City · Baxter County, Arkansas

Cotter, Arkansas

Cotter is a city in Baxter County, Arkansas, part of the Mountain Home, AR metro area. It has 1,063 residents. Cotter, Arkansas has a quality-of-life score of 31 out of 100 (low), ranking #10,831 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Arkansas it ranks #43 of 218 cities and towns. It ranks best on new business applications (high), average commute time (low) and job growth (high). It ranks worst on median household income (low), average weekly wage (low) and frequent mental distress (high).

31Low

Quality-of-life score: #10,831 of 15,651 cities and towns
Arkansas: #43 of 218 in AR
Population: 1,063 (2020-2024)
Land area: 2 mi²
Density: 434.3 /mi²
FIPS code: 0515490

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 74 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.

Open in the map

Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US cities and towns.

Safety40#9,418/15,637
Economy32#10,624/15,631
Housing81#2,872/14,977
Health14#13,400/15,609
Healthcare27#11,417/15,650
Environment46#8,370/15,453
Education32#10,675/15,649
Infrastructure48#8,207/15,650
Community9#14,250/15,651
Leisure & amenities73#4,257/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Cotter, Arkansas ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Baxter County value” are the county’s: the source publishes no figure for this city or town, and the county holding most of its residents stands in.

Strengths

New business applications · high22.6 /1k
94/100Arkansas 12.7 /1kUnited States 16.6 /1k2025U.S. Census BureauBaxter County value
Average commute time · low15.9 min
92/100Arkansas 22.5 minUnited States 26.4 min2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B08013
Job growth · high2.6%
92/100Arkansas -0.1%United States 0.1%2026 Q1U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsProvisional dataBaxter County value
Unemployment rate · low1.2%
91/100Arkansas 4.1%United States 4.3%2020-2024U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Census table B23025High uncertainty
Effective property tax rate · low0.50%
88/100Arkansas 0.56%United States 0.94%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25090
Arts, entertainment and recreation · high6.8 /10k
86/100Arkansas 3.9 /10kUnited States 5.5 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsBaxter County value

Weaknesses

Median household income · low$35,792
3/100Arkansas $62,146United States $81,6042020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B19013
Average weekly wage · low$905
6/100Arkansas $1,176United States $1,5142025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsBaxter County value
Frequent mental distress · high21.8%
6/100Arkansas 20.7%United States 18.6%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteModel-based estimate
Depression · high29.8%
8/100Arkansas 25.3%United States 20.7%2023Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimate
Hospital quality rating · low2.0
9/100Arkansas 2.8United States 3.2Jul 2026Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesBaxter County value
Food environment index · low6.7
10/100Arkansas 4.6United States 7.62019 & 2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteBaxter County value

Trends

The largest changes over about five years, next to the country's over the same periods.

PopulationRising
906 (2015-2019) → 1,063 (2020-2024)
+17%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Child poverty rateImproving
49.0% (2015-2019) → 21.6% (2020-2024)
−27 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
78.0% (2015-2019) → 95.2% (2020-2024)
+17 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Home price to income ratioWorsening
3.0× (2015-2019) → 5.4× (2020-2024)
+79%5 yearsCensus table B25077US 3.5× → 4.1×
Rent-burdened householdsWorsening
50.8% (2015-2019) → 64.3% (2020-2024)
+13 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
New homes permittedWorsening
12.8 /1k (2021) → 4.7 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
−63%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k

What changed in five years

How each measure moved between two periods about five years apart, read against whether more or less is better, the published margin of error and the same change in other places.

Over about five years, Cotter, Arkansas improved on 1 of 11 measures with a comparison and declined on 1. 9 moved within the margin of error and 0 barely changed.

Earlier (2015-2019)
Latest (2020-2024)
Lower standingHigher standing

Position is the place's standing among cities and towns: further right is better, whichever way the measure counts.

Improved1

Broadband+17 points78.0% → 95.2%

Declined1

Bachelor's+−5.5 points21.7% → 16.1%

All 11 measures

Change of every measure of Cotter, Arkansas between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	14.2 min2015-2019	15.9 min2020-2024	+1.8 min	Within the margin of error	29%
Bachelor's degree or higher	21.7%2015-2019	16.1%2020-2024	−5.5 points	Declined	6%
Broadband subscriptions	78.0%2015-2019	95.2%2020-2024	+17 points	Improved	85%
Effective property tax rate	0.64%2015-2019	0.50%2020-2024	−0.1 points	Within the margin of error	45%
High school diploma or higher	87.2%2015-2019	91.9%2020-2024	+4.7 points	Within the margin of error	80%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4132015-2019	0.4012020-2024	−0.012	Within the margin of error	61%
Median household income	$35,4172015-2019	$35,7922020-2024	+1.1%	Within the margin of error	8%
Poverty rate	22.2%2015-2019	13.0%2020-2024	−9.3 points	Within the margin of error	92%
Public transit commuters	0.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	60%
Rent as share of income	30.7%2015-2019	38.3%2020-2024	+7.6 points	Within the margin of error	14%
Rent-burdened households	50.8%2015-2019	64.3%2020-2024	+13 points	Within the margin of error	17%

“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 14640 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.

Sources: American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. Values are the latest and the one five years earlier of the same publisher dataset; datasets that changed publisher in between are never compared.

Survey estimates (American Community Survey) compare the two most recent 5-year windows that do not share years, so the margin of error of the difference holds. The 2015-2019 window predates the pandemic and 2020-2024 includes it.
A change counts only when it is larger than 1.645 times the square root of the two standard errors squared, summed (a 90% margin). Measures published without a margin must change by at least 5% to count.
“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 15651 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.
Standing is a percentile among the same places: 0 is the lowest value on the measure (or the worst when lower is better), 100 the best.

Cities and towns like Cotter, Arkansas five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Cotter, Arkansas in the earlier period, ranked by how many measures improved beyond the margin of error, minus how many declined. A comparison of published data, not a forecast and not advice.

For comparison, Cotter, Arkansas itself moved −2.1 points in standing on average over the same 9 measures (standings of all places average about zero).

How the ranking works

Similarity is the root-mean-square difference of standings in the earlier period over the measures most places have. Places are ranked by measures that improved beyond the margin of error minus those that declined (a count that estimation noise in small places cannot inflate), then by the mean change of standing over the measures a place has in both periods. Only places with more improvements than declines and a rise in standing are listed. Standings are relative, so a place can improve in absolute terms and still lose standing.

Who lives here

Age, race and education of residents, from the American Community Survey. Shares are of all residents (age), residents of every origin (race) or adults 25 and over (education).

Age and sex

1,063 residents (±293)

Men
Women

80 and over†
70–79†
60–69†

Income

How household income is spread, not just the middle: each bar is the share of households in that income range.

Household income

521 households (±132)

Cotter, Arkansas
Arkansas share

Under $25k23%†121
$25k–50k39%†202
$50k–75k

Homes

Who owns and who rents, what homes cost, and what the housing stock looks like.

Owners and renters

521 households (±132)

Cotter, Arkansas
Arkansas share

Own71%†369
Rent29%†152

No change since 2015–2019 is larger than the margin of error.

† Wide margin of error (more than 30% of the estimate): read with care.

Table view

Getting to work

How workers travel to their job and how long it takes them.

How people get to work

337 workers (±92)

Cotter, Arkansas
Arkansas share

Drive alone84%†284
Carpool9.8%†33
Public transit

Jobs and pay

What the largest occupations here pay, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes pay by metro area, not by county or city. The metro area page lists its largest occupations and lets you look up any job.

Pay in the Mountain Home, AR

Local businesses

Employer businesses and sole proprietors by industry, per resident and against the state and the nation. Counts of businesses next to counts of people, not a measure of demand.

The Census Bureau publishes business counts by county, not by city, so these are the figures of Baxter County, the county holding most of Cotter's residents.

Baxter County has 1,125 employer establishments, 263 for every 10,000 residents (1.06× the US rate of 248; 1.15× Arkansas's), with 14,397 paid employees at an average annual pay of $47,151. The Census Bureau also counts 3,639 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 1,125; 3,639 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 263; US 248 · Arkansas 229
Paid employees: 14,397
Average annual pay: $47,151; US $68,342

Employer establishments, employees, average pay and nonemployers of Baxter County by industry, with the density per resident against the nation

Ambulatory health care services	150	35.1	1.68×More than typical	1,255	$60,825	236
Restaurants and other eating places	79	18.5	1.01×About typical	1,284	$18,715	24
Specialty trade contractors	68	15.9	1.03×About typical	386	$43,238	392
Offices of other health practitioners	57	13.3	2.19×More than typical	310	$43,477	66
Offices of physicians	54	12.6	1.95×More than typical	429	$86,802	43
Lessors of real estate	45	10.5	0.85×About typical	212	$30,665	408
Full-service restaurants	38	8.9	1.16×About typical	592	$20,110	10
Services to buildings and dwellings	38	8.9	1.32×More than typical	154	$32,818	316
Religious organizations	33	7.7	1.39×More than typical	165	$25,339	—
Construction of buildings	32	7.5	0.99×About typical	131	$44,038	154
Limited-service restaurants	30	7	0.88×About typical	607	$18,030	7
Automotive repair and maintenance	27	6.3	1.25×More than typical	127	$44,087	63

Rank places for an industry Open Baxter County

County Business Patterns (2023); Nonemployer Statistics (2024)

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 42,746 residents here, 336,755,052 in the United States. County Business Patterns counts establishments in 2023; the Nonemployer Statistics count businesses in 2024.
“More than typical” is a density at least 1.25 times the nation's per resident, “fewer” at most 0.8 times, with at least 10 establishments. It compares counts of businesses with counts of people: it says nothing about demand, incomes, size, quality or profit, and visitors and commuters are not residents.
The Census Bureau adds noise to employment and payroll to protect confidentiality, and withholds some figures: an industry with few establishments can show employees or pay as unavailable.
Industries overlap: a narrower industry (full-service restaurants) is part of a broader one (restaurants), so the rows do not add up.
Industries follow the North American Industry Classification System; the two surveys use different editions (NAICS 2017 and 2022), which this page matches industry by industry.

Federal contracts performed here

No federal contract obligations recorded here in FY2026.

Grants and other federal assistance are counted by county here, not split among cities: Cotter is mostly in Baxter County.

See federal money in Baxter County

Representation in Congress

Members serving today, with their record in the current Congress (party-unity votes cast with their caucus, roll calls missed). Not a grade.

Cotter, Arkansas is represented in the 119th Congress by these members.

House

Eric A. "Rick" CrawfordR-AR-1 · 100% of residentsWith party 99%Missed 2.2%

Senate

Explore Congress The 2026 races

County

A city can lie in several counties. Some indicators are published for counties only: the page marks them.

Baxter County34100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Mountain Home, AR31

Other cities and towns in Baxter County

Largest first.

Similar cities and towns

Closest indicator profiles across the country (no model: score distances).

Data and sources

Latest published value of each indicator; periods differ by source. Values flagged by their publisher are marked.

PLACES: Local Data for Better HealthCenters for Disease Control and Prevention · release 2025
Local Area Unemployment StatisticsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · release 2025
American Community Survey 5-Year EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2017-2024
Building Permits SurveyU.S. Census Bureau · release 2026-08
Population Estimates ProgramU.S. Census Bureau · release 2025
Small Area Health Insurance EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
Small Area Income and Poverty EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
County Health Rankings & RoadmapsUniversity of Wisconsin Population Health Institute · release 2022-2025+2026-03-supplement

JSON · /api/v1/places/0515490

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends