Arkansas Real Estate Markets
Low property tax, active permit pace, Walmart-anchored NWA growth corridor. P/I 3.18, cap rate proxy 4.5%, median home $179,832. 0.59% property tax; 10-day eviction is among the country's fastest; income tax phasing down.
Investor Profile
Price-to-Income
3.2
Census ACS
Rent-to-Income
21.1%
HUD + ACS
Cap Rate Proxy
4.5%
HUD + ACS
Net Migration
0.05%
IRS SOI
Permits / 1K
5.1
Census BPS
Unemployment
4.8%
BLS
Demographics & Income
Median HHI
$59,954
Census ACS
Vacancy Rate
13.5%
Census ACS
Rent-Burdened
38.4%
% of renters paying 30%+ of income toward rent
Census ACS
Investor Climate
Rent control
1031 exchange
Deposit cap
Explore 8 metros across Arkansas
Arkansas
8 metros · 75 counties
Hover any county to see its metroTap any county to see its metro
Census ACS · FHFA · BLS · HUD · IRS8 metros in Arkansas. Click to view full market hub.
| # | Metro | Population | HPI 5yr Growth |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, AR | 0.6M | 71.7% |
| 2 | Hot Springs, AR | 0.1M | 62.4% |
| 3 | Fort Smith, AR-OK | 0.2M | 60.8% |
| 4 | Texarkana, TX-AR | 0.1M | 47.2% |
| 5 | Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, AR | 0.7M | 43.9% |
| 6 | Memphis, TN-MS-AR | 1.3M | 41.4% |
| 7 | Jonesboro, AR | 0.1M | 38.9% |
| 8 | Pine Bluff, AR | 0.1M | — |
Where Arkansas sits on the distress curve
Composite index built from federal GSE loan data covering Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac single-family loans. Weighted 40% serious delinquency, 20% entrenched stress, 20% forbearance share, 20% REO inventory. Useful for spotting markets where distressed inventory is building before price effects show up. Read the full methodology →
Source: FHFA Foreclosure Prevention and Refinance Report · 2025Q4
See all 51 states rankedArkansas combines the country's fastest eviction timelines with Northwest Arkansas' Walmart-anchored growth corridor. Price-to-income 3.18, cap rate proxy 4.5%, median home $179,832, across 3,032,651 residents and 8 metros. 0.59% effective property tax; 4.40% top state income tax (reduced from 4.9%).
The FHFA HPI is up 45.4% over five years and 3.3% last year. Builders pulled 15,613 permits TTM at 5.1 per 1,000 residents — active for a state this size. Net migration at +0.05% is positive. Unemployment sits at 4.8% with median household income at $59,954.
The 6 published metros show real variance. Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway ($199K median, 4.49% cap, 749K pop) is the state capital + financial services + University of Arkansas Medical. Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers ($273K, 3.84% cap, 551K) is the Northwest Arkansas growth corridor — Walmart HQ, Tyson Foods, J.B. Hunt, University of Arkansas. Fort Smith ($160K, 4.57% cap, AR-OK straddle) and Jonesboro ($181K, 4.48% cap) are the regional secondaries. Hot Springs ($176K, 4.82% cap) is the resort/retirement market. Pine Bluff ($109K, 6.31% cap) is the deep-value outlier.
Against Oklahoma, Arkansas has lower property tax and the Northwest Arkansas growth corridor that Oklahoma can't match. Against Missouri, Arkansas has similar property tax with smaller scale but faster evictions. Against Tennessee, Arkansas trails on income tax (TN has zero) but wins on entry price.
Operating environment is fast. 10-day eviction timeline — among the country's fastest, no rent control, 2-month deposit cap, 66.2% homeownership, 13.5% vacancy. Insurance averages $1,384/yr — reasonable. 4.40% top state income tax (phasing down).
So what does an investor do?
- Cash flow: Pine Bluff is the state's deep-value outlier — 6.31% cap at $109K is the strongest cash-flow pairing outside Texas border metros. Fort Smith and Jonesboro offer mid-$160K-$180K entry with 4.5%+ cap and the 10-day eviction speed compounding on the operating side. Little Rock carries the scale and institutional labor depth.
- Appreciation: Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers is the unambiguous appreciation play — Walmart HQ + University of Arkansas + three other Fortune 500 HQs (Tyson, J.B. Hunt, Dillard's) in a compact metro area. This corridor has been among the country's strongest for a decade and the thesis is durable.
- Out-of-state: Arkansas is the best cash-flow-plus-appreciation dual-thesis state in the South tail cohort. NWA handles appreciation; Little Rock + Pine Bluff + Fort Smith handle cash flow. Compare directly against Oklahoma on a per-property basis; AR usually wins on property tax and eviction speed.
Cap rate measures a property's annual net operating income as a percentage of its purchase price or current market value, assuming an all-cash purchase.
Read definition →Price-to-income ratio is median-home-price divided by median-household-income—a measure of housing affordability.
Read definition →Fair Market Rent (FMR) is HUD's annual estimate of what a household must pay for gross rent — rent plus tenant-paid utilities — on a privately-owned, decent, safe unit in a specific market area. FMRs are published each fall at huduser.gov and set the ceiling for Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher payment calculations.
Read definition →A building permit is a government authorization to construct a new residential or commercial structure, and the monthly count of permits issued across the U.S. functions as a leading economic indicator that signals where housing supply is heading months before any new unit is completed.
Read definition →The percentage of time a rental property sits empty and produces no income, calculated as vacant units divided by total units — the silent profit killer in rental investing.
Read definition →Homeownership rate is the percentage of occupied housing units whose residents own — rather than rent — the property. It measures the split between owner-occupants and renters in a given geography.
Read definition →