City · Searcy County, Arkansas

Marshall, Arkansas

Marshall is a city in Searcy County, Arkansas. It has 1,196 residents. Marshall, Arkansas has a quality-of-life score of 13 out of 100 (very low), ranking #13,601 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Arkansas it ranks #108 of 218 cities and towns. It ranks best on students per teacher (low), property crime rate (low) and reading scores (high). It ranks worst on average weekly wage (low), flu vaccinations (low) and median household income (low).

13Very low

Quality-of-life score: #13,601 of 15,651 cities and towns
Arkansas: #108 of 218 in AR
Population: 1,196 (2020-2024)
Land area: 4 mi²
Density: 293.2 /mi²
FIPS code: 0544300

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 72 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.

Safety23#12,020/15,637
Economy2#15,391/15,631
Housing78#3,317/14,977
Health7#14,454/15,609
Healthcare10#14,056/15,650
Environment55#6,898/15,453
Education56#6,881/15,649
Infrastructure5#14,895/15,650
Community4#15,067/15,651
Leisure & amenities32#10,677/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Marshall, Arkansas ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Searcy 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 · low6.7×
100/100Arkansas 12.5×United States 15.2×2024National Center for Education StatisticsSearcy County value
Property crime rate · low357 /100k
95/100Arkansas 1,645 /100kUnited States 1,535 /100k2025Federal Bureau of InvestigationSearcy County value
Reading scores · high3.35
91/100Arkansas 2.89United States 3.052019University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteSearcy County value
Pharmacies · high2.5 /10k
91/100Arkansas 2.0 /10kUnited States 1.8 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsSearcy County value
Effective property tax rate · low0.46%
90/100Arkansas 0.56%United States 0.94%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25090
Average commute time · low16.8 min
89/100Arkansas 22.5 minUnited States 26.4 min2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B08013

Weaknesses

Average weekly wage · low$713
0/100Arkansas $1,176United States $1,5142025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsSearcy County value
Flu vaccinations · low17.0%
0/100Arkansas 42.0%United States 44.0%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteSearcy County value
Median household income · low$28,021
1/100Arkansas $62,146United States $81,6042020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B19013
Access to exercise opportunities · low20.0%
1/100Arkansas 63.4%United States 84.5%2022 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteSearcy County value
Food environment index · low4.9
1/100Arkansas 4.6United States 7.62019 & 2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteSearcy County value
Broadband subscriptions · low74.9%
2/100Arkansas 86.7%United States 91.0%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B28002

Trends

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

PopulationFalling
1,616 (2015-2019) → 1,196 (2020-2024)
−26%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Child poverty rateWorsening
16.1% (2015-2019) → 41.3% (2020-2024)
+25 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Poverty rateWorsening
18.5% (2015-2019) → 31.8% (2020-2024)
+13 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 12.3% → 12.1%
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
62.0% (2015-2019) → 74.9% (2020-2024)
+13 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
High school diploma or higherImproving
78.1% (2015-2019) → 89.5% (2020-2024)
+11 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 88.0% → 89.6%
Rent-burdened householdsImproving
57.0% (2015-2019) → 46.6% (2020-2024)
−10 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%

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, Marshall, 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+13 points62.0% → 74.9%

Declined1

Inequality+0.1180.414 → 0.532

All 11 measures

Change of every measure of Marshall, Arkansas between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	22.5 min2015-2019	16.8 min2020-2024	−5.6 min	Within the margin of error	92%
Bachelor's degree or higher	10.5%2015-2019	13.8%2020-2024	+3.4 points	Within the margin of error	55%
Broadband subscriptions	62.0%2015-2019	74.9%2020-2024	+13 points	Improved	72%
Effective property tax rate	0.57%2015-2019	0.46%2020-2024	−0.1 points	Within the margin of error	39%
High school diploma or higher	78.1%2015-2019	89.5%2020-2024	+11 points	Within the margin of error	97%
Home price to income ratio	2.6×2015-2019	3.6×2020-2024	+1.0×	Within the margin of error	23%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4142015-2019	0.5322020-2024	+0.118	Declined	3%
Median household income	$34,2862015-2019	$28,0212020-2024	−18%	Within the margin of error	1%
Poverty rate	18.5%2015-2019	31.8%2020-2024	+13 points	Within the margin of error	2%
Rent as share of income	32.5%2015-2019	29.2%2020-2024	−3.3 points	Within the margin of error	76%
Rent-burdened households	57.0%2015-2019	46.6%2020-2024	−10 points	Within the margin of error	83%

“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 Marshall, Arkansas five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Marshall, 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, Marshall, Arkansas itself moved +4.3 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

1,196 residents (±298)

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

474 households (±121)

Marshall, Arkansas
Arkansas share

Under $25k48%†226
$25k–50k26%†121
$50k–75k

Homes

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

Owners and renters

474 households (±121)

Marshall, Arkansas
Arkansas share

Own51%†244
Rent49%†230

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

328 workers (±120)

Marshall, Arkansas
Arkansas share

Drive alone81%†267
Carpool8.5%†28
Public transit

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 Searcy County, the county holding most of Marshall's residents.

Searcy County has 117 employer establishments, 149 for every 10,000 residents (0.60× the US rate of 248; 0.65× Arkansas's), with 1,389 paid employees at an average annual pay of $40,210. The Census Bureau also counts 904 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 117; 904 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 149; US 248 · Arkansas 229
Paid employees: 1,389
Average annual pay: $40,210; US $68,342

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

Ambulatory health care services	12	15.3	0.73×Fewer than typical	138	$67,138	66
Restaurants and other eating places	11	14	0.76×Fewer than typical	141	$15,922	8
Full-service restaurants	6	7.6	1.00×Too few to compare	63	$16,016	6
Offices of other health practitioners	6	7.6	1.26×Too few to compare	10	$13,600	16
Construction of buildings	5	6.4	0.84×Too few to compare	6	$36,500	71
Gasoline stations	5	6.4	1.97×Too few to compare	42	$25,119	—
General merchandise stores	5	6.4	3.61×Too few to compare	28	$23,464	3
Banks and credit unions	4	5.1	1.58×Too few to compare	22	$45,909	—
Limited-service restaurants	4	5.1	0.64×Too few to compare	76	$15,987	—
Outpatient care centers	4	5.1	2.77×Too few to compare	117	$74,231	—
Religious organizations	4	5.1	0.92×Too few to compare	8	$22,500	—
Health and personal care stores	3	3.8	1.44×Too few to compare	12	$67,417	4

Rank places for an industry Open Searcy County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 7,844 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 $235 of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Marshall, Arkansas: $0.20 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $235
Per resident: $0.20; US $1,994
Sole-source: 59%; 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

Rural Housing Service$235100%

Top recipients

TIMOTHY D PADGETT PA$13859%
PIQ NATIONAL SETTLEMENT SERVICES INC$96.9041%

Spending by fiscal year

235.3FY2026

What was bought

Professional services$235100%

Top industries (NAICS)

Legal services · 5411$13859%
Activities related to real estate · 5313$96.9041%

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

Marshall, Arkansas's figures are part of those of Searcy County, AR ($15.3K in FY2026), never added to them: 1.5% of that total.

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

See federal money in Searcy 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.

Marshall, 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.

Searcy County10100% of residents

Other cities and towns in Searcy 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/0544300

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends