Metro Life Score

Jonesboro, AR

Compiled byPlainCompare Editorial, PlainCompare Editorial Team · Updated May 16, 2026

45.1
Life Score / 100: C
Grade (curved): #270
of 387 metros: 30%
of metros outranked

Data updated May 2026

Verify: BEA · BLS · HUD · FBI · NCES · EPA · Census

The verdict

Jonesboro ranks #270 of 387 US metros, ahead of 30% - carried by its cost of living (96/100) and held back most by wages (4/100).

96
strongest: Cost of Living: 90
then: Rent: 4
weakest: Wages: 7
weighted dimensions

Where Jonesboro sits among all US metros

Composite Life Score vs the national field

45 30th percentile higher than 30% of 387 US metros

Each bar is a band; taller bars hold more US metros. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.

Source PlainCompare composite of BEA, BLS, HUD, FBI, NCES, DOL, EPA data · May 2026

How the score is built

Reading the Jonesboro Life Score

Jonesboro's composite score of 45.1 out of 100, a grade of C, places the metro at rank #270 of 387, ahead of 30% of US metros. The strongest inputs are Cost of Living (96/100) and Rent (90/100), which pull the composite upward, while Wages (4/100) and Safety (4/100) drag it downward. (How the weighting works.)

BEA RPP 85.9 (rent-RPP 53.8). BLS median salary $55,412, 55,350 jobs (Registered Nurses, Retail Salespersons, Fast Food and Counter Workers). HUD 2BR FMR $1,040/mo (studio $805).

FBI UCR (AR): 580 violent, 1940 property/100K. NCES: 13.6:1 ratio, 9.6% charter. EPA: 17 Superfund sites (AR). Ranks #267-#273 below.

Dimension detail

How Jonesboro scores, dimension by dimension

Score Breakdown

Dimension Scores

Cost of Living 96/100 (20%)

Wages 4/100 (20%)

Rent 90/100 (15%)

Safety 4/100 (15%)

Schools 20/100 (10%)

Childcare -/100 (10%)

Environment 45/100 (10%)

Key Data Points

85.9

Cost Index (RPP)

$55,412

Avg Median Salary

$1,040

2BR Fair Market Rent

580

Violent Crime/100K (AR)

13.6:1

Student-Teacher Ratio

Superfund Sites (AR)

55,350

Total Employment

Crime, schools, childcare, and environment data shown at state level where metro-specific data is unavailable.

Compare Jonesboro With...

Jonesboro vs Texarkana Compare → Jonesboro vs Memphis Compare → Jonesboro vs Fort Smith Compare → Jonesboro vs Wildwood Compare → Jonesboro vs Waterloo Compare → Jonesboro vs Paducah Compare →

Ranking Context

Jonesboro outranks 30% of U.S. metros.

Rank	Metro	Score	Grade
#267	Visalia, CA	45.2	C
#268	Philadelphia-Camden-Wilmington, PA-NJ-DE-MD	45.4	C
#269	Las Vegas-Henderson-North Las Vegas, NV	45.4	C
#270	Jonesboro, AR	45.1	C
#271	Pittsfield, MA	45.0	C
#272	Springfield, MA	44.8	C
#273	Athens-Clarke County, GA	44.6	C

AR Metro Scores

Texarkana, TX-AR A- 60.7 Memphis, TN-MS-AR C+ 47.4 Fort Smith, AR-OK C 44.4 Hot Springs, AR C 43.1 Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, AR C- 40.8 Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, AR D 35.7

Using Jonesboro's Life Score

Jonesboro is a regional baseline, not a neighborhood reading, use it to shortlist, then dig into the dimensions that matter to you.

Its strongest dimension is cost of living (96/100) and its weakest is wages (4/100) - weigh those against your own priorities. How the score is built
Put Jonesboro head-to-head against another metro before you decide, every dimension, side by side. Compare metros
See where Jonesboro lands on the national rankings for cost, safety, pay and more. Browse rankings

Scores summarize federal data at the metro level; crime, schools and cost vary widely within a single metro.

Explore more

Frequently Asked Questions

What are Jonesboro's biggest strengths? ▼

Jonesboro's strongest dimensions are Cost of Living (96/100), Rent (90/100), Environment (45/100). Cost of Living is top-tier nationally.

What are Jonesboro's weakest areas? ▼

Jonesboro's lowest-scoring dimensions are Wages (4/100), Safety (4/100), Schools (20/100). Wages weighs heavily on the composite.

How expensive is Jonesboro compared to the national average? ▼

Jonesboro's Regional Price Parity is 85.9 (14.1% less than national); rent RPP 53.8.

What is the average salary in Jonesboro? ▼

Jonesboro median salary: $55,412, 55,350 jobs. Top: Registered Nurses, Retail Salespersons, Fast Food and Counter Workers.

How is the life score calculated? ▼

Jonesboro's 45.1/100 blends 7 federal-data dimensions - see our methodology page for the weighting.

Research Guides

Data from BEA, HUD, FBI UCR, BLS OES, NCES, DOL, and EPA. Not affiliated with the U.S. Government.

Data sourced from official public datasets. See our methodology for details. Retrieved and formatted by PlainCompare Editorial

Read our methodology - how this data is sourced, computed, and verified.

All federal data sources used on this page

U.S. Census Bureau ACS - multi-dimension demographic + housing + income aggregates for cross-area comparison. census.gov/programs-surveys/acs
BEA Regional Economic Accounts - GDP, personal income, employment by state and metro. bea.gov/data/regional
BLS Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics (OEWS) - wage estimates for comparable-area indexing. bls.gov/oes
FBI Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR) - crime statistics for safety-score component. fbi.gov/ucr
NCES Common Core of Data - public-school quality indicators by area. nces.ed.gov/ccd
EPA AirNow + Air Quality System (AQS) - air-quality measurements by area. epa.gov/outdoor-air-quality-data
HUD Fair Market Rents (FMR) - county and metro housing-cost indicators. huduser.gov/datasets/fmr

Every figure on PlainCompare is loaded directly from BEA, HUD, FBI UCR, BLS OEWS, NCES, DOL, EPA, and the Census Bureau, no number is typed in by an editor. This metro's Life Score is computed directly from the 7 federal sources cited above. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error. Data current as of 2026.