Sherwood, Arkansas

Area Profile

33,070 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Sherwood, in Pulaski County.

68out of 100
Area Score
Top 23% of 2,944 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
OpportunityTop 9% of 3,904 cities measured78
Growth1702nd of 2,973 cities measured46
Housing affordabilityTop 8% of 4,223 cities measured100
Climate2468th of 4,223 cities measured68
Physical resilience2747th of 4,182 cities measured44
Access2312th of 4,226 cities measured90
Economic stabilityTop 46% of 4,226 cities measured62
The quick read

Sherwood ranks in the top 9% of published city profiles for employment opportunity, with unemployment at 3.9% and median household income of $81,328.

Residential permitting has slowed: 71 units authorized over the past twelve months, 61% below the prior year.

Housing is more affordable relative to local incomes than in most published city profiles: rent takes 16% of median household income and the median home is 2.5 times it.

At a glance

Population
33,070
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$81,328
Top 32% nationally
Density
1,593/sq mi
20.8 sq mi of land
Median age
39.9
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Pulaski County
Arkansas
Metro area
Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, AR
Nearest major airport
LIT
9 mi · Bill and Hillary Clinton Ntl/Adams Fld
Median home value
$199,500
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 3.9% is lower than 66% of the 3,904 measured US cities.

Employment grew 2.2% over the past year, to 17,054 employed residents.

36% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 78% of measured US cities.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Median household income ±$7,841$81,328Top 32%of 29,5732024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$2,742$40,739Top 31%of 31,4202024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate9.0%Bottom 42%of 31,9002024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute25.1 minBottom 41%of 31,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher36.3%Top 22%of 31,9192024 ACS 5-Year
Employment17,054Bottom 19%of 3,904June 2026
Employment change (3 years)5.3%Top 5%of 3,903June 2026
Employment change (year over year)2.2%Top 4%of 3,904June 2026
Labor force17,748Bottom 19%of 3,904June 2026
Labor force participation64.8%Top 35%of 31,9332024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$58,000Bottom 9%of 3,6582025 OEWS
Median annual wage$45,790Bottom 8%of 3,6582025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)0.0%Bottom 45%of 3,904June 2026
Unemployment rate3.9%Bottom 34%of 3,904June 2026
Unemployment rate
2021/062022/032022/122023/092024/062025/032025/102026/064.42.3
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 3.9% in June 2026. A break in the line is a month the Bureau of Labor Statistics did not publish for this area — it is left empty rather than estimated.
Median household income, successive ACS releases
202120222023202481k68k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $81,328 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.

There are 14.4 students for every full-time teacher, fewer than in most measured places.

Public schools
8
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
14.4
across all schools here
Math proficiency
Reading proficiency
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
SYLVAN HILLS HIGH SCHOOLPULASKI COUNTY SPECIAL SCHOOL DISTRICT1,12012.9
SYLVAN HILLS MIDDLE SCHOOLPULASKI COUNTY SPECIAL SCHOOL DISTRICT77213.5
SYLVAN HILLS JUNIOR HIGH SCHOOLPULASKI COUNTY SPECIAL SCHOOL DISTRICT72111.8
WILLIAM JEFFERSON CLINTON ELEMENTARY SCHOOLPULASKI COUNTY SPECIAL SCHOOL DISTRICT58615.4
SYLVAN HILLS ELEMENTARY SCHOOLPULASKI COUNTY SPECIAL SCHOOL DISTRICT51617.8
SHERWOOD ELEMENTARY SCHOOLPULASKI COUNTY SPECIAL SCHOOL DISTRICT42419.3
OAKBROOKE ELEMENTARY SCHOOLPULASKI COUNTY SPECIAL SCHOOL DISTRICT40815.7
CATO ELEMENTARY SCHOOLPULASKI COUNTY SPECIAL SCHOOL DISTRICT30517.9

55.3% 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 →

Prices for everything a household buys run about 10% below the national average, on the Bureau of Economic Analysis index. Housing drives most of that difference.

Median rent of $1,101 takes 16% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 2.5 times median household income here, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Cost of living
89.5

Prices here run about 10% below the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Rent as a share of income
16.2%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.5×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$1,101
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$199,500
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Cost of living index89.5Bottom 6%of 3,6582023
Home price to income2.45Bottom 36%of 28,4732024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate70.8%Bottom 39%of 31,8432024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±60415,030Top 4%of 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$67$1,101Top 39%of 23,4322024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$11,719$199,500Top 47%of 29,3422024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income16.2%Bottom 33%of 23,2012024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate6.3%Bottom 35%of 32,0012024 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
46/ 100
Ranks 1702 of 2,973 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 33,281 in 2024.

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

New construction is predominantly single-family: only 0% of permitted units are in buildings of five or more homes.

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

Units permitted
71
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
2.1
Bottom 48% nationally
Year over year
−61%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings
Population, annual estimates
2020202120222023202433k33k
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
20202022202320242025248107
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2020 (−38%).

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 32°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 51.8 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, 3.4 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND5.5"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index75.02024 calendar year
Annual precipitation51.8"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall3.8"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low32°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high91°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 floodingModerate
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. 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
611
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year
Property crime
1,961
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year

Below these are deaths rather than offences, published for the county. The two measure different things and are not comparable with each other.

Sherwood's police department reported 611 violent offences per 100,000 residents, higher than most places with a department reporting. Property crime runs at 1,961.

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.

Offences are reported to the FBI by Sherwood’s own police department, for the population it serves, and are shown only where it reported every month of the year — a partial year is withheld rather than scaled up. Reported crime counts what was reported to and recorded by police, which is not the same as what happened, and a place that draws a large daytime workforce carries incidents its residents did not generate. 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 Sherwood rather than Sherwood 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.

Taxes
Taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Cost of living now is — the index above is the Bureau of Economic Analysis price parity for this area — but it is a price level for all consumption rather than a budget for a household, its spread is driven mostly by housing, and it excludes taxes. Housing affordability is computed separately from rent, price and income, because that answers a narrower and more actionable question. Nothing here is individualised tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house. School attendance zones, insurance pricing and the character of a neighbourhood all vary within the places measured here.

Access

1 major airport lies within 100 miles, the nearest 9 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Bill and Hillary Clinton Ntl/Adams FldLIT9 mi8,273 ft
Tunica MuniUTA106 mi8,500 ft
Greenville Mid-DeltaGLH117 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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Area Score
68
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Other cities in Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, AR

Same metropolitan area, measured the same way
CityCountyPopulationArea ScoreCompare
Little RockPulaski County203,43665vs Sherwood
ConwayFaulkner County67,64267vs Sherwood
North Little RockPulaski County64,53863vs Sherwood
BentonSaline County36,59575vs Sherwood
JacksonvillePulaski County29,22160vs Sherwood
CabotLonoke County26,96071vs Sherwood
BryantSaline County21,50475vs Sherwood
MaumellePulaski County19,37373vs Sherwood

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.

Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource periodUpdated
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle28-day NASR cycle
safetyFederal Bureau of Investigation, Crime Data Explorer
Summarized offense counts by law enforcement agency
2025 calendar yearAnnually, with monthly revisions
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)
HousingU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023Annually, each December
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)
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)
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026Monthly, roughly three weeks after the reference month
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimateAnnual (vintage released each spring)
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.

ZIP codes in Sherwood

1 published ZIP profiles
ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeArea Score
7212034,365$76,59868