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Crunching costs, sorting signals, rendering insights.
Crunching costs, sorting signals, rendering insights.
Career-launching requires a city that pays well and has employer depth. That tracks. We analyzed 1 cities in Arkansas. Little Rock: index 68, income $60,583, transport index 92.
Career-launching requires a city that pays well and has employer depth. That tracks. We analyzed 1 cities in Arkansas. Little Rock: index 68, income $60,583, transport index 92.
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.
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.
#1 Ranked: Little Rock — cost index 68, rent $1,171/mo, income $60,583
Young-professional scoring: income $60,583, population 203,842 (job market depth), transport index 92
Data sourced from Census Bureau, Zillow, BLS, and Tax Foundation — current as of 2026
203,842 residents · Arkansas
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.
| Rank | City | Cost Index | Median Rent | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Little Rock | 68 | $1,171 | Details |
Our persona scoring model weights cost, income, rent, healthcare, taxes, and city size based on what matters most to young professionals. 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 young professionals 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.