City · Crittenden County, Arkansas

Marion, Arkansas

Marion is a city in Crittenden County, Arkansas, part of the Memphis, TN-MS-AR metro area. It has 13,623 residents. Marion, Arkansas has a quality-of-life score of 22 out of 100 (low), ranking #12,194 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Arkansas it ranks #60 of 218 cities and towns. It ranks best on rent-burdened households (low), rent as share of income (low) and public libraries (high). It ranks worst on violent crime rate (high), reading scores (low) and voter turnout (low).

22Low

Quality-of-life score: #12,194 of 15,651 cities and towns
Arkansas: #60 of 218 in AR
Population: 13,623 (2020-2024)
Land area: 20 mi²
Density: 672.0 /mi²
FIPS code: 0544180

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 75 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.

Safety0#15,581/15,637
Economy39#9,544/15,631
Housing98#357/14,977
Health20#12,498/15,609
Healthcare30#10,970/15,650
Environment8#14,264/15,453
Education16#13,097/15,649
Infrastructure77#3,663/15,650
Community15#13,339/15,651
Leisure & amenities34#10,352/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Marion, Arkansas ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Crittenden 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

Rent-burdened households · low34.9%
97/100Arkansas 44.8%United States 51.1%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25070
Rent as share of income · low25.7%
93/100Arkansas 27.6%United States 30.6%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25071
Public libraries · high1.7 /10k
89/100Arkansas 0.7 /10kUnited States 0.5 /10k2024Institute of Museum and Library ServicesCrittenden County value
Broadband subscriptions · high94.4%
78/100Arkansas 86.7%United States 91.0%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B28002
Average commute time · low22.3 min
76/100Arkansas 22.5 minUnited States 26.4 min2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B08013
Time spent in the emergency room · low139 min
75/100Arkansas 165 minUnited States 170 minOct 2024–Sep 2025Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesCrittenden County value

Weaknesses

Violent crime rate · high1,393 /100k
0/100Arkansas 532 /100kUnited States 328 /100k2025Federal Bureau of InvestigationCrittenden County value
Reading scores · low2.40
1/100Arkansas 2.89United States 3.052019University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteCrittenden County value
Voter turnout · low43.6%
1/100Arkansas 52.5%United States 65.2%2024U.S. Election Assistance CommissionCrittenden County value
Premature death · high17,878 /100k
2/100Arkansas 11,156 /100kUnited States 8,123 /100k2021-2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteCrittenden County value
Life expectancy · low68.9 yrs
2/100Arkansas 74.0 yrsUnited States 77.6 yrs2021-2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteCrittenden County value
Firearm deaths · high31.8 /100k
2/100Arkansas 18.5 /100kUnited States 12.1 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataCrittenden County value

Trends

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

PopulationRising
12,404 (2015-2019) → 13,623 (2020-2024)
+9.8%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Home price to income ratioWorsening
2.1× (2015-2019) → 2.7× (2020-2024)
+29%5 yearsCensus table B25077US 3.5× → 4.1×
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
89.2% (2015-2019) → 94.4% (2020-2024)
+5.2 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Income inequality (Gini index)Worsening
0.368 (2015-2019) → 0.427 (2020-2024)
+16%5 yearsCensus table B19083US 0.482 → 0.483
Child poverty rateImproving
11.5% (2015-2019) → 8.3% (2020-2024)
−3.2 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Bachelor's degree or higherWorsening
27.4% (2015-2019) → 24.7% (2020-2024)
−2.6 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 32.1% → 35.7%

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, Marion, Arkansas improved on 1 of 14 measures with a comparison and declined on 2. 11 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+5.2 points89.2% → 94.4%

Declined2

Inequality+0.0590.368 → 0.427
Price / income+0.6×2.1× → 2.7×

All 14 measures

Change of every measure of Marion, Arkansas between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	21.1 min2015-2019	22.3 min2020-2024	+1.2 min	Within the margin of error	34%
Bachelor's degree or higher	27.4%2015-2019	24.7%2020-2024	−2.6 points	Within the margin of error	14%
Broadband subscriptions	89.2%2015-2019	94.4%2020-2024	+5.2 points	Improved	33%
Child poverty rate	11.5%2015-2019	8.3%2020-2024	−3.2 points	Within the margin of error	61%
Effective property tax rate	0.74%2015-2019	0.77%2020-2024	+0 points	Within the margin of error	12%
High school diploma or higher	90.6%2015-2019	91.8%2020-2024	+1.2 points	Within the margin of error	49%
Home price to income ratio	2.1×2015-2019	2.7×2020-2024	+0.6×	Declined	41%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.3682015-2019	0.4272020-2024	+0.059	Declined	13%
Median household income	$73,4592015-2019	$78,3302020-2024	+6.6%	Within the margin of error	13%
Poverty rate	8.7%2015-2019	8.6%2020-2024	−0 points	Within the margin of error	44%
Rent as share of income	24.7%2015-2019	25.7%2020-2024	+1 points	Within the margin of error	47%
Rent-burdened households	35.9%2015-2019	34.9%2020-2024	−1 points	Within the margin of error	60%
Unemployment rate	6.8%2015-2019	4.7%2020-2024	−2.1 points	Within the margin of error	83%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	7.4%2015-2019	7.6%2020-2024	+0.2 points	Within the margin of error	43%

“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 Marion, Arkansas five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Marion, 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, Marion, Arkansas itself moved −10.7 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

13,623 residents (±43)

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

5,149 households (±282)

Marion, Arkansas
Arkansas share

Under $25k11%†568
$25k–50k19%953
$50k–75k19%978

Homes

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

Owners and renters

5,149 households (±282)

Marion, Arkansas
Arkansas share

Own72%3,686
Rent28%1,463

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

6,797 workers (±376)

Marion, Arkansas
Arkansas share

Drive alone79%5,339
Carpool14%922
Public transit0.0%0

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 Memphis, TN-MS-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 Crittenden County, the county holding most of Marion's residents.

Crittenden County has 844 employer establishments, 179 for every 10,000 residents (0.72× the US rate of 248; 0.78× Arkansas's), with 14,122 paid employees at an average annual pay of $43,628. The Census Bureau also counts 4,566 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 844; 4,566 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 179; US 248 · Arkansas 229
Paid employees: 14,122
Average annual pay: $43,628; US $68,342

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

Ambulatory health care services	76	16.1	0.77×Fewer than typical	786	$56,327	430
Restaurants and other eating places	64	13.6	0.74×Fewer than typical	1,079	$20,370	29
Truck transportation	57	12.1	2.39×More than typical	1,410	$65,445	228
Limited-service restaurants	36	7.6	0.95×About typical	705	$18,743	8
Lessors of real estate	34	7.2	0.58×Fewer than typical	94	$52,947	267
Religious organizations	34	7.2	1.30×More than typical	209	$20,211	—
Traveler accommodation	34	7.2	3.99×More than typical	378	$17,508	14
Gasoline stations	31	6.6	2.03×More than typical	418	$30,414	3
Automotive repair and maintenance	25	5.3	1.05×About typical	172	$39,331	112
Individual and family services	24	5.1	1.82×More than typical	278	$25,691	28
Full-service restaurants	22	4.7	0.61×Fewer than typical	349	$22,905	13
Banks and credit unions	20	4.2	1.31×More than typical	156	$68,462	—

Rank places for an industry Open Crittenden County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 47,182 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 $16K of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Marion, Arkansas: $1.18 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $16K; −91% vs FY2025
Per resident: $1.18; US $1,994
Sole-source: 56%; US 30%
Single offer: 0.0%; 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

Department of State$9,03256%
Department of the Army$7,20045%

Top recipients

Spending by fiscal year

16.9KFY2017
7.6KFY2018
96.3KFY2019
43.7KFY2020
23.4KFY2021
238.2KFY2022
56.4KFY2023
486KFY2024

Top industries (NAICS)

Other chemical product and preparation manufacturing · 3259$9,03256%
Other heavy and civil engineering construction · 2379$4,68129%
Architectural, engineering, and related services · 5413$2,51916%

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 Marion, Arkansas, so they do not add up across cities.

Marion, Arkansas's figures are part of those of Crittenden County, AR ($936.6K in FY2026), never added to them: 1.7% of that total.

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

See federal money in Crittenden 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.

Marion, 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.

Crittenden County10100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Memphis, TN-MS-AR15

Other cities and towns in Crittenden 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/0544180

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends