Counties / Arkansas / Hempstead County

Hempstead County, AR

FIPS 05057 · population 19,508 · outside every metro area

$127k
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
$127k
▲ 3.9% year over year
Zillow ZHVI · direct
ACS median gross rent
$815
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
$908
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+38.4%not annualized · through 2025
0%ZILLOW ZHVI2026-06+3.9%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$106k
Surveyed gross rent$815
Rent burden 30%+62.0%
Median year built1979
Housing composition

Who occupies the stock—and what it is

ACS 2024 5-year
22.4%vacant
9,642estimated housing units
Occupied tenure28.2% renter
owner 71.8%renter 28.2%
Structure mix73.2% single-family
Single-family 73.2%20+ units 0.8%Mobile home 18.6%Other 7.4%
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 jobs7,765▲ 1.8% from the prior annual release
Covered establishments501annual average reporting locations
Average weekly wage$901▲ 3.4% from the prior annual release
Largest private supersectorManufacturing38.1% of disclosed private covered jobs
Local labor base

Jobs, pay and private-sector concentration

2025
0%COVERED JOBS+1.8%WEEKLY WAGE+3.4%Manufacturing38.1%
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

Hempstead County presents a decision tension: Zillow's 2026-06 median home value was $127,080, up 3.90% year over year, whereas FHFA's separately dated 2025 repeat-transaction HPI fell 4.58%. These distinct methods and vintages cannot be averaged. Buyers whose underwriting depends on appreciation or current valuation comparables should investigate the divergence rather than treat either measure as a closing-price result. This is a validation case, not a directional read.

02Housing economics

No median asking market rent is published, so gross yield cannot be computed. HUD's two-bedroom FMR is a payment standard, not market asking rent; it cannot fill that income gap or support a yield calculation. The 0.57% effective property-tax rate is a stated carrying-cost input. Neither FMR nor the tax rate establishes actual ownership costs for a target property: assessment basis, insurance, repairs and vacancy are not published.

03Demand & competition

Realtor.com's 2026-06 MLS-market evidence shows 109 median days on market. Active listings measure visible supply, and this measure records marketing time—not a closed sale or proof of buyer demand by itself. QCEW's 2025 annual county series reports 7,765 covered jobs at workplaces and identifies Manufacturing as the largest disclosed private supersector. It is neither resident employment nor unemployment, and it does not identify which employers support a target submarket.

04Risk & next checks

Tax-return household migration was net -107, with incoming movers' average AGI $93 below outgoing movers' average. This is a limited demand check, not tenant evidence. Investors accounted for 14 of 116 purchase mortgages, or 12.07%; that indicates non-owner participation but not cash-buyer activity or rental performance. Inland flood is the dominant hazard, and the modeled annual climate-loss ratio is 0.16% of building value, not parcel-specific loss. Next checks are market rents, closed-sale comps, flood zone, insurance quote, tax bill and lease/vacancy history.

Cities & communities

Where people live within Hempstead 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
Hope city8.7KEmmet city*435Perrytown town251Fulton town189Blevins city167Washington city93McNab town73McCaskill town46
Bars use total place population, not a county-share estimate. An asterisk marks a place that crosses a county line.
Official directory

12 Census places

Population
  1. 01
    Hope cityIncorporated place
    8,671
  2. 02
    Emmet cityIncorporated place · spans 2 counties
    435
  3. 03
    Perrytown townIncorporated place
    251
  4. 04
    Fulton townIncorporated place
    189
  5. 05
    Blevins cityIncorporated place
    167
  6. 06
    Washington cityIncorporated place
    93
  7. 07
    McNab townIncorporated place
    73
  8. 08
    McCaskill townIncorporated place
    46
  9. 09
    Ozan townIncorporated place
    43
  10. 10
    Patmos townIncorporated place
    38
  11. 11
    Oakhaven townIncorporated place
    34
  12. 12
    Saratoga CDPCensus-designated place · spans 2 counties
    18

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

0.160% of building value expected lost per year

Effective property tax0.57%

$601 median annual bill

02
DemandIRS SOI household flows
Net migration-107

335 in · 442 out

Arriving vs leaving income−$93

$38,857 arriving · $38,950 leaving

03
CompetitionHMDA financed purchases
Purchases by investors12.1%

14 of 116 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 listings52▲ 1.0% year over year
Median days on market109▲ 60.2% year over year
Listings price-reduced2.3%seller-concession signal
Median listing pricen/a▼ 1.0% 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, vacancy and operating costs could materially change property-level cash-flow results.
  2. County-level Zillow, FHFA, MLS and QCEW evidence may not match a target neighborhood or asset.
  3. Parcel-specific flood exposure, insurance pricing, tax assessment and property condition are unreported.
Underwriting questions

Before pricing a property

Can gross yield be calculated from this record?

No. Median asking market rent is not published, and HUD FMR cannot be substituted for it.

Do the supplied MLS figures prove buyer demand?

No. They are listing-market evidence on visible supply, asking prices and marketing time, not closed-sale evidence.

What employment measure is supplied?

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