Counties / Arkansas / Cross County

Cross County, AR

FIPS 05037 · population 16,543 · outside every metro area

$148k
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
$148k
▲ 0.4% year over year
Zillow ZHVI · direct
ACS median gross rent
$764
occupied-unit survey; not current asking rent
Census ACS · surveyed
Gross yield
n/a
gross yield cannot be computed without measured market rent
requires both measured price and measured rent
HUD 2-bed standard
$880
the Section 8 payment 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.

The annual signals disagree
FHFA five-year cumulative+43.5%not annualized · through 2025
0%ZILLOW ZHVI2026-06+0.4%FHFA HPI2025−6.5%
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$118k
Surveyed gross rent$764
Rent burden 30%+49.3%
Median year built1981
Housing composition

Who occupies the stock—and what it is

ACS 2024 5-year
14.5%vacant
7,586estimated housing units
Occupied tenure32.5% renter
owner 67.5%renter 32.5%
Structure mix70.2% single-family
Single-family 70.2%20+ units 1.1%Mobile home 17.1%Other 11.6%
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 jobs4,712▼ 1.0% from the prior annual release
Covered establishments455annual average reporting locations
Average weekly wage$828▲ 4.2% from the prior annual release
Largest private supersectorEducation and health services30.4% of disclosed private covered jobs
Local labor base

Jobs, pay and private-sector concentration

2025
0%COVERED JOBS−1.0%WEEKLY WAGE+4.2%Education and health services30.4%
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

Cross County's underwriting tension is a modestly higher Zillow county median home value of $148,086 alongside a weaker FHFA signal: the annual repeat-transaction HPI fell 6.51%, while Zillow rose 0.39%. These are separate observations using different methods; the HPI is not a home value, and their changes should not be blended. Investigate property-level comparables and recent closed transactions before relying on the Zillow direction; buyers needing dependable appreciation support should be cautious.

02Housing economics

Market rent is not published, so gross yield cannot be computed. The $880 two-bedroom HUD FMR is a payment standard, not an estimate of asking rent, and cannot substitute for it. The $596 median annual property tax is a known carrying cost, but without market rent the price-to-rent relationship and rent coverage of tax, insurance, repairs, and financing remain untested. Underwrite actual leases, renewal history, vacancy, utilities, and insurance rather than deriving income from FMR.

03Demand & competition

Realtor.com's MLS listing market shows 68 active listings, up 14.41%, with a 67-day median marketing time; 16.33% had price reductions and the pending-to-active ratio was 28.89%. This is visible asking-market supply and seller concessions, not closed prices or proof of buyer demand. Net tax-return migration was negative 83 households, and movers in had average AGI $760 below movers out. Investors represented 21 of 111 purchases, or 18.92%; they are a material buyer segment but not the entire market. Test whether investor bids are concentrated in the target neighborhood and whether renter demand follows the same locations and income profile.

04Risk & next checks

Earthquake is the dominant hazard, and modeled climate loss equals 0.31% of building value per year; that county-level model does not replace parcel hazard, deductible, mitigation, or insurer evidence. QCEW's annual workplace series shows covered employment declined; it is not resident employment, unemployment, or a forecast. Missing market rents, closed-sale comparables, property condition, insurance quotes, and lease-level operating costs prevent a supported gross-yield, debt-coverage, and exit-value conclusion.

Cities & communities

Where people live within Cross 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
Wynne city8.1KParkin city694Cherry Valley city543Vanndale CDP356Hickory Ridge city259Fair Oaks CDP23
Bars use total place population, not a county-share estimate. An asterisk marks a place that crosses a county line.
Official directory

6 Census places

Population
  1. 01
    Wynne cityIncorporated place
    8,120
  2. 02
    Parkin cityIncorporated place
    694
  3. 03
    Cherry Valley cityIncorporated place
    543
  4. 04
    Vanndale CDPCensus-designated place
    356
  5. 05
    Hickory Ridge cityIncorporated place
    259
  6. 06
    Fair Oaks CDPCensus-designated place
    23

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 hazardearthquake

0.309% of building value expected lost per year

Effective property tax0.51%

$596 median annual bill

02
DemandIRS SOI household flows
Net migration-83

311 in · 394 out

Arriving vs leaving income−$760

$41,225 arriving · $41,985 leaving

03
CompetitionHMDA financed purchases
Purchases by investors18.9%

21 of 111 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 listings68▲ 14.4% year over year
Median days on market67▲ 6.3% year over year
Listings price-reduced16.3%seller-concession signal
Median listing pricen/a▼ 0.6% year over year

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

No rent index is published for this county.Zillow’s county rent series does not cover every county, and estimating one from a neighbouring county would be a guess wearing a number’s clothes. Everything above is measured here; no wider market is mapped for it either.
Bear case

What can break the county thesis

  1. Unpublished market rent may leave acquisition income, gross yield, and debt coverage unsupported.
  2. Earthquake exposure and modeled climate loss may exceed property-specific insurance or mitigation assumptions.
  3. Slower listing absorption, negative migration, and declining covered employment may weaken exit liquidity.
Underwriting questions

Before pricing a property

Can gross yield be calculated from this record?

No. Market asking rent is not published, and HUD FMR cannot replace it.

Does Realtor.com establish a closed-sale price trend?

No. It reports MLS asking prices, active listings, marketing time, and reductions rather than closed sales.

What labor measure is reported?

QCEW reports annual average covered jobs at county workplaces; it is not resident employment or unemployment.