Arlington, Tennessee

Area Profile

15,205 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Arlington, in Shelby County.

Area Score unavailable

Missing required signal: growth. AreaProfile withholds a score rather than inferring the missing dimensions.

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
Opportunity2744th of 3,904 published cities47
Housing affordabilityTop 18% of 4,223 published cities96
Climate2515th of 4,223 published cities68
Physical resilience2460th of 4,182 published cities49
AccessTop 33% of 4,226 published cities96
Economic stabilityTop 2% of 4,226 published cities84
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable published city profiles: unemployment is 5.1% and the Opportunity signal places Arlington in the bottom 30%.

Housing is more affordable relative to local incomes than in most published city profiles: rent takes 19% of median household income and the median home is 3.1 times it.

A major airport is 14 miles away, giving the area unusually direct access to the national air network.

At a glance

Population
15,205
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$135,105
Top 7% nationally
Density
640/sq mi
23.8 sq mi of land
Median age
36.7
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Shelby County
Tennessee
Metro area
Memphis, TN-MS-AR
Nearest major airport
NQA
14 mi · Millington/Memphis
Median home value
$424,400
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 5.1% is lower than 22% of the 3,904 measured US cities.

Employment fell 1.8% over the past year, to 403,507 employed residents.

51% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 89% of measured US cities.

Household income is higher than at least 93% of measured US cities.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$11,483$135,105Top 7%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$4,170$48,986Top 18%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate4.9%Bottom 23%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute29.4 minTop 36%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher51.2%Top 11%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment403,507Top 18%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)-1.7%Bottom 23%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-1.8%Bottom 23%June 2026
Labor force425,128Top 18%June 2026
Labor force participation74.6%Top 9%2024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$60,240Bottom 15%2025 OEWS
Median annual wage$46,890Bottom 15%2025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)0.0%Bottom 45%June 2026
Unemployment rate5.1%Top 22%June 2026
Median household income, successive ACS releases
2021202220232024135k105k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $135,105 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

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 Shelby County, TN, which contains this city.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $2,164 takes 19% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 3.1 times median household income here, above the historic benchmark of about three times income.

Rent as a share of income
19.2%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
3.1×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$2,164
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$424,400
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income3.14Top 44%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate84.7%Top 32%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±2854,884Top 12%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$206$2,164Top 6%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$17,931$424,400Top 16%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income19.2%Top 46%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate1.0%Bottom 13%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 →

Population has grown 4% since 2020, reaching 15,550 in 2024.

Population is still rising, but more slowly than in the preceding year.

Population, annual estimates
2020202120222023202416k15k
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.

No building-permit activity is published for this location by the Census Building Permits Survey.

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 33°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 54.9 inches, including 2.7 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 MEMPHIS INTL AP, 22.8 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND5.9"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation54.9"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall2.7"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low33°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high92°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months51991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing41°F1991-2020 Normals

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.

Physical risk

49 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are earthquake, tornado and landslide.

EarthquakeElevated
TornadoElevated
LandslideModerate

Low or minimal exposure: heat wave, cold wave, lightning, ice storm, inland flooding, strong wind, winter weather, wildfire, hurricane, drought, hail.

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.

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.

Shelby County records 23.3 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 31.6 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, because nationally most firearm deaths are suicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 30.3 per 100,000 residents in Shelby County.

Homicide
23.3
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Firearm deaths, all intents
31.6
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Drug overdose
30.3
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Suicide
13.0
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 Shelby 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 Arlington rather than Arlington 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

4 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 14 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Millington/MemphisNQA14 mi8,001 ft
Frederick W Smith Intl/MemphisMEM23 mi11,120 ft
Arkansas IntlBYH52 mi11,602 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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Other cities in Memphis, TN-MS-AR

Same metropolitan area, measured the same way
CityCountyPopulationArea ScoreCompare
MemphisShelby County618,980vs Arlington
BartlettShelby County56,87660vs Arlington
SouthavenDeSoto County56,22661vs Arlington
ColliervilleShelby County51,51572vs Arlington
Olive BranchDeSoto County47,01970vs Arlington
GermantownShelby County40,673vs Arlington
Horn LakeDeSoto County26,64752vs Arlington
West MemphisCrittenden County23,92951vs Arlington
HernandoDeSoto County17,94969vs Arlington
LakelandShelby County14,192vs Arlington
MarionCrittenden County13,62360vs Arlington
MillingtonShelby County11,289vs Arlington

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
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)
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

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 Arlington

1 published ZIP profiles
ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeArea Score
380287,992$151,389