Little Rock composite
40.8 /100
Grade C- · weighted across 7 dims
Metro comparison
Little Rock vs Memphis
Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, AR and Memphis, TN-MS-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.
- 40.8
- Little Rock Life Score
- C-
- Little Rock grade
- 47.4
- Memphis Life Score
- C+
- Memphis grade
Head-to-head verdict
Across the seven dimensions, Little Rock scores higher on 3 (cost of living, rent, safety) and Memphis on 4 (wages, schools, childcare, environment). The radar shows the full shape; the tables below break out every figure.
Little Rock vs Memphis across all seven dimensions (each scored 0–100 as a national percentile, bigger area = stronger overall)
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.
◖ Little Rock Memphis ◗
cost of living
78
61
wages
10
46
rent
73
53
safety
4
2
schools
21
52
childcare
0
67
environment
54
58
Little Rock and Memphis differ across eleven dimensions of livability. Little Rock has a cost-of-living index of 89.4 vs Memphis's 92.2 (national average = 100). Median salaries are $57,042 in Little Rock and $65,102 in Memphis. A 2-bedroom averages $1,147/mo vs $1,274/mo.
How to read this matchup
Reading the Little Rock vs Memphis Comparison
Little Rock (AR) and Memphis (TN) are assembled here from the same federal data pipeline, BEA Regional Price Parities, HUD Fair Market Rents, BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics, FBI Uniform Crime Reports, NCES public-school counts, and EPA environmental indicators, so every number on this page is directly comparable. The overall cost index reads 89.4 for Little Rock against 92.2 for Memphis, a 2.8-point gap on a scale where 100 equals the U.S. average. HUD's 2-bedroom Fair Market Rent, the figure used to set housing-choice voucher payment standards, is $1,147/mo in Little Rock and $1,274/mo in Memphis, a $127/mo difference that compounds to $1,524 over a year.
On wages, BLS OES reports a median salary of $57,042 across 350,410 jobs in Little Rock against $65,102 across 597,090 jobs in Memphis. Adjusted through the BEA cost-of-living lens, $100,000 earned in Little Rock carries the same local purchasing power as $103,150 in Memphis - the most honest way to read the salary headline, 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 601.6 in TN, with property-crime rates of 1939.5 and 2057.9 respectively.
Schools are reported at the state tier by NCES: AR lists 1,069 public schools at a 13.6:1 student-teacher ratio, while TN lists 1,844 schools at 15.3:1, 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, Little Rock and Memphis 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.
Memphis composite
47.4 /100
Grade C+ · weighted across 7 dims
Cost-of-living gap
-2.8 pts
Little Rock vs Memphis BEA RPP
2-bed rent delta
$127 /mo
Memphis priced higher
Composite life score on the national 0–100 scale
Little Rock
Little Rock composite (Grade C-)
Memphis
Memphis 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 | Little Rock | Memphis |
|---|---|---|
| Overall RPP | 89.4 | 92.2 |
| Goods | 93.6 | 96.2 |
| Services | 74.6 | 74.1 |
| Rents | 68.3 | 79.8 |
Salary Equivalent Calculator
What salary in Memphis gives the same purchasing power as your salary in Little Rock?
$
Equivalent in Memphis:
$103,150
Based on BEA Regional Price Parities (Little Rock: 89.4, Memphis: 92.2, national avg = 100).
🏠 Rent (Fair Market Rent) HUD →
| Bedrooms | Little Rock | Memphis |
|---|---|---|
| Studio | $984/mo | $1,060/mo |
| 1 Bedroom | $989/mo | $1,154/mo |
| 2 Bedroom | $1,147/mo | $1,274/mo |
| 3 Bedroom | $1,540/mo | $1,683/mo |
| 4 Bedroom | $1,822/mo | $1,959/mo |
💼 Wages & Employment BLS →
| Metric | Little Rock | Memphis |
|---|---|---|
| Avg Median Salary | $57,042 | $65,102 |
| Total Employment | 350,410 | 597,090 |
🛡️ Crime Rates (state-level) FBI →
| Crime Type (per 100K) | Little Rock (AR) | Memphis (TN) |
|---|---|---|
| Violent Crime | 580.1 | 601.6 |
| Property Crime | 1939.5 | 2057.9 |
🎓 Schools (state-level) NCES →
| Metric | AR | TN |
|---|---|---|
| Total Schools | 1,069 | 1,844 |
| Student-Teacher Ratio | 13.6:1 | 15.3:1 |
| Charter Schools | 9.6% | 6.2% |
🌿 Environment (state-level) EPA →
| Metric | AR | TN |
|---|---|---|
| EPA Facilities | 428 | 740 |
| Water Systems | 667 | 453 |
| Superfund Sites | 17 | 26 |
| Water Violations | 5,811 | 1,091 |
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 | Little Rock | Memphis |
|---|---|---|
| Median AQI | 55.0 | 56.0 |
| Good Air Days | 32.2% | 32.2% |
| Unhealthy Air Days | 6 days | 11 days |
💧 Water Safety (EPA SDWIS, state-level) EPA SDWIS →
| Metric | AR | TN |
|---|---|---|
| Water Safety Score | 7/100 | 8/100 |
| Total Violations | 53,437 | 43,318 |
| Health-Based Violations | 21,598 | 9,414 |
| Systems with Violations | 94.5% | 94.0% |
🏥 Healthcare Access (HRSA, state-level) HRSA →
| Metric | AR | TN |
|---|---|---|
| Healthcare Access Score | 1/100 | 0/100 |
| Population in Shortage Area | 98.6% | 100.0% |
| HPSA Designations | 351 | 380 |
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 | TN |
|---|---|---|
| Disaster Safety Score | 56/100 | 60/100 |
| NRI Risk Score (avg county) | 55.5 | 52.5 |
| Expected Annual Loss Score | 47.4 | 49.3 |
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 Little Rock more expensive than Memphis? ▼
Little Rock has a cost of living index of 89.4 compared to Memphis's 92.2 (national average = 100). Memphis is 2.8 points above Little Rock on the BEA Regional Price Parity scale.
What is the rent difference between Little Rock and Memphis? ▼
A 2-bedroom apartment averages $1,147/mo in Little Rock vs $1,274/mo in Memphis, based on HUD Fair Market Rent data. Studios range from $984/mo to $1,060/mo.
How do salaries compare between Little Rock and Memphis? ▼
The average median salary across all occupations is $57,042 in Little Rock and $65,102 in Memphis, according to BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics. After adjusting for cost of living, $100,000 in Little Rock has the same purchasing power as $103,150 in Memphis.
Is Little Rock or Memphis safer? ▼
At the state level, AR has a violent crime rate of 580.1 per 100,000 residents compared to TN's 601.6 per 100,000. Property crime rates are 1939.5 vs 2057.9 per 100,000 respectively, based on FBI Uniform Crime Report data.
How do schools compare between Little Rock and Memphis? ▼
AR has 1,069 public schools with an average student-teacher ratio of 13.6:1, while TN has 1,844 schools at 15.3:1. Charter schools make up 9.6% of AR schools vs 6.2% in TN. 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
Explore more
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 Editorial