City · Montgomery County, Arkansas

Mount Ida, Arkansas

Mount Ida is a city in Montgomery County, Arkansas. It has 1,376 residents. Mount Ida, Arkansas has a quality-of-life score of 11 out of 100 (very low), ranking #13,927 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Arkansas it ranks #132 of 218 cities and towns. It ranks best on property crime rate (low), students per teacher (low) and effective property tax rate (low). It ranks worst on average weekly wage (low), distance to an emergency room (high) and traffic deaths (high).

11Very low

Quality-of-life score: #13,927 of 15,651 cities and towns
Arkansas: #132 of 218 in AR
Population: 1,376 (2020-2024)
Land area: 2 mi²
Density: 876.9 /mi²
FIPS code: 0547690

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 71 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.

Safety50#7,824/15,637
Economy3#15,235/15,631
Housing53#7,068/14,977
Health8#14,333/15,609
Healthcare2#15,318/15,650
Environment23#11,941/15,453
Education38#9,698/15,649
Infrastructure17#12,985/15,650
Community31#10,862/15,651
Leisure & amenities30#10,917/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

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

Property crime rate · low56 /100k
100/100Arkansas 1,645 /100kUnited States 1,535 /100k2025Federal Bureau of InvestigationMontgomery County value
Students per teacher · low9.1×
99/100Arkansas 12.5×United States 15.2×2024National Center for Education StatisticsMontgomery County value
Effective property tax rate · low0.37%
95/100Arkansas 0.56%United States 0.94%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25090High uncertainty
Job growth · high2.5%
91/100Arkansas -0.1%United States 0.1%2026 Q1U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsProvisional dataMontgomery County value
Violent crime rate · low84 /100k
90/100Arkansas 532 /100kUnited States 328 /100k2025Federal Bureau of InvestigationMontgomery County value
Access to exercise opportunities · high97.2%
88/100Arkansas 63.4%United States 84.5%2022 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteMontgomery County value

Weaknesses

Average weekly wage · low$726
0/100Arkansas $1,176United States $1,5142025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsMontgomery County value
Distance to an emergency room · high30.9 mi
1/100Arkansas 7.3 miUnited States 5.5 miJul 2026Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesMontgomery County value
Traffic deaths · high44.4 /100k
2/100Arkansas 20.8 /100kUnited States 12.3 /100k2020-2024National Highway Traffic Safety AdministrationProvisional dataMontgomery County value
Food environment index · low5.5
2/100Arkansas 4.6United States 7.62019 & 2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteMontgomery County value
Mammography screening · low31.0%
3/100Arkansas 43.0%United States 46.0%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteMontgomery County value
Mental health providers · low35 /100k
3/100Arkansas 281 /100kUnited States 348 /100k2025University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteMontgomery County value

Trends

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

PopulationRising
1,101 (2015-2019) → 1,376 (2020-2024)
+25%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
Child poverty rateWorsening
21.8% (2015-2019) → 47.3% (2020-2024)
+26 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
64.7% (2015-2019) → 81.8% (2020-2024)
+17 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Poverty rateWorsening
17.5% (2015-2019) → 32.6% (2020-2024)
+15 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 12.3% → 12.1%
Rent-burdened householdsWorsening
52.3% (2015-2019) → 66.8% (2020-2024)
+14 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
High school diploma or higherImproving
73.9% (2015-2019) → 84.7% (2020-2024)
+11 pts5 yearsCensus table B15003US 88.0% → 89.6%

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, Mount Ida, Arkansas improved on 0 of 9 measures with a comparison and declined on 2. 7 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.

Improved0

No measure improved by more than its margin of error.

Declined2

Poverty+15 points17.5% → 32.6%
Inequality+0.1410.403 → 0.545

All 9 measures

Change of every measure of Mount Ida, Arkansas between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	16.7 min2015-2019	22.3 min2020-2024	+5.6 min	Within the margin of error	8%
Bachelor's degree or higher	19.5%2015-2019	12.5%2020-2024	−7 points	Within the margin of error	4%
Broadband subscriptions	64.7%2015-2019	81.8%2020-2024	+17 points	Within the margin of error	85%
High school diploma or higher	73.9%2015-2019	84.7%2020-2024	+11 points	Within the margin of error	96%
Home price to income ratio	2.5×2015-2019	3.8×2020-2024	+1.3×	Within the margin of error	13%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4032015-2019	0.5452020-2024	+0.141	Declined	2%
Median household income	$39,0912015-2019	$37,0452020-2024	−5.2%	Within the margin of error	5%
Poverty rate	17.5%2015-2019	32.6%2020-2024	+15 points	Declined	2%
Rent as share of income	31.3%2015-2019	37.1%2020-2024	+5.8 points	Within the margin of error	19%

“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 Mount Ida, Arkansas five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Mount Ida, 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, Mount Ida, Arkansas itself moved −19.2 points in standing on average over the same 8 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

1,376 residents (±272)

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

632 households (±132)

Mount Ida, Arkansas
Arkansas share

Under $25k34%†212
$25k–50k41%†258
$50k–75k

Homes

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

Owners and renters

632 households (±132)

Mount Ida, Arkansas
Arkansas share

Own56%†354
Rent44%†278

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

361 workers (±112)

Mount Ida, Arkansas
Arkansas share

Drive alone87%†315
Carpool5.8%†21
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 Montgomery County, the county holding most of Mount Ida's residents.

Montgomery County has 134 employer establishments, 156 for every 10,000 residents (0.63× the US rate of 248; 0.68× Arkansas's), with 934 paid employees at an average annual pay of $40,949. The Census Bureau also counts 834 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 134; 834 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 156; US 248 · Arkansas 229
Paid employees: 934
Average annual pay: $40,949; US $68,342

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

Specialty trade contractors	20	23.2	1.50×More than typical	47	$37,234	107
Building equipment contractors	10	11.6	1.93×More than typical	21	$43,857	25
Ambulatory health care services	7	8.1	0.39×Too few to compare	45	$70,556	30
Other specialty trade contractors	7	8.1	3.24×Too few to compare	24	$33,750	31
Religious organizations	7	8.1	1.47×Too few to compare	31	$11,968	—
Restaurants and other eating places	7	8.1	0.44×Too few to compare	45	$21,133	3
Services to buildings and dwellings	7	8.1	1.21×Too few to compare	31	$42,710	66
Construction of buildings	6	7	0.92×Too few to compare	11	$47,455	52
Plumbing, heating and air-conditioning contractors	6	7	2.11×Too few to compare	9	$49,444	15
Lessors of real estate	5	5.8	0.47×Too few to compare	3	$50,667	49
Traveler accommodation	5	5.8	3.22×Too few to compare	131	$24,588	11
Electrical contractors and wiring installation	4	4.6	1.88×Too few to compare	12	$39,667	8

Rank places for an industry Open Montgomery County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 8,607 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: Mount Ida is mostly in Montgomery County.

See federal money in Montgomery 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.

Mount Ida, Arkansas is represented in the 119th Congress by these members.

House

Bruce WestermanR-AR-4 · 100% of residentsWith party 97%Missed 0.4%

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.

Montgomery County11100% of residents

Other cities and towns in Montgomery 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
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/0547690

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends