City · Van Buren County, Arkansas

Fairfield Bay, Arkansas

Fairfield Bay is a city in Van Buren County, Arkansas. It has 2,515 residents. Fairfield Bay, Arkansas has a quality-of-life score of 21 out of 100 (low), ranking #12,387 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Arkansas it ranks #63 of 218 cities and towns. It ranks best on students per teacher (low), social associations (high) and public libraries (high). It ranks worst on rent as share of income (high), violent crime rate (high) and average weekly wage (low).

21Low

Quality-of-life score: #12,387 of 15,651 cities and towns
Arkansas: #63 of 218 in AR
Population: 2,515 (2020-2024)
Land area: 15 mi²
Density: 166.6 /mi²
FIPS code: 0522660

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.

Safety6#14,741/15,637
Economy24#11,955/15,631
Housing54#6,868/14,977
Health28#11,178/15,609
Healthcare13#13,612/15,650
Environment33#10,281/15,453
Education83#2,682/15,649
Infrastructure24#11,873/15,650
Community26#11,649/15,651
Leisure & amenities40#9,457/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Fairfield Bay, Arkansas ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Van Buren 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

Students per teacher · low10.1×
98/100Arkansas 12.5×United States 15.2×2024National Center for Education StatisticsVan Buren County value
Social associations · high14.9 /10k
91/100Arkansas 11.7 /10kUnited States 9.1 /10k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteVan Buren County value
Public libraries · high1.9 /10k
90/100Arkansas 0.7 /10kUnited States 0.5 /10k2024Institute of Museum and Library ServicesVan Buren County value
Drinking water violations · low0
86/100Arkansas 1United States 02024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteVan Buren County value
Rent-burdened households · low71.1%
86/100Arkansas 44.8%United States 51.1%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25070High uncertainty
Preventable hospital stays · low1,990 /100k
85/100Arkansas 3,115 /100kUnited States 2,769 /100k2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteVan Buren County value

Weaknesses

Rent as share of income · high51.0%
2/100Arkansas 27.6%United States 30.6%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25071At least this value: the publisher's top bracket is open-ended
Violent crime rate · high728 /100k
2/100Arkansas 532 /100kUnited States 328 /100k2025Federal Bureau of InvestigationVan Buren County value
Average weekly wage · low$879
4/100Arkansas $1,176United States $1,5142025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsVan Buren County value
Food environment index · low6.2
5/100Arkansas 4.6United States 7.62019 & 2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteVan Buren County value
Primary care shortage · high18.0
5/100Arkansas 12.9United States 6.2Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationVan Buren County value
Access to exercise opportunities · low42.3%
7/100Arkansas 63.4%United States 84.5%2022 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteVan Buren County value

Trends

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

PopulationRising
2,212 (2015-2019) → 2,515 (2020-2024)
+14%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Child poverty rateWorsening
0.0% (2015-2019) → 37.7% (2020-2024)
+38 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Rent-burdened householdsImproving
95.3% (2015-2019) → 71.1% (2020-2024)
−24 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
New homes permittedWorsening
4.1 /1k (2021) → 0.8 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
−81%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
72.3% (2015-2019) → 84.2% (2020-2024)
+12 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Median household incomeImproving
$39,179 (2015-2019) → $56,594 (2020-2024)
+44%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604

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, Fairfield Bay, Arkansas improved on 2 of 12 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 9 moved within the margin of error and 1 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.

Improved2

Household income+44%$39,179 → $56,594
Broadband+12 points72.3% → 84.2%

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 12 measures

Change of every measure of Fairfield Bay, Arkansas between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	29.0 min2015-2019	27.7 min2020-2024	−1.3 min	Within the margin of error	63%
Bachelor's degree or higher	26.9%2015-2019	30.1%2020-2024	+3.2 points	Within the margin of error	54%
Broadband subscriptions	72.3%2015-2019	84.2%2020-2024	+12 points	Improved	68%
Effective property tax rate	0.64%2015-2019	0.58%2020-2024	−0.1 points	Within the margin of error	26%
High school diploma or higher	97.2%2015-2019	94.8%2020-2024	−2.4 points	Within the margin of error	13%
Home price to income ratio	2.6×2015-2019	2.9×2020-2024	+0.3×	Within the margin of error	60%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4222015-2019	0.4092020-2024	−0.013	Within the margin of error	62%
Median household income	$39,1792015-2019	$56,5942020-2024	+44%	Improved	79%
Poverty rate	6.1%2015-2019	11.4%2020-2024	+5.4 points	Within the margin of error	11%
Public transit commuters	0.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	60%
Rent as share of income	51.0%2015-2019	51.0%2020-2024	0 points	Little change	55%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	8.7%2015-2019	11.8%2020-2024	+3.2 points	Within the margin of error	18%

“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 Fairfield Bay, Arkansas five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Fairfield Bay, 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, Fairfield Bay, Arkansas itself moved +0.2 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

2,515 residents (±307)

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

1,525 households (±203)

Fairfield Bay, Arkansas
Arkansas share

Under $25k14%†216
$25k–50k32%†490
$50k–75k

Homes

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

Owners and renters

1,525 households (±203)

Fairfield Bay, Arkansas
Arkansas share

Own87%1,326
Rent13%†199

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

653 workers (±162)

Fairfield Bay, Arkansas
Arkansas share

Drive alone72%470
Carpool4.1%†27
Public transit0.0%0

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 Van Buren County, the county holding most of Fairfield Bay's residents.

Van Buren County has 319 employer establishments, 197 for every 10,000 residents (0.79× the US rate of 248; 0.86× Arkansas's), with 3,279 paid employees at an average annual pay of $34,814. The Census Bureau also counts 1,383 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 319; 1,383 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 197; US 248 · Arkansas 229
Paid employees: 3,279
Average annual pay: $34,814; US $68,342

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

Religious organizations	24	14.8	2.67×More than typical	69	$19,493	—
Specialty trade contractors	23	14.2	0.92×About typical	101	$48,505	173
Ambulatory health care services	21	13	0.62×Fewer than typical	123	$66,667	58
Truck transportation	19	11.7	2.32×More than typical	175	$47,034	62
Restaurants and other eating places	18	11.1	0.61×Fewer than typical	372	$16,868	13
Insurance agencies and brokerages	12	7.4	1.69×More than typical	57	$56,333	15
Building equipment contractors	11	6.8	1.13×About typical	47	$51,213	38
Gasoline stations	11	6.8	2.10×More than typical	135	$22,711	—
Construction of buildings	10	6.2	0.82×About typical	66	$38,773	83
Banks and credit unions	9	5.6	1.72×Too few to compare	49	$50,408	—
Full-service restaurants	9	5.6	0.72×Too few to compare	80	$23,350	5
Lessors of real estate	8	4.9	0.40×Too few to compare	5	$34,600	108

Rank places for an industry Open Van Buren County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 16,175 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: Fairfield Bay is mostly in Van Buren County.

See federal money in Van Buren 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.

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

House

J. French HillR-AR-2 · 100% of residentsWith party 97%Missed 1.2%

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.

Other cities and towns in Van Buren 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/0522660

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends