City · Randolph County, Arkansas

Pocahontas, Arkansas

Pocahontas is a city in Randolph County, Arkansas. It has 7,538 residents. Pocahontas, Arkansas has a quality-of-life score of 6 out of 100 (very low), ranking #14,747 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Arkansas it ranks #186 of 218 cities and towns. It ranks best on students per teacher (low), average commute time (low) and effective property tax rate (low). It ranks worst on drought exposure (high), average weekly wage (low) and reading scores (low).

6Very low

Quality-of-life score: #14,747 of 15,651 cities and towns
Arkansas: #186 of 218 in AR
Population: 7,538 (2020-2024)
Land area: 8 mi²
Density: 979.6 /mi²
FIPS code: 0556540

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.

Safety22#12,240/15,637
Economy7#14,541/15,631
Housing92#1,272/14,977
Health4#15,059/15,609
Healthcare23#12,113/15,650
Environment20#12,322/15,453
Education8#14,360/15,649
Infrastructure17#12,942/15,650
Community1#15,464/15,651
Leisure & amenities7#14,542/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Pocahontas, Arkansas ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Randolph 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 · low9.8×
98/100Arkansas 12.5×United States 15.2×2024National Center for Education StatisticsRandolph County value
Average commute time · low15.8 min
96/100Arkansas 22.5 minUnited States 26.4 min2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B08013
Effective property tax rate · low0.44%
91/100Arkansas 0.56%United States 0.94%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25090
Job growth · high2.3%
90/100Arkansas -0.1%United States 0.1%2026 Q1U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsProvisional dataRandolph County value
Drinking water violations · low0
86/100Arkansas 1United States 02024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteRandolph County value
Rent-burdened households · low47.8%
84/100Arkansas 44.8%United States 51.1%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25070

Weaknesses

Drought exposure · high100%
1/100Arkansas 78%United States 43%Oct 2025–Sep 2026National Drought Mitigation Center (University of Nebraska–Lincoln), USDA and NOAARandolph County value
Average weekly wage · low$803
1/100Arkansas $1,176United States $1,5142025U.S. Bureau of Labor StatisticsRandolph County value
Reading scores · low2.46
1/100Arkansas 2.89United States 3.052019University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteRandolph County value
Broadband subscriptions · low77.0%
2/100Arkansas 86.7%United States 91.0%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B28002
Frequent mental distress · high23.1%
2/100Arkansas 20.7%United States 18.6%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteModel-based estimate
Voter turnout · low47.6%
3/100Arkansas 52.5%United States 65.2%2024U.S. Election Assistance CommissionRandolph County value

Trends

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

PopulationRising
6,528 (2015-2019) → 7,538 (2020-2024)
+15%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
New homes permittedWorsening
4.8 /1k (2021) → 0.8 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
−83%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
70.3% (2015-2019) → 77.0% (2020-2024)
+6.8 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Child poverty rateImproving
30.7% (2015-2019) → 24.8% (2020-2024)
−5.8 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Median household incomeImproving
$34,628 (2015-2019) → $44,216 (2020-2024)
+28%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
Average commute timeImproving
21.5 min (2015-2019) → 15.8 min (2020-2024)
−26%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, Pocahontas, Arkansas improved on 2 of 13 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 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.

Improved2

Commute−5.7 min21.5 min → 15.8 min
Broadband+6.8 points70.3% → 77.0%

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 13 measures

Change of every measure of Pocahontas, Arkansas between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	21.5 min2015-2019	15.8 min2020-2024	−5.7 min	Improved	92%
Bachelor's degree or higher	14.1%2015-2019	11.6%2020-2024	−2.5 points	Within the margin of error	14%
Broadband subscriptions	70.3%2015-2019	77.0%2020-2024	+6.8 points	Improved	42%
Child poverty rate	30.7%2015-2019	24.8%2020-2024	−5.8 points	Within the margin of error	71%
Effective property tax rate	0.42%2015-2019	0.44%2020-2024	+0 points	Within the margin of error	13%
High school diploma or higher	82.9%2015-2019	85.1%2020-2024	+2.3 points	Within the margin of error	62%
Home price to income ratio	2.3×2015-2019	2.7×2020-2024	+0.4×	Within the margin of error	54%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.4842015-2019	0.4922020-2024	+0.008	Within the margin of error	43%
Median household income	$34,6282015-2019	$44,2162020-2024	+28%	Within the margin of error	50%
Poverty rate	23.2%2015-2019	23.8%2020-2024	+0.6 points	Within the margin of error	38%
Rent as share of income	30.7%2015-2019	28.8%2020-2024	−1.9 points	Within the margin of error	68%
Rent-burdened households	52.2%2015-2019	47.8%2020-2024	−4.4 points	Within the margin of error	70%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	8.8%2015-2019	7.7%2020-2024	−1.1 points	Within the margin of error	59%

“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 Pocahontas, Arkansas five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Pocahontas, 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, Pocahontas, Arkansas itself moved +3.2 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

7,538 residents (±18)

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

2,870 households (±224)

Pocahontas, Arkansas
Arkansas share

Under $25k35%1,018
$25k–50k17%†485
$50k–75k17%†482

Homes

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

Owners and renters

2,870 households (±224)

Pocahontas, Arkansas
Arkansas share

Own59%1,682
Rent41%1,188

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

2,911 workers (±294)

Pocahontas, Arkansas
Arkansas share

Drive alone78%2,281
Carpool14%†411
Public transit0.9%†

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 Randolph County, the county holding most of Pocahontas's residents.

Randolph County has 314 employer establishments, 166 for every 10,000 residents (0.67× the US rate of 248; 0.73× Arkansas's), with 4,117 paid employees at an average annual pay of $36,454. The Census Bureau also counts 1,525 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 314; 1,525 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 166; US 248 · Arkansas 229
Paid employees: 4,117
Average annual pay: $36,454; US $68,342

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

Ambulatory health care services	23	12.2	0.58×Fewer than typical	210	$52,400	114
Restaurants and other eating places	23	12.2	0.66×Fewer than typical	304	$16,125	7
Specialty trade contractors	17	9	0.58×Fewer than typical	46	$34,543	184
Truck transportation	14	7.4	1.47×More than typical	50	$47,540	101
Lessors of real estate	12	6.4	0.52×Fewer than typical	24	$26,833	120
Offices of other health practitioners	12	6.4	1.05×About typical	68	$39,294	38
Religious organizations	11	5.8	1.05×About typical	30	$15,933	—
Building equipment contractors	10	5.3	0.88×About typical	17	$38,235	25
Full-service restaurants	10	5.3	0.69×Fewer than typical	105	$16,000	4
Limited-service restaurants	10	5.3	0.66×Fewer than typical	186	$16,677	—
Individual and family services	9	4.8	1.70×Too few to compare	251	$24,566	10
Banks and credit unions	8	4.2	1.31×Too few to compare	67	$52,403	—

Rank places for an industry Open Randolph County

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

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 18,869 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 Pocahontas, Arkansas: $0 per resident (US $1,995).

Obligations: $0
Per resident: $0; US $1,995
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

5.6KFY2017
60.2KFY2018
7.3KFY2019
2.2KFY2020
240.5FY2021
2.3KFY2022
0FY2023
0FY2024

What was bought

Source: Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 6, 2026, loaded Oct 6, 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 Pocahontas, Arkansas, so they do not add up across cities.

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

See federal money in Randolph 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.

Pocahontas, 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.

Randolph County8100% of residents

Other cities and towns in Randolph 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/0556540

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends