Counties / Arkansas / Crawford County

Crawford County, AR

FIPS 05033 · population 61,139 · part of Fort Smith, AR

$224k
Zillow home value · 2026-06
The numbers

What this county costs and earns

Everything here joins on the county FIPS code, so each figure comes from the agency that publishes it with no name matching in between.

Zillow home value
$224k
▲ 7.0% year over year
Zillow ZHVI · direct
Median asking rent
$1,027
▲ 2.3% year over year
Zillow ZORI · direct
Gross yield
5.5%
annual rent ÷ price, before costs
derived: rent × 12 ÷ price ✓
HUD 2-bed standard
$937
market rent is 1.10x the standard
HUD Fair Market Rent · direct
Independent price check

Do two methods point the same way?

Zillow estimates a current home value. FHFA tracks repeat mortgage transactions. Their growth rates should be read side by side, not averaged.

Both annual signals move in the same direction
FHFA five-year cumulative+62.3%not annualized · through 2025
0%ZILLOW ZHVI2026-06+7.0%FHFA HPI2025+4.6%
Annual changes use different methods and may use different periods. The comparison checks direction and magnitude; it does not create a blended estimate. Zillow county ZHVI pulled 2026-07-26; FHFA annual county HPI pulled 2026-07-28.
Owner-reported value$183k
Surveyed gross rent$851
Rent burden 30%+40.2%
Median year built1991
Housing composition

Who occupies the stock—and what it is

ACS 2024 5-year
8.8%vacant
25,621estimated housing units
Occupied tenure24.5% renter
owner 75.5%renter 24.5%
Structure mix77.7% single-family
Single-family 77.7%20+ units 0.9%Mobile home 9.9%Other 11.5%
ACS estimates describe the standing housing stock and occupied tenure. They do not measure current listings, transaction prices or asking rents.

Survey source: Census ACS 5-year — county housing value, tenure and stock · ACS 2024 5-year · pulled 2026-07-30. These values describe different housing universes and are not combined into gross yield.

Annual average covered jobs17,865▼ 7.4% from the prior annual release
Covered establishments1,333annual average reporting locations
Average weekly wage$965▲ 2.9% from the prior annual release
Largest private supersectorManufacturing29.7% of disclosed private covered jobs
Local labor base

Jobs, pay and private-sector concentration

2025
0%COVERED JOBS−7.4%WEEKLY WAGE+2.9%Manufacturing29.7%
Annual QCEW counts cover jobs located at reporting establishments. The industry share uses disclosed private covered employment; it is not a resident-employment measure or a forecast.

Workplace source: BLS QCEW — county employment and wages · annual county employment and wages 2025 vs 2024 · pulled 2026-07-31. QCEW counts covered jobs located in the county, not employed residents or the metro score’s CES/LAUS series.

County brief

What the local evidence says

01Decision frame

Crawford County presents a valuation-versus-resilience tension: the Zillow county observation labeled 2026-06 puts the median home value at $224,048, with a reported positive year-over-year change, while the income screen is measurable rather than assumed. This merits investigation by buyers who can test property-level flood, insurance, and lease economics; it warrants caution for buyers relying on broad appreciation or thin operating-cost margins.

02Housing economics

Zillow’s median asking rent is $1,027 per month, and the supplied gross yield is 5.50%, before costs. HUD’s two-bedroom FMR is $937 per month; it is a payment standard, not an asking-rent estimate, and should not replace the measured market rent. The effective property-tax rate is 0.54%, with median annual tax of $982, but insurance, maintenance, vacancy, financing, and property-level assessments are not published, preventing a net-yield conclusion. Separately, FHFA’s 2025 repeat-transaction HPI rose 4.56% annually. It supports a positive direction but is not a home value and is neither the same vintage nor method as Zillow.

03Demand & competition

Demand evidence is mixed. QCEW county labor data labeled 2025 show covered workplace employment fell 7.39% from its prior annual average; Manufacturing is the largest disclosed private supersector, so the figure describes covered jobs at county workplaces rather than resident employment or an outlook. In Realtor.com’s 2026-06 MLS listing market, 172 active listings and a 28.99% price-reduced share indicate visible supply and seller concessions, not closed-sale pricing or buyer demand alone. Tax-return movers show positive net migration and higher average income among entrants than leavers. Investor participation is reported among purchase mortgages, but it does not identify cash buyers or rental performance.

04Risk & next checks

The dominant hazard is inland flood, and the supplied modeled climate-loss ratio is 0.17% of building value per year; this is modeled expected loss, not a quote for any parcel. Next checks are flood-zone and elevation records, prior losses, replacement cost and insurance terms, lease comps, and property-specific tax bills. Missing closed-sale comparables, vacancy, operating expenses, insurance, and cash-purchase data prevent a conclusion on executable price, net cash flow, or full buyer competition.

Cities & communities

Where people live within Crawford County

Census-recognized incorporated places and CDPs that intersect this county. The list does not pretend to include every neighborhood or informal community.

Population scale

Largest Census places

ACS 2024 5-year
Van Buren city23.8KAlma city5.9KCedarville city1.8KMulberry city1.6KKibler city1.1KDyer city1KMountainburg city566Rudy town178
Bars use total place population, not a county-share estimate. An asterisk marks a place that crosses a county line.
Official directory

11 Census places

Population
  1. 01
    Van Buren cityIncorporated place
    23,763
  2. 02
    Alma cityIncorporated place
    5,906
  3. 03
    Cedarville cityIncorporated place
    1,760
  4. 04
    Mulberry cityIncorporated place
    1,646
  5. 05
    Kibler cityIncorporated place
    1,085
  6. 06
    Dyer cityIncorporated place
    1,049
  7. 07
    Mountainburg cityIncorporated place
    566
  8. 08
    Rudy townIncorporated place
    178
  9. 09
    Uniontown CDPCensus-designated place
    168
  10. 10
    Chester townIncorporated place
    76
  11. 11
    Dora CDPCensus-designated place
    74

Population is the total place-wide ACS estimate, not an allocated county share. A place crossing a county line is labelled explicitly. Source: Census ACS 5-year — cities and communities · ACS 2024 5-year · pulled 2026-07-30.

Risk, demand and competition

The three things a price does not tell you

01
Risk & carrying costFEMA NRI + Census ACS
Dominant hazardinland flooding

0.170% of building value expected lost per year

Effective property tax0.54%

$982 median annual bill

02
DemandIRS SOI household flows
Net migration+223

1,784 in · 1,561 out

Arriving vs leaving income+$2,546

$46,413 arriving · $43,867 leaving

03
CompetitionHMDA financed purchases
Purchases by investors11.6%

83 of 716 mortgages

investorother financed
Current listing pressure

What sellers and visible supply are doing

Realtor.com® Economic Research · county inventory 2026-06 · pulled 2026-07-28
Active listings172▼ 0.9% year over year
Median days on market55▼ 2.6% year over year
Listings price-reduced29.0%seller-concession signal
Median listing pricen/a▲ 6.9% year over year

Listing price is an asking price, not a closed sale. Quality-flagged county rows are withheld instead of displayed.

Same metro

The other counties in Fort Smith, AR

A metro is an average of these. Which side of a county line a property sits on can change the tax bill, the hazard profile and the tenant pool.

CountyPopulationPriceRentYieldHazard
Crawford County61,139$224k$1,0275.5%inland flooding
Sebastian County128,900$207k$1,0736.2%inland flooding
Sequoyah County39,860$196kn/an/ainland flooding
Bear case

What can break the county thesis

  1. Property-level flood exposure or insurance cost may overwhelm the county-level yield screen.
  2. Covered-job contraction and Manufacturing concentration may limit tenant or buyer depth.
  3. Listing-market evidence may not translate into closed-sale liquidity or executable purchase pricing.
Underwriting questions

Before pricing a property

Is the stated gross yield based on HUD Fair Market Rent?

No. The record supplies measured Zillow market asking rent and a gross yield; HUD FMR is a payment standard and not a substitute for market rent.

What does the FHFA measure establish?

It establishes direction in a repeat-transaction appreciation index for its labeled annual period, not a county home value or the same observation period as Zillow.

Can this record establish net operating income?

No. Vacancy, insurance, maintenance, financing, property-specific taxes, and other operating expenses are not published.