City · Izard County, Arkansas

Melbourne, Arkansas

Melbourne is a city in Izard County, Arkansas. It has 2,263 residents. Melbourne, Arkansas has a quality-of-life score of 20 out of 100 (low), ranking #12,520 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Arkansas it ranks #67 of 218 cities and towns. It ranks best on pharmacies (high), students per teacher (low) and property crime rate (low). It ranks worst on dental care shortage (high), average weekly wage (low) and frequent mental distress (high).

20Low

Quality-of-life score: #12,520 of 15,651 cities and towns
Arkansas: #67 of 218 in AR
Population: 2,263 (2020-2024)
Land area: 7 mi²
Density: 325.6 /mi²
FIPS code: 0545080

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 73 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.

Safety60#6,226/15,637
Economy7#14,495/15,631
Housing81#2,778/14,977
Health7#14,512/15,609
Healthcare6#14,738/15,650
Environment40#9,296/15,453
Education36#10,007/15,649
Infrastructure18#12,771/15,650
Community16#13,097/15,651
Leisure & amenities57#6,682/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

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

Pharmacies · high4.9 /10k
100/100Arkansas 2.0 /10kUnited States 1.8 /10k2025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsIzard County value
Students per teacher · low9.8×
99/100Arkansas 12.5×United States 15.2×2024National Center for Education StatisticsIzard County value
Property crime rate · low207 /100k
99/100Arkansas 1,645 /100kUnited States 1,535 /100k2025Federal Bureau of InvestigationIzard County value
Rent-burdened households · low26.0%
99/100Arkansas 44.8%United States 51.1%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25070
Homicide rate · low0.0 /100k
94/100Arkansas 7.0 /100kUnited States 4.8 /100kMay 2025–Apr 2026Centers for Disease Control and PreventionProvisional dataIzard County value
Public libraries · high2.1 /10k
92/100Arkansas 0.7 /10kUnited States 0.5 /10k2024Institute of Museum and Library ServicesIzard County value

Weaknesses

Dental care shortage · high20.0
1/100Arkansas 13.7United States 5.7Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationIzard County value
Average weekly wage · low$854
3/100Arkansas $1,176United States $1,5142025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsIzard County value
Frequent mental distress · high22.6%
3/100Arkansas 20.7%United States 18.6%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteModel-based estimate
Public EV charging ports · low0.0 /10k
3/100Arkansas 3.6 /10kUnited States 7.6 /10kOct 2026U.S. Department of EnergyIzard County value
Drought exposure · high95%
4/100Arkansas 78%United States 43%Oct 2025–Sep 2026National Drought Mitigation Center (University of Nebraska–Lincoln), USDA and NOAAIzard County value
Firearm deaths · high26.6 /100k
4/100Arkansas 18.5 /100kUnited States 12.1 /100k2023Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimateIzard County value

Trends

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

PopulationRising
2,002 (2015-2019) → 2,263 (2020-2024)
+13%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
49.6% (2015-2019) → 89.7% (2020-2024)
+40 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Home price to income ratioWorsening
1.8× (2015-2019) → 4.4× (2020-2024)
+137%5 yearsCensus table B25077US 3.5× → 4.1×
New homes permittedWorsening
0.5 /1k (2021) → 0.0 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
−100%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Child poverty rateWorsening
27.1% (2015-2019) → 44.2% (2020-2024)
+17 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Average commute timeWorsening
13.9 min (2015-2019) → 24.5 min (2020-2024)
+76%5 yearsCensus table B08013US 26.9 min → 26.4 min

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, Melbourne, Arkansas improved on 1 of 13 measures with a comparison and declined on 1. 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+40 points49.6% → 89.7%

Declined1

Price / income+2.5×1.8× → 4.4×

All 13 measures

Change of every measure of Melbourne, Arkansas between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	13.9 min2015-2019	24.5 min2020-2024	+10.6 min	Within the margin of error	2%
Bachelor's degree or higher	20.3%2015-2019	13.4%2020-2024	−6.9 points	Within the margin of error	4%
Broadband subscriptions	49.6%2015-2019	89.7%2020-2024	+40 points	Improved	100%
Child poverty rate	27.1%2015-2019	44.2%2020-2024	+17 points	Within the margin of error	6%
Effective property tax rate	0.64%2015-2019	0.51%2020-2024	−0.1 points	Within the margin of error	43%
High school diploma or higher	84.1%2015-2019	85.3%2020-2024	+1.2 points	Within the margin of error	48%
Home price to income ratio	1.8×2015-2019	4.4×2020-2024	+2.5×	Declined	2%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4402015-2019	0.4382020-2024	−0.002	Within the margin of error	52%
Median household income	$43,0452015-2019	$39,4692020-2024	−8.3%	Within the margin of error	3%
Poverty rate	21.9%2015-2019	30.8%2020-2024	+8.8 points	Within the margin of error	5%
Public transit commuters	0.0%2015-2019	0.0%2020-2024	0 points	Within the margin of error	60%
Rent as share of income	24.7%2015-2019	26.2%2020-2024	+1.5 points	Within the margin of error	43%
Rent-burdened households	35.1%2015-2019	26.0%2020-2024	−9.1 points	Within the margin of error	81%

“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 Melbourne, Arkansas five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Melbourne, 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, Melbourne, Arkansas itself moved −11.2 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

2,263 residents (±416)

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

807 households (±171)

Melbourne, Arkansas
Arkansas share

Under $25k33%†264
$25k–50k26%†207
$50k–75k

Homes

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

Owners and renters

807 households (±171)

Melbourne, Arkansas
Arkansas share

Own55%443
Rent45%†364

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

822 workers (±230)

Melbourne, Arkansas
Arkansas share

Drive alone82%673
Carpool12%†96
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 Izard County, the county holding most of Melbourne's residents.

Izard County has 213 employer establishments, 150 for every 10,000 residents (0.60× the US rate of 248; 0.65× Arkansas's), with 1,773 paid employees at an average annual pay of $38,965. The Census Bureau also counts 934 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 213; 934 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 150; US 248 · Arkansas 229
Paid employees: 1,773
Average annual pay: $38,965; US $68,342

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

Ambulatory health care services	19	13.4	0.64×Fewer than typical	99	$55,545	67
Religious organizations	14	9.9	1.78×More than typical	22	$16,636	—
Specialty trade contractors	14	9.9	0.64×Fewer than typical	84	$50,286	95
Restaurants and other eating places	11	7.8	0.42×Fewer than typical	94	$19,500	3
Banks and credit unions	9	6.3	1.96×Too few to compare	67	$62,403	—
Lessors of real estate	9	6.3	0.51×Too few to compare	45	$25,333	77
Insurance agencies and brokerages	8	5.6	1.28×Too few to compare	20	$26,000	13
Building material and supplies dealers (hardware, home centers)	6	4.2	2.56×Too few to compare	65	$35,692	—
Full-service restaurants	6	4.2	0.55×Too few to compare	38	$18,763	—
Gasoline stations	6	4.2	1.30×Too few to compare	59	$19,593	—
Automotive repair and maintenance	5	3.5	0.70×Too few to compare	19	$35,053	23
Building equipment contractors	5	3.5	0.59×Too few to compare	13	$35,923	14

Rank places for an industry Open Izard County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 14,189 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 $0 of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Melbourne, Arkansas: $0 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $0
Per resident: $0; US $1,994
Sole-source: —; US 30%
Single offer: —; 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

Top recipients

Spending by fiscal year

0FY2017
824FY2024

What was bought

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

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

See federal money in Izard 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.

Melbourne, 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.

Izard County22100% of residents

Other cities and towns in Izard 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/0545080

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends