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Crunching costs, sorting signals, rendering insights.
Crunching costs, sorting signals, rendering insights.
What does "family-friendly" really mean in 2026? It means a city where a household can earn enough, access affordable healthcare, and keep costs under control. We analyzed 1 cities across Arkansas with a family-weighted model. Little Rock leads — not because it's the cheapest, but because it balance…
#1 Ranked: Little Rock — cost index 68, rent $1,171/mo, income $60,583
Family-weighted scoring: income $60,583, healthcare index 94, population 203,842 — balancing career, care, and schools
Data sourced from Census Bureau, Zillow, BLS, and Tax Foundation — current as of 2026
| Rank | City | Cost Index | Median Rent | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Little Rock | 68 | $1,171 | Details |
What does "family-friendly" really mean in 2026? It means a city where a household can earn enough, access affordable healthcare, and keep costs under control. We analyzed 1 cities across Arkansas with a family-weighted model. Little Rock leads — not because it's the cheapest, but because it balances all the factors that matter when you're raising kids.
Why Little Rock ranks #1: the numbers tell a clear story. At 68 on the cost index, residents save roughly 43% less than the typical American. Rent sits at $1,171/month while the median household pulls in $60,583/year. The Housing category is particularly strong at 68, though Healthcare (94) lags behind. Home prices average $214,773 — $252,597 below the national median.
(Tangentially — this is the kind of city where you can actually build equity on a median salary, which is increasingly rare.)
The broader context shifts things: The 1 cities we track in Arkansas paint a clearly affordable picture. Average cost index: 68. Median rent: $1,171/month. Household income: $60,583. Arkansas is known for one of the nation's most affordable states — and the data backs that reputation convincingly.
What to do with this data: use the ranking as a shortlist, then dig into the city profiles for trend lines and category breakdowns. The difference between #1 and #5 is often smaller than the difference between "good on paper" and "actually fits my life." Compare your top picks with our calculator to see real take-home numbers (more on that below).
203,842 residents · Arkansas
A closer look at Little Rock: the cost index of 68 breaks down to a Housing index of 68 (strongest category) and a Healthcare index of 94 (weakest). And as far as the data shows, median rent is $1,171/month — 38% below the national median — while household income sits at $60,583, meaning locals spend about 23% of income on rent. That's a healthy margin by any standard (and that gap widens if you factor in state taxes).
Our persona scoring model weights cost, income, rent, healthcare, taxes, and city size based on what matters most to families. Each factor scores 10-25 points out of a 100-point composite. The guide ranks every tracked city in Arkansas by this personalized metric. 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 68 and median income of $60,583.
Little Rock scores highest for families 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.