Counties / Arkansas / Phillips County

Phillips County, AR

FIPS 05107 · population 15,450 · outside every metro area

$48k
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
$48k
▼ 3.2% year over year
Zillow ZHVI · direct
ACS median gross rent
$737
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.

One annual series is unavailable
FHFA five-year cumulativen/anot annualized · through n/a
0%ZILLOW ZHVI2026-06−3.2%FHFA HPIperiod n/an/a
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$78k
Surveyed gross rent$737
Rent burden 30%+58.8%
Median year built1974
Housing composition

Who occupies the stock—and what it is

ACS 2024 5-year
27.9%vacant
8,355estimated housing units
Occupied tenure48.8% renter
owner 51.2%renter 48.8%
Structure mix71.2% single-family
Single-family 71.2%20+ units 1.6%Mobile home 9.1%Other 18.1%
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 jobs4,333▼ 4.4% from the prior annual release
Covered establishments578annual average reporting locations
Average weekly wage$823▲ 2.9% from the prior annual release
Largest private supersectorTrade, transportation, and utilities29.2% of disclosed private covered jobs
Local labor base

Jobs, pay and private-sector concentration

2025
0%COVERED JOBS−4.4%WEEKLY WAGE+2.9%Trade, transportation, and utilities29.2%
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

Phillips County’s decision tension is a Zillow county median home value of $47,791 in 2026-06, down 3.23% from its Zillow prior-year comparison, alongside weaker workplace employment. QCEW reports 4,333 annual-average covered jobs in 2025, down 4.37% from its prior annual average. This county requires diligence from a landlord or value buyer: value direction and job coverage require property-level demand checks, and buyers unable to test rent and flood exposure should be cautious.

02Housing economics

Housing economics cannot yet be converted into a return. The $880 HUD two-bedroom Fair Market Rent is a payment standard, not asking rent; because market rent is not published, gross yield cannot be computed. The effective property-tax rate is 0.81%, with a $636 median annual tax; verify the subject’s assessment and bill. Modeled annual climate loss is 0.21% of building value and aligns with inland flood as the dominant hazard. Actual rent, tax and insurance terms are required.

03Demand & competition

Tax-return migration shows 231 moving households in and 354 out; inbound movers averaged $30,260 of AGI versus $36,020 for out-movers. These flows describe movers, not the whole population or a tenant-demand forecast. Trade, transportation, and utilities is the largest disclosed private supersector, not the whole county economy. The reported investor share is 7.94%—five of 63 purchases—documenting purchase-mortgage participation rather than buyer competition. These county measures need reconciliation with the target property’s tenant base.

04Risk & next checks

Risk limits remain material. No FHFA annual repeat-transaction HPI figure is supplied, so it cannot corroborate or challenge Zillow’s direction and must not be merged with that observation. Realtor.com MLS listing price, active-listing, days-on-market and price-reduction data are not published, preventing an assessment of visible supply, marketing time or seller concessions. Next checks are address-level flood zone, loss history and insurance quote; current market rents and leases; property tax assessment; and closed-sale comparables. These gaps prevent a defensible cash-flow, resale-liquidity or site-risk conclusion.

Cities & communities

Where people live within Phillips 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
Helena-West Helena city8.9KMarvell city1.2KElaine city487Lake View city357Poplar Grove CDP255Lexa town138Mellwood CDP0Oneida CDP0
Bars use total place population, not a county-share estimate. An asterisk marks a place that crosses a county line.
Official directory

8 Census places

Population
  1. 01
    Helena-West Helena cityIncorporated place
    8,935
  2. 02
    Marvell cityIncorporated place
    1,160
  3. 03
    Elaine cityIncorporated place
    487
  4. 04
    Lake View cityIncorporated place
    357
  5. 05
    Poplar Grove CDPCensus-designated place
    255
  6. 06
    Lexa townIncorporated place
    138
  7. 07
    Mellwood CDPCensus-designated place
    0
  8. 08
    Oneida CDPCensus-designated place
    0

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

0.206% of building value expected lost per year

Effective property tax0.81%

$636 median annual bill

02
DemandIRS SOI household flows
Net migration-123

231 in · 354 out

Arriving vs leaving income−$5,760

$30,260 arriving · $36,020 leaving

03
CompetitionHMDA financed purchases
Purchases by investors7.9%

5 of 63 mortgages

investorother financed
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. Market rent is absent, so actual income may not support taxes, insurance and other carrying costs.
  2. County-level inland-flood modeled loss may not reflect the subject address’s flood exposure, loss history or insurance terms.
  3. The Zillow value decline and QCEW workplace-job decline may not represent the target submarket or tenant base; missing MLS and closed-sale evidence leaves liquidity untested.
Underwriting questions

Before pricing a property

Can gross yield be calculated from the record?

No. Median asking market rent is not published, and HUD Fair Market Rent is a payment standard rather than market rent.

What employment measure is available?

QCEW provides annual covered jobs at workplaces in the county, and the supplied series declined from its prior annual average; it is not resident employment or unemployment.

Does the record establish strong investor buyer competition?

No. It reports investor purchase-mortgage participation, but that measure does not establish overall buyer competition or tenant demand.