What salary do you need to live in Little Rock, AR?

The cost side of living in Little Rock

Census figures put the median gross rent in the Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, AR metro at $886 for a one-bedroom, $1,005 for a two-bedroom and $1,249 for a three-bedroom. Moving from one to two bedrooms adds $119 a month, and the third bedroom another $244.

Buying is the other half of the housing picture: owners put the median home in Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, AR at $214,100. That is only 3.2× the area's median household income of $67,154, a low ratio by national standards.

BEA's Regional Price Parity for the metro is 89.4, where 100 is the US average. In plain terms, the full basket of goods, services and housing costs 10.6% less than average, so $100,000 here buys roughly what $111,902 would at average US prices.

Little Rock: the pre-tax income for each grade

With a two-bedroom at the median rent, the score enters Tight at $26,000, Okay at $51,000 and Comfortable at $102,000 a year before tax. At the Comfortable line, a year of rent takes 12% of income and the median home is 2.1× income.

Reaching Royal takes $277,000 — 2.7× the Comfortable line — because the last points come slowly once rent is already a small share.

How they were found: the same scoring function the calculator runs was evaluated at rising incomes until each cutoff was crossed, and the crossing rounded up to a whole $1,000.

Little Rock at four common salaries

On $75,000, a one-bedroom scores 58 and a three-bedroom 53, both Okay; the extra bedrooms cost points but not a grade.

Of the four salaries, $150,000 is the first where a two-bedroom reads Comfortable or better; $100,000 still lands at Okay.

How Little Rock ranks among 387 metros

Ranked against all 387 metros, Little Rock sits 302nd on overall price level and 283rd on the two-bedroom rent median, counting from the most expensive. Its median home value ranks 274th.

For a sense of scale, the metros just above and below it on two-bedroom rent are Gulfport-Biloxi, MS ($1,008) and Homosassa Springs, FL ($1,004).

Little Rock next to Arkansas and similar metros

Compared with Arkansas as a whole, two-bedroom rent in Little Rock is 11% higher ($1,005 vs. $907) and the median home is 14% higher ($214,100 vs. $188,000).

The Arkansas figure for the Comfortable line, using state medians, is $86,000 against $102,000 for Little Rock.

Looking for somewhere comparable without leaving Arkansas? Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, AR, Hot Springs, AR, and Jonesboro, AR have the closest mix of rent and overall prices.

Does the typical Little Rock income clear the bar?

A household at the Little Rock median income of $67,154 would see a two-bedroom score of 53 — Okay — with rent at 18% of income. The Comfortable line is 52% above what the median household makes. For Arkansas as a whole, the median household income of $60,773 scores 55 against statewide rents. Household income can include more than one earner, so a single salary of the same size goes less far.

Estimates use pre-tax income and public data; they are not financial advice.