City · Boone County, Arkansas

Harrison, Arkansas

Harrison is a city in Boone County, Arkansas, part of the Harrison, AR metro area. It has 13,350 residents. Harrison, Arkansas has a quality-of-life score of 30 out of 100 (low), ranking #10,906 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Arkansas it ranks #44 of 218 cities and towns. It ranks best on students per teacher (low), average commute time (low) and homicide rate (low). It ranks worst on public EV charging ports (low), access to exercise opportunities (low) and median household income (low).

30Low

Quality-of-life score: #10,906 of 15,651 cities and towns
Arkansas: #44 of 218 in AR
Population: 13,350 (2020-2024)
Land area: 11 mi²
Density: 1,196.9 /mi²
FIPS code: 0530460

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.

Safety52#7,582/15,637
Economy17#12,922/15,631
Housing81#2,873/14,977
Health14#13,404/15,609
Healthcare18#12,758/15,650
Environment56#6,788/15,453
Education56#6,818/15,649
Infrastructure40#9,393/15,650
Community9#14,301/15,651
Leisure & amenities49#7,997/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Harrison, Arkansas ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Boone 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 · low9.2×
99/100Arkansas 12.5×United States 15.2×2024National Center for Education StatisticsBoone County value
Average commute time · low15.9 min
96/100Arkansas 22.5 minUnited States 26.4 min2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B08013
Homicide rate · low0.0 /100k
94/100Arkansas 7.0 /100kUnited States 4.8 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataBoone County value
Effective property tax rate · low0.49%
88/100Arkansas 0.56%United States 0.94%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25090
New homes permitted · high8.1 /1k
85/100Arkansas 4.7 /1kUnited States 4.2 /1kSep 2025–Aug 2026U.S. Census BureauProvisional data
Reading scores · high3.25
83/100Arkansas 2.89United States 3.052019University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteBoone County value

Weaknesses

Public EV charging ports · low0.3 /10k
7/100Arkansas 3.6 /10kUnited States 7.6 /10kOct 2026U.S. Department of EnergyBoone County value
Access to exercise opportunities · low45.1%
8/100Arkansas 63.4%United States 84.5%2022 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteBoone County value
Median household income · low$44,056
8/100Arkansas $62,146United States $81,6042020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B19013
Distance to an Amtrak station · high114 mi
8/100Arkansas 60 miUnited States 43 mi2026Federal Aviation Administration · Bureau of Transportation Statistics · U.S. Census BureauBoone County value
Hospital quality rating · low2.0
9/100Arkansas 2.8United States 3.2Jul 2026Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesBoone County value
Job growth · low-2.5%
9/100Arkansas -0.1%United States 0.1%2026 Q1U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsProvisional dataBoone County value

Trends

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

New homes permittedImproving
1.1 /1k (2021) → 8.1 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
+656%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Child poverty rateImproving
38.4% (2015-2019) → 13.4% (2020-2024)
−25 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Rent-burdened householdsWorsening
42.6% (2015-2019) → 51.2% (2020-2024)
+8.6 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Poverty rateImproving
22.8% (2015-2019) → 14.9% (2020-2024)
−7.9 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 12.3% → 12.1%
Home price to income ratioWorsening
2.9× (2015-2019) → 3.8× (2020-2024)
+31%5 yearsCensus table B25077US 3.5× → 4.1×
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
84.6% (2015-2019) → 89.3% (2020-2024)
+4.7 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%

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, Harrison, Arkansas improved on 3 of 14 measures with a comparison and declined on 1. 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.

Improved3

Child poverty−25 points38.4% → 13.4%
Poverty−7.9 points22.8% → 14.9%
Broadband+4.7 points84.6% → 89.3%

Declined1

Price / income+0.9×2.9× → 3.8×

All 14 measures

Change of every measure of Harrison, Arkansas between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	16.5 min2015-2019	15.9 min2020-2024	−0.7 min	Within the margin of error	56%
Bachelor's degree or higher	18.6%2015-2019	15.4%2020-2024	−3.1 points	Within the margin of error	12%
Broadband subscriptions	84.6%2015-2019	89.3%2020-2024	+4.7 points	Improved	30%
Child poverty rate	38.4%2015-2019	13.4%2020-2024	−25 points	Improved	96%
Effective property tax rate	0.69%2015-2019	0.49%2020-2024	−0.2 points	Little change	57%
High school diploma or higher	87.6%2015-2019	91.3%2020-2024	+3.8 points	Within the margin of error	74%
Home price to income ratio	2.9×2015-2019	3.8×2020-2024	+0.9×	Declined	25%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4472015-2019	0.4382020-2024	−0.009	Within the margin of error	59%
Median household income	$40,2712015-2019	$44,0562020-2024	+9.4%	Within the margin of error	16%
Poverty rate	22.8%2015-2019	14.9%2020-2024	−7.9 points	Improved	89%
Rent as share of income	27.6%2015-2019	30.4%2020-2024	+2.8 points	Within the margin of error	34%
Rent-burdened households	42.6%2015-2019	51.2%2020-2024	+8.6 points	Within the margin of error	27%
Unemployment rate	6.2%2015-2019	3.7%2020-2024	−2.4 points	Within the margin of error	86%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	9.2%2015-2019	11.2%2020-2024	+2 points	Within the margin of error	25%

“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 Harrison, Arkansas five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Harrison, 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, Harrison, Arkansas itself moved −7.1 points in standing on average over the same 10 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

13,350 residents (±23)

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

5,900 households (±338)

Harrison, Arkansas
Arkansas share

Under $25k26%1,542
$25k–50k31%1,824
$50k–75k17%988

Homes

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

Owners and renters

5,900 households (±338)

Harrison, Arkansas
Arkansas share

Own55%3,232
Rent45%2,668

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

Table view

Getting to work

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

How people get to work

5,420 workers (±499)

Harrison, Arkansas
Arkansas share

Drive alone78%4,222
Carpool11%†623
Public transit0.2%†

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 Harrison, 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 Boone County, the county holding most of Harrison's residents.

Boone County has 916 employer establishments, 238 for every 10,000 residents (0.96× the US rate of 248; 1.04× Arkansas's), with 12,566 paid employees at an average annual pay of $45,476. The Census Bureau also counts 3,524 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 916; 3,524 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 238; US 248 · Arkansas 229
Paid employees: 12,566
Average annual pay: $45,476; US $68,342

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

Ambulatory health care services	115	29.9	1.43×More than typical	1,309	$63,315	164
Restaurants and other eating places	62	16.1	0.88×About typical	1,146	$20,007	9
Specialty trade contractors	53	13.8	0.89×About typical	453	$56,313	431
Religious organizations	43	11.2	2.01×More than typical	203	$26,374	—
Offices of other health practitioners	38	9.9	1.63×More than typical	183	$52,000	60
Offices of physicians	38	9.9	1.53×More than typical	644	$66,301	23
Lessors of real estate	36	9.4	0.76×Fewer than typical	107	$24,738	245
Full-service restaurants	27	7	0.91×About typical	448	$22,962	4
Services to buildings and dwellings	26	6.8	1.00×About typical	307	$45,541	272
Truck transportation	26	6.8	1.34×More than typical	334	$51,572	124
Automotive repair and maintenance	25	6.5	1.29×More than typical	127	$46,165	86
Limited-service restaurants	24	6.2	0.78×Fewer than typical	615	$18,166	—

Rank places for an industry Open Boone County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 38,480 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

In FY2026, an estimated $39.6K of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Harrison, Arkansas: $2.96 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $39.6K; +25% vs FY2025
Per resident: $2.96; US $1,994
Sole-source: 51%; US 30%
Single offer: 2.3%; US 8.8%

A signal is a reason to look closer, not evidence of wrongdoing: most sole-source awards are lawful and justified.

Top buying agencies

Federal Bureau of Investigation$18.4K47%
Defense Logistics Agency$11K28%
National Park Service$9,97225%
Federal Communications Commission$1740.4%
Department of the Army$52.760.1%

Top recipients

FEDERAL EXPRESS CORPORATION$18.4K47%
GFI INC$11K28%
WASTE CONNECTIONS OF ARKANSAS, INC.$2,5736.5%
AMERICAN CLASSIC CONSTRUCTION INC.$2,5536.5%
MCM TREE SERVICES, LLC$1,8524.7%

Spending by fiscal year

50.1KFY2017
51.7KFY2018
48.2KFY2019
14.8KFY2020
31.8KFY2021
10.9KFY2022
18KFY2023
48.8KFY2024

Top industries (NAICS)

Couriers and express delivery services · 4921$18.4K47%
Other fabricated metal product manufacturing · 3329$10.2K26%
Waste collection · 5621$2,5736.5%
Other wood product manufacturing · 3219$2,5536.5%
Building equipment contractors · 2382$2,2945.8%
Remediation and other waste management services · 5629$1,719

Source: Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 3, 2026, loaded Oct 3, 2026.

How this is estimated

Agencies report each contract action's place of performance as a county and a ZIP code. A ZIP code's money is split among the cities it covers by the share of its land inside each (Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation areas); the part outside city limits stays with the county.

The place of performance is what the contracting agency reports, often the contractor's office rather than where the work happens.
Shares are of land, not of people or businesses: a ZIP code that is mostly rural land but has its offices in town gives the town less than it should.
ZIP codes that are not mapped areas (post office boxes, the unique ZIP codes of large federal sites and companies) stay with their county, unless one city covers nearly all of it.
Counts of actions and awards include those only partly in Harrison, Arkansas, so they do not add up across cities.

Harrison, Arkansas's figures are part of those of Boone County, AR ($1.2M in FY2026), never added to them: 3.4% of that total.

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

See federal money in Boone 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.

Harrison, 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.

Boone County42100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Harrison, AR33

Other cities and towns in Boone 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/0530460

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends