The 10 Poorest Cities In Arkansas For 2023


The poorest places in Arkansas are Helena-West Helena and Forrest City for 2023 based on Saturday Night Science.

Like all states, Arkansas has certain places that are going on hard times. These Arkansas places have an above-average percentage of people living in poverty, out of work, or not making as much as they should be.

Even as the economy continues to improve, it’s worthwhile to look at the places in each state struggling to make ends meet. So we set our sites on locating the poorest places in Arkansas.

To do so, we used Saturday Night Science to analyze the newest Census data from the American Community Survey for the 64 cities in Arkansas with more than 5,000 people.


Table Of Contents: Top Ten | Methodology | Summary | Table


What’s the poorest city in Arkansas? According to the facts, Helena-West Helena is the poorest place in Arkansas for 2023.

This isn’t a commentary on the people that live there or the vibrant culture and traditions of these places. Instead, it’s just a look at the facts.

For more Arkansas reading, check out:


Table Of Contents: Top Ten | Methodology | Summary | Table


The 10 Poorest Cities In Arkansas For 2023

1. Helena-West Helena

Helena-West Helena, AR

Source: Public domain
Overall SnackAbility

1
/10

Population: 9,707
Rank Last Year: 1 (No Change)
Median Income: $25,735 (lowest)
Poverty Rate: 43.0% (highest)
People In Poverty: 4,172
More on Helena-West Helena: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

Helena-West Helena, unfortunately, ranks as the poorest place in Arkansas thanks to combination of low pay and and a lack of jobs.

The city of 9,707 people averages the lowest median household income in Arkansas and the highest poverty rate. At the very least, the cost of living ranks in the bottom 15% of place in the state, so things like housing are relatively affordable.

2. Forrest City

Forrest City, AR

Source: Wikipedia User Thomas R Machnitzki ([email protected]) | GFDL
Overall SnackAbility

1
/10

Population: 13,372
Rank Last Year: 3 (Up 1)
Median Income: $33,229 (2nd lowest)
Poverty Rate: 33.0% (2nd highest)
People In Poverty: 4,417
More on Forrest City: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

The second poorest city in Arkansas is Forrest City.

The city ranks as having the 2nd highest incidence of poverty and 2nd lowest median household income. However, the unemployment rate ‘only’ ranks as the 15th highest in the Natural State.

3. Monticello

Monticello, AR

Source: Wikipedia User Brandonrush | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

6
/10

Population: 8,567
Rank Last Year: 8 (Up 5)
Median Income: $33,604 (3rd lowest)
Poverty Rate: 26.8% (7th highest)
People In Poverty: 2,297
More on Monticello: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

Placing as the third poorest city, Monticello’s median income ranks as the 3rd lowest.

And that’s a sign that there’s a relatively substantial jump in the quality of the economy from second to third place on our list. The poverty rate is 26.817173430771238% and ranks near the bottom of places in the state.

But what makes up for the relatively low incomes of the city is its low cost of living. The income you do make here goes further than in most parts of the Natural State.

4. Magnolia

Magnolia, AR

Source: Wikipedia User Billy Hathorn | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

3
/10

Population: 11,205
Rank Last Year: 7 (Up 3)
Median Income: $34,815 (6th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 26.4% (8th highest)
People In Poverty: 2,960
More on Magnolia: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

Magnolia ranks as the fourth poorest place in Arkansas.

The town ranks as having the 6th lowest median household income and the 8th highest incidence of poverty in the state.

That being said, there’s still a ton of cultural diversity in the city as it hosts many events throughout the year.

5. Morrilton

Morrilton, AR

Source: Wikipedia User Photolitherland (talk)Chris Litherland | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

3
/10

Population: 6,948
Rank Last Year: 4 (Down 1)
Median Income: $35,966 (11th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 30.2% (4th highest)
People In Poverty: 2,099
More on Morrilton: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

The fifth poorest city in Arkansas is Morrilton.

The city ranks as having the 11th lowest median income in the state. However, an extremely low cost of living prevents a good number of folks from living in poverty as the poverty rate only ranks as the 4th highest in Arkansas.

Still not the best news for Morrilton.

6. Malvern

Malvern, AR

Source: Wikipedia User Chris Litherland | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

3
/10

Population: 10,626
Rank Last Year: 15 (Up 9)
Median Income: $34,880 (7th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 26.2% (9th highest)
People In Poverty: 2,780
More on Malvern: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

Malvern ranks as the sixth poorest place in the Natural State.

It ranks as having the 9th highest incidence of poverty and the 12th highest unemployment rate.

7. Alma

Alma, AR

Source: Wikipedia User John Phelan | CC BY 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 5,806
Rank Last Year: 6 (Down 1)
Median Income: $38,292 (16th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 32.3% (3rd highest)
People In Poverty: 1,872
More on Alma: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

Alma places as the seventh poorest city in Arkansas.

The city of over 5,806 ranks as having the 3rd highest incidence of poverty in the state. However, it has a very low cost of living which helps to pay the bills each month.

8. Arkadelphia

Arkadelphia, AR

Source: Wikipedia User Brandonrush | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

5
/10

Population: 10,332
Rank Last Year: 2 (Down 6)
Median Income: $34,883 (8th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 25.4% (12th highest)
People In Poverty: 2,627
More on Arkadelphia: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

Arkadelphia ranks as the eighth poorest city in Arkansas.

The big issue for the town is the unemployment rate which ranks as the 48th highest in the state.

9. Newport

Newport, AR

Source: Wikipedia User Jma661 | CC BY-SA 3.0
Overall SnackAbility

4
/10

Population: 7,829
Rank Last Year: 10 (Up 1)
Median Income: $33,948 (5th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 23.8% (16th highest)
People In Poverty: 1,860
More on Newport: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

Newport couldn’t stay out of the top ten poorest places in Arkansas; it ranks number 9.

While the median income is the 5th lowest, there are a substantial number of people that live below the poverty line. Overall, Newport ranks as having the 16th most people living in poverty of all the places we analyzed in Arkansas.

10. West Memphis

West Memphis, AR

Source: Wikipedia User Nick8282 | CC BY-SA 4.0
Overall SnackAbility

2
/10

Population: 24,666
Rank Last Year: 5 (Down 5)
Median Income: $35,099 (9th lowest)
Poverty Rate: 25.3% (13th highest)
People In Poverty: 6,239
More on West Memphis: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living

And rounding out the top ten poorest cities in Arkansas is West Memphis.

The city of 24,666 people ranks in the bottom 20% for both median income and poverty rate in the Natural State.

Methodology: How We Determined The Poorest Places In Arkansas for 2023

The first thing that comes to most people’s minds when they think about determining the poorest places is to simply the poverty rate. That is, the number of people living below a federally established level of income for a household of a certain size.

However, we don’t think that one statistic wholly encompasses what it means to be one of the “poorest places”. So we used Saturday Night Science to look at this set of criteria from the newly released 2017-2021 American Community Survey:

  • Poverty Level
  • Median Household Income

After we collected the data for all 64 places with more than 5,000 people in Arkansas, we ranked each place from 1 to 64 for each of the criteria, with 1 being the poorest.

We then averaged all the rankings for a place into a “Poor Score” with the place having the lowest overall Poor Score, Helena-West Helena, crowned the “Poorest Place In Arkansas For 2023”.

This report has been updated for 2023, which is our tenth time ranking the poorest places in Arkansas.

Summary: The Poorest Cities In Arkansas For 2023

Like we said earlier, when we set out to identify the poorest places in Arkansas, we weren’t sure what we’d encounter, but it ended up being some of the best places to live in Arkansas.

When you look at the data, the cities and places mentioned above meet the criteria for being at the very bottom of the income ladder for everyone that lives there.

If you’re curious enough, here are the richest cities in Arkansas, according to data:

    Richest: Cave Springs
    2nd Richest: Centerton
    3rd Richest: Pea Ridge

For more Arkansas reading, check out:

Detailed List Of The Poorest Places To Live In Arkansas

Rank City Population Poverty Rate Median Income People In Poverty
1 Helena-West Helena 9,707 43.0% $25,735 4,172
2 Forrest City 13,372 33.0% $33,229 4,417
3 Monticello 8,567 26.8% $33,604 2,297
4 Magnolia 11,205 26.4% $34,815 2,960
5 Morrilton 6,948 30.2% $35,966 2,099
6 Malvern 10,626 26.2% $34,880 2,780
7 Alma 5,806 32.3% $38,292 1,872
8 Arkadelphia 10,332 25.4% $34,883 2,627
9 Newport 7,829 23.8% $33,948 1,860
10 West Memphis 24,666 25.3% $35,099 6,239
11 Trumann 7,416 25.9% $37,711 1,917
12 Pine Bluff 41,964 23.8% $36,940 9,990
13 Clarksville 9,444 22.2% $33,778 2,092
14 Pocahontas 7,269 23.2% $35,691 1,683
15 Hope 9,010 28.0% $42,122 2,527
16 Wynne 8,352 22.8% $37,680 1,900
17 Warren 5,485 22.2% $36,446 1,216
18 Osceola 7,016 23.5% $38,826 1,649
19 De Queen 6,192 27.5% $45,066 1,700
20 Camden 10,644 24.9% $42,348 2,648
21 Mena 5,626 25.5% $43,750 1,433
22 Walnut Ridge 5,392 22.4% $39,784 1,205
23 El Dorado 17,800 22.6% $41,831 4,020
24 Blytheville 13,559 23.7% $43,191 3,214
25 Russellville 29,057 21.0% $38,908 6,102
26 Searcy 23,074 20.9% $41,753 4,826
27 Texarkana 29,492 21.6% $43,625 6,362
28 North Little Rock 64,444 21.7% $45,590 14,015
29 Hot Springs 38,050 20.3% $42,718 7,707
30 Harrison 13,081 16.0% $40,347 2,090
31 Jacksonville 29,385 19.1% $46,007 5,608
32 Mountain Home 12,722 14.8% $41,058 1,877
33 Jonesboro 77,520 20.5% $48,901 15,903
34 Fort Smith 89,116 19.0% $48,033 16,927
35 Batesville 11,117 19.8% $49,763 2,198
36 Fayetteville 92,070 21.2% $52,111 19,544
37 Berryville 5,612 17.4% $44,984 978
38 Conway 63,746 18.4% $48,104 11,750
39 Van Buren 23,213 18.8% $51,561 4,364
40 Paragould 29,327 18.1% $49,977 5,306
41 Heber Springs 7,015 15.1% $46,176 1,061
42 Siloam Springs 16,944 18.0% $54,596 3,054
43 Prairie Grove 6,908 14.4% $50,625 996
44 Stuttgart 8,363 17.5% $58,062 1,466
45 Little Rock 201,893 15.6% $56,928 31,406
46 Springdale 85,887 15.1% $56,144 12,981
47 Greenbrier 5,683 11.6% $53,239 658
48 Beebe 8,343 9.9% $51,975 825
49 Greenwood 9,498 12.2% $57,837 1,156
50 Ward 5,943 15.0% $62,231 890
51 Benton 34,746 10.7% $60,813 3,727
52 Cabot 26,411 11.4% $62,654 2,998
53 White Hall 5,599 11.6% $82,275 651
54 Rogers 68,340 9.6% $69,582 6,575
55 Sherwood 32,544 7.7% $67,964 2,518
56 Lowell 9,630 6.4% $80,026 619
57 Marion 13,624 6.9% $80,170 938
58 Bryant 20,399 4.9% $76,965 1,003
59 Bentonville 52,565 7.1% $89,653 3,750
60 Farmington 7,601 3.5% $77,443 264
61 Maumelle 19,070 5.8% $83,104 1,113
62 Pea Ridge 6,491 4.3% $88,942 280
63 Centerton 17,455 5.4% $90,793 936
64 Cave Springs 5,224 1.0% $140,195 53
About Chris Kolmar

Chris Kolmar has been in the real estate business for almost ten years now. He originally worked for Movoto Real Estate as the director of marketing before founding HomeSnacks.

He believes the key to finding the right place to live comes down to looking at the data, reading about things to do, and, most importantly, checking it out yourself before you move.

If you've been looking for a place to live in the past several years, you've probably stumbled upon his writing already.

You can find out more about him on LinkedIn or his website.

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