Hot Springs, AR cityscape
Markets / Arkansas / Hot Springs
RENTAL MARKET INTELLIGENCE

Hot Springs, AR

Hot Springs merits investigation by income-focused buyers who can underwrite flood exposure and negotiate patiently; buyers requiring an affordability cushion or quick resale should avoid it.

Median price$250k
Median rent$1,334
Gross yield6.4%
Job growth▲ 0.6%
Metro Area · CBSA 2630040 public sourcesChecked nightly
SCORE / 10058RANK #175 / 571
Composite Market ScoreRank #175 of 571 scored US market areas
Direct rental answer

How much is rent in Hot Springs, AR?

Zillow's metro-wide Observed Rent Index is $1,334 per month for 2026-06-30. That is up 6.53% from a year earlier.

Zillow ZORI$1,3342026-06-30

All homes and bedroom counts

Census ACS gross rent$966ACS 2024 5-year

Occupied rental units paying rent

HUD 2BR FMR$1,090FY2026 FMR

Two-bedroom standard

These figures are not averaged together. Zillow and Realtor describe asking-rent markets, ACS measures rent paid by surveyed households, and HUD publishes administrative bedroom standards.

Exact county schedules

HUD rent benchmarks inside Hot Springs

Every row keeps its own county FIPS schedule. No county is selected as a metro proxy and no synthetic metro FMR is calculated.

FY2026 FMR · FY2026 · monthly gross-rent standards
CountyStudio1 BR2 BR3 BR4 BR
Garland County, ARFIPS 05051$829$834$1,090$1,393$1,670
The read

Why this market scores where it does

Hot Springs merits investigation by income-focused buyers who can underwrite flood exposure and negotiate patiently; buyers requiring an affordability cushion or quick resale should avoid it. Median asking rent rose 6.53% while home values rose 0.36%, supporting rental economics without relying on rapid appreciation.

The opportunity is a $1,334 median asking rent, a 6.41% gross yield, and modest job growth of 0.62%. Inventory conditions favor selectivity: 6.7 months of supply, 76 median days on market, and price drops on 27.26% of listings give buyers room to test pricing and condition.

The risks are affordability and water exposure. A 4.37 price-to-income ratio and a 27.99% rent-to-income burden point to constrained affordability, while inland flood is the dominant hazard. Net migration was only 30 households, so the record does not show a large population-demand cushion.

Frequently Asked Investor Questions

What does the current rent math look like?
Median asking rent is $1,334 per month, up 6.53% year over year, with a 6.41% gross yield; two-bedroom fair market rent is $1,090.
How much negotiating room does the listing data indicate?
The record shows 6.7 months of supply, 76 median days on market, and price drops on 27.26% of listings.
Is migration adding substantial household demand?
Tax filings show 2,534 households moved in and 2,504 moved out, producing net migration of 30 households.

Investor Quick Takeaways

Gross Yield: 6.4%

Computed from the current Zillow rent and home-value medians.

Rent Momentum: ▲ 6.53%

Zillow ZORI rent growth trend over trailing 12 months.

Investor Activity: 17.9%

Originated investment purchase share (CFPB HMDA).

Climate Exposure: FEMA NRI

Annualized loss ratio evaluated for flood & hurricane risk.

Run Cash-Flow Test for Hot Springs
Market pulse

The current market in eight signals

Fast-moving Redfin conditions sit beside the slower fundamentals so a buyer can separate today's negotiating climate from the long-run investment case.

Months of supply6.7 mo.▲ from 6.3 mo. a year ago
Median days on market76 days▲ from 55 days a year ago
Listings with price drops27.3%▲ from 25.3% a year ago
Sale-to-list ratio96.5%2026-05-01
Home value growth▲ 0.4%Zillow ZHVI · trailing 12 months
Rent growth▲ 6.53%Zillow ZORI · trailing 12 months
Gross rental yield6.4%Rent × 12 ÷ price
Payroll job growth▲ 0.6%CES · 12m to 2026-06
Release-to-release evidence

What actually changed

This comparison exists because at least one underlying source period advanced. Rebuilding the same data never creates a new observation.

Published score held steady5858
0 pts

The published component scores did not move in this release.

Weights were unchanged at metro-2026-07-v2-omb2023, so the movement comes from refreshed evidence and percentile ranks.

The named source periods advanced, but the measured values on this page held steady.

Composite breakdown

What each component measures

Weights are published, not hidden, and the arithmetic is shown. Five components, each measured as a national percentile across all tracked metros.

Jobs71Rent trend86Affordability30Supply49Climate safety21
Published arithmeticComponent × weight = points
58
SignalScoreWeightPoints
Job growth7130%21.30
Rent trend8625%21.50
Affordability3015%4.50
Supply pressure4915%7.35
Climate risk2115%3.15
Published score58
Hot Springs, AR scoreRank #175
58
Job growth71/100

Job: CES employment grew 0.62% year over year -> rental demand has a positive but modest labor-market signal.

Rent trend86/100

Rent: Median asking rent rose 6.53% year over year and gross yield was 6.41% -> rental income is the clearest opportunity in the record.

Affordability30/100

Afford: The 4.37 price-to-income ratio and 27.99% rent-to-income burden -> affordability requires conservative tenant-demand assumptions.

Supply pressure49/100

Supply: The market had 6.7 months of supply, 76 median days on market, and a 27.26% price-drop share -> buyers have support for selective offers.

Climate risk21/100

Climate: Inland flood is the dominant hazard and the annual climate loss ratio is 0.2072% -> property-level flood and insurance diligence is essential.

The numbers

What this market costs and what it earns

Every derived ratio below recomputes from the same source record used by the article and score.

ZHVI Median Price
$250k
YoY ▲ 0.4%
ZORI Median Rent
$1,334
YoY ▲ 6.53%
Gross Rental Yield
6.4%
Rent × 12 ÷ price
$1,334 × 12 ÷ $249,634
Job Growth (YoY)
▲ 0.6%
CES payrolls
Job signal 71/100
Median Household Income
$57k
Census ACS 5-year
Rent Burden
28.0%
Annual rent ÷ household income
Price-to-Income
4.4x
Median value ÷ household income
HUD 2BR Fair Market Rent
$1,090
Market rent 122.4% of FMR
Historical affordability context

Compare aligned 2019 and 2024 asking-rent and nominal household-income endpoints across the direct-overlap metro set.

Independent rent evidence

One market, several legitimate rent benchmarks

These releases observe different homes and different moments. RentMarker keeps them separate: ZORI remains the scoring baseline, while the other sources test how sensitive the market story is to bedroom mix and measurement method.

Monthly benchmark4 of 4 reported values
Zero-based scale
Monthly rental benchmarksIndependent monthly rent measures shown on a zero-based scale. Missing source values are labelled unavailable and are not inferred.$0$375$750$1,125$1,500Zillow ZORI2026-06-30$1,334HUD 1BR FMRFY2026 FMR$834HUD 2BR FMRFY2026 FMR$1,090Census ACS gross rentACS 2024 5-year$966Monthly rental benchmarksIndependent monthly rent measures shown on a zero-based scale. Missing source values are labelled unavailable and are not inferred.$0$750$1,500Zillow ZORI2026-06-30$1,334HUD 1BR FMRFY2026 FMR$834HUD 2BR FMRFY2026 FMR$1,090ACS gross rentACS 2024 5-year$966
The chart compares published levels without averaging them. A longer bar does not mean a source is more accurate; it means that source measures a higher rent under its own definition.
Typical observed market rentZillow ZORI
$1,334Primary RentMarker baseline
2026-06-30

All homes and bedroom counts

A smoothed metro rent index for observed rentals; it is the primary rent used by RentMarker scores and career ratios.

View source release ↗
Fair Market RentHUD 1BR FMR
$834−$500 vs ZORI
FY2026 FMR

One-bedroom standard

An administrative gross-rent benchmark used by HUD programs; it is neither a listing median nor a prediction of one lease.

View source release ↗
Fair Market RentHUD 2BR FMR
$1,090−$244 vs ZORI
FY2026 FMR

Two-bedroom standard

An administrative gross-rent benchmark used by HUD programs; it is neither a listing median nor a prediction of one lease.

View source release ↗
Median gross rentCensus ACS gross rent
$966−$368 vs ZORI
ACS 2024 5-year

Occupied rental units paying rent

A five-year survey estimate of contract rent plus applicable tenant-paid utilities; it is not a current asking-rent index.

View source release ↗
Take the next step

Keep Hot Springs as context, then replace market-wide evidence with the candidate property's facts.

Regional price level

What feels expensive inside Hot Springs

BEA compares each category with the United States, which equals 100. This is a 2024 price-level comparison—not annual inflation.

BEA Regional Price Parities · 2024US = 100
Regional price parity categories for Hot Springs, ARHorizontal bars compare all-items, housing, goods, utilities and other-services price levels with the United States benchmark of 100.5060708090100110All items85.7Housing57.3Goods93.6Utilities74.3Other services95.3
Orange extends above the national level; emerald extends below it. The chart does not convert rent or income into purchasing power.
Occupation wage lens

How asking rent sits against major local occupations

Annualized Zillow asking rent is divided by each BLS annual median wage. This is a screening ratio for one wage, not a household budget or affordability verdict.

Six largest published major groupsannual rent ÷ median wage
Annualized asking rent compared with major occupational median wages in Hot Springs, ARHorizontal bars show annualized Zillow asking rent as a share of the BLS annual median wage for six major occupational groups with the largest published employment.0%10%20%30%40%50%60%Food Preparation and ServingRelated Occupations$26,800 median wage59.7%Sales and Related Occupations$30,000 median wage53.4%Office and AdministrativeSupport Occupations$36,270 median wage44.1%Healthcare Practitioners andTechnical Occupations$75,900 median wage21.1%Transportation and MaterialMoving Occupations$34,980 median wage45.8%Management Occupations$74,820 median wage21.4%
Food Preparation and Serving Related Occupations$26,800 median wage
59.7%
Sales and Related Occupations$30,000 median wage
53.4%
Office and Administrative Support Occupations$36,270 median wage
44.1%
Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations$75,900 median wage
21.1%
Transportation and Material Moving Occupations$34,980 median wage
45.8%
Management Occupations$74,820 median wage
21.4%
BLS OEWS 2025-05; Zillow rent 2026-06-30. The 30% line is a visible screen, not a RentMarker score or a claim about household costs.
Supply pipeline

What is being built, and for whom

Permits are the 12-to-24 month early warning. The total matters less than the mix: apartments compete with a rental the day they open.

National supply context

Compare this authorization pipeline with asking-rent growth, jobs and for-sale liquidity across the evidence-complete metro set.

Building permits by structure type
units per year · latest year annualised
Download CSV ↓
10820198620203302021672022782023111202432220258220265+ unit buildingssingle family
82 units authorised in 2026, 0% of them in 5+ unit buildings. This is a single-family building cycle, so the competition is other houses, not new apartments. ✓ recomputed from series
Source: Census Building Permits Survey
Who is arriving, and who is buying

Demand, and the competition for it

Tax filings say how many households moved and what they earn; mortgage disclosures say how many local purchases went to someone who will not live there. Moves between counties inside this metro are netted out of both flow figures.

Net Household Move
+30
2,534 in vs 2,504 out (IRS SOI)
▲ 1.2% of arriving households
Mover Income Gap
+$4,346
Arriving $61,962 vs leaving $57,616
Average AGI per tax return (IRS SOI)
Investor Purchase Share
17.9%
209 of 1,169 originated purchase loans
CFPB HMDA 2024
Dominant Hazard
inland flooding
0.207% building value annual loss ratio
FEMA NRI · risk type: water
Compare yield and FEMA exposure →
Households arrive mainly from: Saline County · Hot Spring County · Pulaski County · Clark County · Tarrant County
2,534 in − 2,504 out = 30 net
Direct market links

Where tax-return households moved from and to

These are the largest flows where both counties map to a RentMarker market area. They are a documented subset of the all-US IRS totals above.

Explore every route
Leading inbound markets
  1. Little Rock, AR490 arriving
  2. Dallas, TX100 arriving
  3. Fayetteville, AR52 arriving
Leading outbound markets
  1. Little Rock, AR650 leaving
  2. Fayetteville, AR123 leaving
  3. Dallas, TX51 leaving
The other side

What would make this a bad buy

Generated from the same figures with the instruction to argue against the score, and published unedited. A page that only agrees with itself is an advertisement.

Three ways the case breaks

  1. Inland flood exposure and a 0.2072% annual climate loss ratio could reduce property-level returns through losses or insurance costs.
  2. A 4.37 price-to-income ratio and 27.99% rent-to-income burden indicate limited affordability.
  3. Demand depth may disappoint because job growth was 0.62% and net migration was only 30 households.
Statistical peers

Market areas that behave like Hot Springs

Nearest neighbours on price level, income, yield and job growth — not on geography. Every market page gets a different peer set, which is the point.

Market areaScorePriceRentYieldJob Growth
Hot Springs, AR (Target)58$250k$1,3346.4%▲ 0.6%
Statesboro, GA50$285k$1,5096.3%▲ 0.7%
Cookeville, TN33$300k$1,5546.2%▲ 0.8%
Branson, MO47$252k$1,3136.3%▲ 0.9%
Searcy, AR52$211k$1,0766.1%▲ 0.9%
Provenance

Where every figure came from

“Checked nightly” means every source is re-pulled and re-verified each night. It does not mean every source moves nightly — the release column tells you how fresh each number can possibly be.

Dataset SourceMethodRelease PeriodPulled Date
Census ACS 5-year — household income and gross rentdirectACS 2024 5-year2026-08-05
Census ACS 5-year — historical household incomedirectACS 2019 and 2024 5-year2026-08-05
Census ACS 5-year — populationdirectACS 2024 5-year2026-07-26
Apartment List Rent Estimates — recent-lease rent indexdirectApartment List 2026-072026-08-08
Apartment List Time on Market — listing liquiditydirectApartment List 2026-072026-08-08
Apartment List Vacancy Index — rental vacancydirectApartment List 2026-072026-08-08
BEA County Personal Income — income and populationdirect2024 County Personal Income (released 2026-02-05); history 1969-20242026-08-03
BEA Regional Price Parities — metropolitan price levelsdirect2024 Regional Price Parities (released 2026-02-19); history 2008-20242026-08-03
BLS CES — payroll employmentdirectCES SM current2026-07-26
BLS LAUS — resident employmentdirectLAUS current2026-07-26
BLS OEWS — occupation employment and wagesdirectMay 2025 OEWS estimates (released 2026-05-15)2026-08-03
BLS QCEW — county employment and wagesdirectannual county employment and wages 2021-2025; latest 2025 vs 20242026-08-02
OMB/BLS delineation — metro geographydirectOMB July 2023 delineation2026-07-30
Census Building Permits Survey — permitted unitsdirectBPS through 20262026-07-26
Census ACS 5-year — city population, households and housingdirectACS 2024 5-year2026-07-29
Census ACS 5-year — county housing value, tenure and stockdirectACS 2024 5-year2026-07-30
Census ACS 5-year — cities and communitiesdirectACS 2024 5-year2026-07-30
Census ACS five-year — ZCTA housing and incomedirectACS 2024 5-year ZCTA2026-08-08
FEMA National Risk Index — hazard loss ratiosmodelledNRI counties (FEMA ArcGIS)2026-07-26
FHFA House Price Index — annual county appreciationdirectannual county HPI history 1975-2025; latest 20252026-08-02
HMDA / CFPB — purchases by occupancy typedirectHMDA 2024 purchase originations2026-07-26
HUD CHAS — renter burden by HAMFI income banddirectHUD CHAS 2018-2022 ACS 5-year (released 2025-12-23)2026-08-03
HUD Fair Market Rents — Section 8 standarddirectFY2026 FMR2026-07-26
HUD USPS crosswalk and Small Area FMRs — ZIP rent fallbackdirectZIP-CBSA 2025Q4 + SAFMR FY20262026-07-26
HUD-USPS ZIP-to-county residential-address crosswalkdirectHUD-USPS 2026Q12026-08-09
IRS SOI — county migration and mover incomedirectSOI migration 2022-20232026-07-26
Freddie Mac PMMS — mortgage ratesdirectweek of 2026-07-302026-08-06
Census ACS 5-year — effective property taxdirectACS 2024 5-year2026-08-06
Realtor.com Economic Research — county listing inventorydirectcounty inventory 2026-062026-07-28
Realtor.com Rental Report — top-50 asking rentsdirecttop-50 rental asking rents 2026-052026-08-05
Redfin Data Center — inventory, days on market, and price cutsdirectmetro tracker through 2026-05-012026-07-26
Redfin Data Center — ZIP resale activity and supplydirectZIP rolling 3 months through 2026-06-30; updated 2026-07-032026-08-12
USDA ERS — Rural-Urban Continuum CodesdirectUSDA ERS 2023 Rural-Urban Continuum Codes2026-08-02
Zillow ZHVI and ZORI — county values and rentsdirectcounty ZHVI/ZORI 2026-062026-07-26
Zillow ZHVI — metro home valuesdirectMetro_zhvi_uc_sfrcondo_tier_0.33_0.67_sm_sa_month.csv2026-07-26
Zillow ZHVI — city home valuesdirectzillow_zhvi_city.csv2026-07-29
Zillow ZORI — metro market rentsdirectMetro_zori_uc_sfrcondomfr_sm_sa_month.csv2026-07-26
Zillow ZORI — city market rentsdirectzillow_zori_city.csv2026-07-29
Zillow ZORI - metro market rents, not seasonally adjusteddirectMetro_zori_uc_sfrcondomfr_sm_month.csv2026-08-15
Zillow ZORI — ZIP market rentsdirectZORI ZIP 2026-062026-08-08