Jonesboro, AR cityscape
Markets / Arkansas / Jonesboro
RENTAL MARKET INTELLIGENCE

Jonesboro, AR

Jonesboro merits investigation by yield-focused buyers who can underwrite affordability and hazard risk; investors dependent on tight supply, rapid appreciation, or low physical-risk exposure should avoid it.

Median price$207k
Median rent$1,375
Gross yield8.0%
Job growth▲ 1.0%
Metro Area · CBSA 2786040 public sourcesChecked nightly
SCORE / 10046RANK #327 / 571
Composite Market ScoreRank #327 of 571 scored US market areas
Direct rental answer

How much is rent in Jonesboro, AR?

Zillow's metro-wide Observed Rent Index is $1,375 per month for 2026-06-30. That is up 3.11% from a year earlier.

Zillow ZORI$1,3752026-06-30

All homes and bedroom counts

Census ACS gross rent$929ACS 2024 5-year

Occupied rental units paying rent

HUD 2BR FMR$960FY2026 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 Jonesboro

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
Craighead County, ARFIPS 05031$805$870$1,040$1,402$1,480
Poinsett County, ARFIPS 05111$681$685$880$1,161$1,165
The read

Why this market scores where it does

Jonesboro merits investigation by yield-focused buyers who can underwrite affordability and hazard risk; investors dependent on tight supply, rapid appreciation, or low physical-risk exposure should avoid it. A $206,726 median value and $1,375 median asking rent correspond to a 7.98% gross yield, a useful income signal before expenses.

The opportunity is steady rather than broad-based. Jobs grew 1% and asking rents rose 3.11%, but home values increased 4.91%, so acquisition pricing moved faster than rents. Rent equals 29.08% of median household income, making tenant affordability a material underwriting constraint rather than a clear strength.

Supply and resale conditions add caution. The record shows 986 permits, 3.4 months of supply, and price drops on 28.49% of listings, combining active permitting with visible repricing. Earthquake is the dominant hazard, while the published annual loss ratio is 0.2199%; property-level exposure and insurance costs are not published.

Frequently Asked Investor Questions

What gross yield do the metro medians indicate?
The published gross yield is 7.98%, with median asking rent of $1,375 and median home value of $206,726.
How tight is the for-sale market?
Supply is 3.4 months, median time on market is 66 days, and 28.49% of listings had price drops.
What do migration records show?
Tax filings show 3,101 households moved in and 2,915 moved out, for net migration of 186; average mover income was $46,483 inbound and $50,174 outbound, a gap of -$3,691.

Investor Quick Takeaways

Gross Yield: 8.0%

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

Rent Momentum: ▲ 3.11%

Zillow ZORI rent growth trend over trailing 12 months.

Investor Activity: 24.4%

Originated investment purchase share (CFPB HMDA).

Climate Exposure: FEMA NRI

Annualized loss ratio evaluated for flood & hurricane risk.

Run Cash-Flow Test for Jonesboro
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 supply3.4 mo.▼ from 3.5 mo. a year ago
Median days on market66 daysunchanged from a year ago
Listings with price drops28.5%▲ from 20.5% a year ago
Sale-to-list ratio97.2%2026-05-01
Home value growth▲ 4.9%Zillow ZHVI · trailing 12 months
Rent growth▲ 3.11%Zillow ZORI · trailing 12 months
Gross rental yield8.0%Rent × 12 ÷ price
Payroll job growth▲ 1.0%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 steady4646
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.

Jobs82Rent trend46Affordability24Supply26Climate safety19
Published arithmeticComponent × weight = points
46
SignalScoreWeightPoints
Job growth8230%24.60
Rent trend4625%11.50
Affordability2415%3.60
Supply pressure2615%3.90
Climate risk1915%2.85
Published score46
Jonesboro, AR scoreRank #327
46
Job growth82/100

Job: CES employment grew 1% -> the labor signal is positive but modest.

Rent trend46/100

Rent: Median asking rent rose 3.11% to $1,375 -> rental pricing improved, though more slowly than home values.

Affordability24/100

Affordability: Rent is 29.08% of median income and value is 3.64 times income -> tenant and buyer affordability require careful underwriting.

Supply pressure26/100

Supply: 986 permits, 3.4 months of supply, and 28.49% price drops -> active permitting and listing repricing weaken the scarcity case.

Climate risk19/100

Climate: Earthquake is the dominant hazard and the annual loss ratio is 0.2199% -> property-level exposure and insurance costs remain unresolved.

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
$207k
YoY ▲ 4.9%
ZORI Median Rent
$1,375
YoY ▲ 3.11%
Gross Rental Yield
8.0%
Rent × 12 ÷ price
$1,375 × 12 ÷ $206,726
Job Growth (YoY)
▲ 1.0%
CES payrolls
Job signal 82/100
Median Household Income
$57k
Census ACS 5-year
Rent Burden
29.1%
Annual rent ÷ household income
Price-to-Income
3.6x
Median value ÷ household income
HUD 2BR Fair Market Rent
$960
Market rent 143.2% 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$1,375HUD 1BR FMRFY2026 FMR$778HUD 2BR FMRFY2026 FMR$960Census ACS gross rentACS 2024 5-year$929Monthly 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$1,375HUD 1BR FMRFY2026 FMR$778HUD 2BR FMRFY2026 FMR$960ACS gross rentACS 2024 5-year$929
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
$1,375Primary 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
$778−$598 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
$960−$415 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
$929−$446 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 Jonesboro as context, then replace market-wide evidence with the candidate property's facts.

Regional price level

What feels expensive inside Jonesboro

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 Jonesboro, ARHorizontal bars compare all-items, housing, goods, utilities and other-services price levels with the United States benchmark of 100.405060708090100110All items85.9Housing53.8Goods93.6Utilities75.0Other 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 Jonesboro, 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%Office and AdministrativeSupport Occupations$38,560 median wage42.8%Healthcare Practitioners andTechnical Occupations$77,510 median wage21.3%Transportation and MaterialMoving Occupations$37,660 median wage43.8%Food Preparation and ServingRelated Occupations$27,670 median wage59.6%Sales and Related Occupations$30,930 median wage53.3%Production Occupations$46,380 median wage35.6%
Office and Administrative Support Occupations$38,560 median wage
42.8%
Healthcare Practitioners and Technical Occupations$77,510 median wage
21.3%
Transportation and Material Moving Occupations$37,660 median wage
43.8%
Food Preparation and Serving Related Occupations$27,670 median wage
59.6%
Sales and Related Occupations$30,930 median wage
53.3%
Production Occupations$46,380 median wage
35.6%
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 ↓
674201978320208812021810202271820237472024735202574820265+ unit buildingssingle family
748 units authorised in 2026, 16% of them in 5+ unit buildings. A meaningful share is apartments, which discount first when they lease up. ✓ 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
+186
3,101 in vs 2,915 out (IRS SOI)
▲ 6.0% of arriving households
Mover Income Gap
−$3,691
Arriving $46,483 vs leaving $50,174
Average AGI per tax return (IRS SOI)
Investor Purchase Share
24.4%
420 of 1,718 originated purchase loans
CFPB HMDA 2024
Dominant Hazard
earthquake
0.220% building value annual loss ratio
FEMA NRI · risk type: other
Compare yield and FEMA exposure →
Households arrive mainly from: Greene County · Mississippi County · Crittenden County · Cross County · Lawrence County
3,101 in − 2,915 out = 186 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. Paragould, AR302 arriving
  2. Memphis, TN246 arriving
  3. Little Rock, AR183 arriving
Leading outbound markets
  1. Paragould, AR371 leaving
  2. Little Rock, AR259 leaving
  3. Memphis, TN183 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. Home values rose 4.91% while asking rents rose 3.11%, so pricing gains outpaced rental-income gains.
  2. Permitting totaled 986 and 28.49% of listings had price drops, weakening a tight-supply, easy-resale thesis.
  3. Earthquake is the dominant hazard, while property-level exposure and insurance costs are not published.
Statistical peers

Market areas that behave like Jonesboro

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
Jonesboro, AR (Target)46$207k$1,3758.0%▲ 1.0%
LaGrange, GA56$206k$1,3527.9%▲ 1.4%
Dothan, AL41$197k$1,2307.5%▲ 0.6%
Homosassa Springs, FL31$274k$1,7087.5%▲ 0.6%
Morgantown, WV70$232k$1,5157.8%▲ 1.3%
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