Loading
Assembling your view…
Crunching costs, sorting signals, rendering insights.
Crunching costs, sorting signals, rendering insights.
Put it this way: after service, the right city means keeping more of what you've earned. We scored 1 cities across Arkansas for veterans: cost, taxes, and healthcare. Little Rock takes #1 for 2026.
203,842 residents · Arkansas
Why Little Rock ranks #1: the numbers tell a clear story. At 89 on the cost index, residents save roughly 23% less than the typical American. You get the picture. Rent sits at $1,171/month — make of that what you will — while the median household pulls in $60,583/year. The Housing category is particularly strong at 71, though Healthcare (91) lags behind. Home prices average $214,773 — $252,597 below the national median.
#1 Ranked: Little Rock — cost index 89, rent $1,171/mo, income $60,583
Veteran scoring: cost index 89, state tax 3.9%, healthcare index 91 — preserving earned benefits
Data sourced from Census Bureau, Zillow, BLS, and Tax Foundation — current as of 2026
| Rank | City | Cost Index | Median Rent | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Little Rock | 89 | $1,171 | Details |
Put it this way: after service, the right city means keeping more of what you've earned. We scored 1 cities across Arkansas for veterans: cost, taxes, and healthcare. Little Rock takes #1 for 2026.
Little Rock is one of the cheaper options here. Rent is $1,171/month, which is lower than most cities in this ranking. The cost index is 89. Income sits at $60,583. Pretty standard for this type of city.
Bottom line: Little Rock leads this ranking for clear, data-backed reasons — but the "best" city depends on your priorities. Click into any city below to see the full detail page with 12-month trend charts, profession-specific salary data, and a breakdown of all five cost categories. If you're seriously considering a move, use our salary calculator to model your specific income against these numbers.
Our persona scoring model weights cost of living, income, rent, healthcare costs, tax burden, and population size differently based on what matters most to military veterans. Each factor contributes 10-25 points to a 0-100 composite score. Cities with the highest composite rank first. All data is sourced from federal agencies and verified research institutions. Cost of living indices are normalized to 100 (national median) using Zillow rent as the primary signal, with sub-category adjustments derived from regional BLS price data. Rankings are updated monthly as new data is released.
Little Rock ranks #1 in Arkansas for this analysis with a cost index of 89 and median income of $60,583.
Little Rock scores highest for military veterans due to its below-average cost of living, median rent of $1,171/mo, and competitive median income of $60,583.
Our cost of living index uses real Zillow rent data as the foundation, indexed to 100 (national median). Sub-categories (housing, food, transport, utilities, healthcare) are derived from the overall index with regional adjustments. Data is updated monthly.
City data is refreshed monthly from Census Bureau population estimates, Zillow rent and home price indices, BLS salary data, and Tax Foundation tax rates. Last updated: 2026.
The median 1-bedroom rent in Little Rock is $1,171/month as of 2026, based on Zillow's Observed Rent Index. This is $724 below the national median of $1,895/month.
The median home price in Little Rock is $214,773, which is 3.5× the local median income. It's on the edge of affordability for median-income households. The national median home price is $467,370.
Arkansas has a 3.9% state income tax rate. Combined state and local sales tax averages 9.47%, and the effective property tax rate is 0.57%.
This ranking was generated using data current as of early 2026. Population and income data comes from the Census Bureau's American Community Survey (5-year estimates). Rent and home price data is from Zillow's monthly releases. Tax rates are from the Tax Foundation's 2025 edition. Rankings are refreshed monthly.