Fort Smith composite
49.8 /100
Grade B- · weighted across 7 dims
Metro comparison
Fort Smith vs Little Rock
Fort Smith, AR-OK and Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, AR side by side, cost of living, rent, wages, crime, schools, childcare and environment, all from the same federal datasets so every number is directly comparable.
- 49.8
- Fort Smith Life Score
- B-
- Fort Smith grade
- 43.5
- Little Rock Life Score
- C
- Little Rock grade
Head-to-head verdict
Across the seven dimensions, Fort Smith scores higher on 3 (cost of living, rent, safety) and Little Rock on 3 (wages, schools, environment). The radar shows the full shape; the tables below break out every figure.
Where each metro wins, and by how much
Every dimension is a national percentile (0–100). Each bar leans toward the stronger metro, a long lean is a decisive edge, a near-even split is a toss-up. The radar shows the overall shape; this shows the per-dimension margins.
◖ Fort Smith Little Rock ◗
cost of living
96
78
wages
2
9
rent
98
73
safety
5
4
schools
18
20
childcare
0
0
environment
81
81
Fort Smith and Little Rock differ across eleven dimensions of livability. Fort Smith has a cost-of-living index of 85.9 vs Little Rock's 89.4 (national average = 100). Median salaries are $53,744 in Fort Smith and $57,042 in Little Rock. A 2-bedroom averages $937/mo vs $1,147/mo.
Beyond the headline numbers
Reading the Fort Smith vs Little Rock Comparison
The cost gap above compounds fastest through housing: the difference in HUD's 2-bedroom Fair Market Rent between Fort Smith and Little Rock works out to $2,520 over a year, the largest single line item behind the headline spread.
Adjusted for cost of living rather than compared as nominal dollars, $100,000 earned in Fort Smith carries the same local purchasing power as $104,047 in Little Rock - the more honest read than the salary headline above, because nominal wages and rents move together in tight metros. State-level violent crime, the most reliable geographic tier FBI UCR publishes, is 580.1 per 100,000 residents in AR vs 580.1 in AR, with property-crime rates of 1939.5 and 1939.5 respectively.
Schools are reported at the state tier by NCES: AR lists 1,069 public schools at a 13.4:1 student-teacher ratio, while AR lists 1,069 schools at 13.4:1, a signal of class-size staffing, though individual district and school-level variation within each state is substantial. When these pieces are read together rather than in isolation, Fort Smith and Little Rock are not simply "cheaper" or "more expensive" - they trade across dimensions, and which metro wins depends on whether your household optimizes for rent, wages, schools, childcare, safety, or environment. Treat the tables below as inputs to that trade-off, not as a single ranking.
Little Rock composite
43.5 /100
Grade C · weighted across 7 dims
Environment score gap
1 pts
Little Rock cleaner, national percentile
Safety score gap
1 pts
Fort Smith safer, national percentile
Composite life score on the national 0–100 scale
Fort Smith
Fort Smith composite (Grade B-)
Little Rock
Little Rock composite (Grade C)
Composite is a weighted roll-up of seven dimensions: cost (20%), wages (20%), rent (15%), safety (15%), schools (10%), childcare (10%), environment (10%). Each input normalized to a 0–100 percentile across all metros.
💰 Cost of Living BEA →
| Category | Fort Smith | Little Rock |
|---|---|---|
| Overall RPP | 85.9 | 89.4 |
| Goods | 93.6 | 93.6 |
| Services | 73.8 | 74.6 |
| Rents | 53.4 | 68.3 |
Salary Equivalent Calculator
What salary in Little Rock gives the same purchasing power as your salary in Fort Smith?
$
Equivalent in Little Rock:
$104,047
Based on BEA Regional Price Parities (Fort Smith: 85.9, Little Rock: 89.4, national avg = 100).
🏠 Rent (Fair Market Rent) HUD →
| Bedrooms | Fort Smith | Little Rock |
|---|---|---|
| Studio | $683/mo | $984/mo |
| 1 Bedroom | $714/mo | $989/mo |
| 2 Bedroom | $937/mo | $1,147/mo |
| 3 Bedroom | $1,266/mo | $1,540/mo |
| 4 Bedroom | $1,532/mo | $1,822/mo |
💼 Wages & Employment BLS →
| Metric | Fort Smith | Little Rock |
|---|---|---|
| Avg Median Salary | $53,744 | $57,042 |
| Total Employment | 89,060 | 350,410 |
🛡️ Crime Rates (state-level) FBI →
| Crime Type (per 100K) | Fort Smith (AR) | Little Rock (AR) |
|---|---|---|
| Violent Crime | 580.1 | 580.1 |
| Property Crime | 1939.5 | 1939.5 |
🎓 Schools (state-level) NCES →
| Metric | AR | AR |
|---|---|---|
| Total Schools | 1,069 | 1,069 |
| Student-Teacher Ratio | 13.4:1 | 13.4:1 |
| Charter Schools | 9.7% | 9.7% |
🌿 Environment (state-level) EPA →
| Metric | AR | AR |
|---|---|---|
| EPA Facilities | 428 | 428 |
| Water Systems | 662 | 662 |
| Superfund Sites | 17 | 17 |
| Water Violations | 5,952 | 5,952 |
Government-verified data - Air quality (EPA AQS), water safety (EPA SDWIS), healthcare access (HRSA), and disaster risk (FEMA NRI) are sourced directly from U.S. federal agencies. No crowdsourced estimates.
💨 Air Quality (EPA AQS) EPA AQS →
| Metric | Fort Smith | Little Rock |
|---|---|---|
| Median AQI | 42.0 | 55.0 |
| Good Air Days | 71.9% | 31.2% |
| Unhealthy Air Days | 2 days | 4 days |
💧 Water Safety (EPA SDWIS, state-level) EPA SDWIS →
| Metric | AR | AR |
|---|---|---|
| Water Safety Score | 7/100 | 7/100 |
| Total Violations | 53,437 | 53,437 |
| Health-Based Violations | 21,598 | 21,598 |
| Systems with Violations | 94.5% | 94.5% |
🏥 Healthcare Access (HRSA, state-level) HRSA →
| Metric | AR | AR |
|---|---|---|
| Healthcare Access Score | 89/100 | 89/100 |
| Population in Shortage Area | 11.2% | 11.2% |
| HPSA Designations | 391 | 391 |
HPSA = Health Professional Shortage Area, designated by HRSA. Higher access score = better healthcare availability.
⚠️ Natural Disaster Risk (FEMA NRI, state-level) FEMA NRI →
| Metric | AR | AR |
|---|---|---|
| Disaster Safety Score | 56/100 | 56/100 |
| NRI Risk Score (avg county) | 55.5 | 55.5 |
| Expected Annual Loss Score | 47.4 | 47.4 |
FEMA National Risk Index (NRI) scores are county-level percentiles (0–100). Higher disaster safety score = lower relative risk. State-level values are county averages.
Crime, schools, childcare, and environment data shown at state level. Metro-specific data for these dimensions is not available.
Frequently Asked Questions
Is Fort Smith more expensive than Little Rock? ▼
Fort Smith has a cost of living index of 85.9 compared to Little Rock's 89.4 (national average = 100). Little Rock is 3.5 points above Fort Smith on the BEA Regional Price Parity scale.
What is the rent difference between Fort Smith and Little Rock? ▼
A 2-bedroom apartment averages $937/mo in Fort Smith vs $1,147/mo in Little Rock, based on HUD Fair Market Rent data. Studios range from $683/mo to $984/mo.
How do salaries compare between Fort Smith and Little Rock? ▼
The average median salary across all occupations is $53,744 in Fort Smith and $57,042 in Little Rock, according to BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics. After adjusting for cost of living, $100,000 in Fort Smith has the same purchasing power as $104,047 in Little Rock.
Is Fort Smith or Little Rock safer? ▼
At the state level, AR has a violent crime rate of 580.1 per 100,000 residents compared to AR's 580.1 per 100,000. Property crime rates are 1939.5 vs 1939.5 per 100,000 respectively, based on FBI Uniform Crime Report data.
How do schools compare between Fort Smith and Little Rock? ▼
AR has 1,069 public schools with an average student-teacher ratio of 13.4:1, while AR has 1,069 schools at 13.4:1. Charter schools make up 9.7% of AR schools vs 9.7% in AR. Data from the National Center for Education Statistics.
Where does the comparison data come from? ▼
All data comes from official U.S. government sources: Bureau of Economic Analysis (cost of living), HUD (fair market rents), BLS (wages), FBI UCR (crime), NCES (schools), Department of Labor (childcare), EPA (environment, air quality, water safety), HRSA (healthcare access), and FEMA NRI (disaster risk). No crowdsourced estimates or proprietary ratings are used.
Research Guides
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Data from BEA, HUD, FBI UCR, BLS OES, NCES, DOL, EPA AQS, EPA SDWIS, HRSA, and FEMA NRI. Not affiliated with the U.S. Government.
Disclaimer: This comparison is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute financial, legal, or relocation advice. Consult a qualified professional before making decisions based on this data.
Related
Data sourced from official public datasets, current as of 2026. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainCompare