year$188,50051st percentileof 29,1112024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$682024 ACS 5-Year$1,10827th percentileof 26,4402024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$9,3172024 ACS 5-Year$79,666Top 49%of 27,5482024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.05%2024 ACS 5-Year0.59%19th percentileof 20,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year30.8%Bottom 37%of 22,9502024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±1302024 ACS 5-Year15592nd percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year1.5%66th percentileof 31,8952024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year10.8%67th percentileof 31,7692024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±3642024 ACS 5-Year1,24096th 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

55/ 100
Top 38% 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 grown 5% since 2020, reaching 23,997 in 2024.

Population is still rising but the pace is easing: 23,997 residents in 2024, up 0.5% over the year, a smaller gain than the year before.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 78 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes.

Federal tax returns show White County, which contains Searcy, gained about 0.6% 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 $51,550, close to the $49,791 of households that moved out.

At 3.3 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
78
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
3.3
Top 41% nationally
Year over year
−18%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202424k23k
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 rising for the last 3 years, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
+0.6%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
34%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$51,550
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$49,791
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Lonoke County, AR 693 people · 19% of arrivals
  2. Pulaski County, AR 358 people · 9.7% of arrivals
  3. Faulkner County, AR 254 people · 6.9% of arrivals
  4. Cleburne County, AR 210 people · 5.7% of arrivals
  5. Independence County, AR 145 people · 3.9% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Lonoke County, AR 476 people · 14% of departures
  2. Pulaski County, AR 368 people · 11% of departures
  3. Faulkner County, AR 238 people · 7.1% of departures
  4. Cleburne County, AR 232 people · 7.0% of departures
  5. Jackson County, AR 137 people · 4.1% 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 White County, AR. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

20202021202220232024202553845
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2020 (+69%).

Weather & climate

5 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 93°F and January a low of 30°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 51.8 inches, including 1.8 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 SEARCY, 2.1 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND5.9"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals51.8"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall1991-2020 Normals1.8"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals30°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals93°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals51991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals43°F1991-2020 Normals

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

Physical risk

30 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, earthquake and tornado, with inland flooding alone responsible for 35% of it. Tornado is independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large that hazard is.

Ice stormHigh
EarthquakeModerate
Inland floodingElevated
Winter weatherModerate
LightningModerate
LandslideModerate
Cold waveModerate

Low or minimal exposure: tornado, strong wind, heat wave, wildfire, hail, drought, hurricane, tsunami, volcanic activity, coastal flooding, 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
466
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year
Property crime
2,130
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.

Searcy's police department reported 466 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, higher than most places with a department reporting. Property crime runs at 2,130.

Drug overdose deaths run at about 11.6 per 100,000 residents in White County.

Firearm deaths, all intents
16.5
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Drug overdose
11.6
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Suicide
16.2
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 Searcy’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 Searcy (White County) rather than Searcy 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.
Death-certificate rates
The CDC publishes these rates by county, and no county figure could be attached to this page.
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 Bill and Hillary Clinton Ntl/Adams Fld at 45 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year89.3%Bottom 48%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle45 miBottom 15%of 4,226NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle2Bottom 8%of 4,226NASR current cycle
No internet access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year9.3%Bottom 41%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Bill and Hillary Clinton Ntl/Adams FldLIT45 mi8,273 ft
Tunica MuniUTA87 mi8,500 ft
Frederick W Smith Intl/MemphisMEM100 mi11,120 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
56
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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 Searcy

1 ZIP area

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

ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeMedian home valueArea Score
7214335,000$58,344$181,30056