Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Batesville gives you more for your money than most places: a typical home costs about $177K, 3.1 years of the Batesville area’s $57K median household income. It grades C− overall, 71st among Arkansas's 123 graded towns. The low prices come with trade-offs. FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 78% of U.S. communities, with inland flooding at the top, and residents are less healthy than 82% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. 53% of working residents work locally in Batesville, above both the Arkansas town median (21%) and the median of U.S. towns (8%). Its National Register listings include Glenn House and Dondy Building. Only 2 of the 123 Arkansas towns we compare have a lower average trip to work than Batesville.
Where Batesville beats most towns.
Garrott House| College | Students |
|---|---|
| University of Arkansas Community College-Batesville | 790 |
| Lyon College | 584 |
Its founding year, 1821, comes before those of 98% of the Arkansas towns we grade with a known year.
Census counts: 848 in 1850, 11,191 in 2020. The archive holds 10 old photos and papers going back to 1890 and 3 maps from 1943 on.
26 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Arkansas), ordered by how far Batesville is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Batesville, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Nov 18, 2024.
Ordered by what stands out in Batesville.
Batesville draws workers from Southside and beyond and is healthier than towns with similar incomes, but it has a long record of flood insurance claims.
12,862 jobs are based in Batesville, 2.9 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. The average commute takes 12.9 minutes, against 22.5 across Arkansas.
26% of residents live below the poverty line in Batesville. Since 2013, Batesville has added 2,014 jobs, to 12,862 in 2023. The median household income in Batesville is $52,000.
| Batesville | Arkansas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 26% | 17% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $52,000 | $55,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 6.5% | 6.1% | 11% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Its public schools are run by the Batesville School District. Two of its 5 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Batesville High School Charter, with 986 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Eagle Mountain Magnet Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 905 | A− |
| Batesville High School CharterLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 986 | C |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within AR on state tests and graduation
Against the 6,409 U.S. towns with household incomes like Batesville’s, it is less healthy than 59%, so its C− isn’t only a matter of income. Within Arkansas it is healthier than 53% of the 123 graded towns: much of Arkansas scores lower on these measures.
35% of Batesville adults get no exercise outside work. Batesville beats the Arkansas average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 2. 14% of Batesville adults 18 to 64 have no health insurance.
| Batesville | Arkansas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 35% | 34% | 25% |
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 11% | 8.1% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 41% | 39% | 35% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 19% | 14% |
| What stands out | Batesville | AR |
|---|---|---|
| More uninsured adults | 14.1% | 11.3% |
| Fewer adults getting cholesterol checked | 82.6% | 84.8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Batesville’s violent crime rate is 5.2 per 1,000 residents. Within Arkansas, it does better than 48% of towns.
| Batesville | Arkansas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 5.2 per 1,000 residents | 3.6 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 13.8 per 1,000 residents | 13.5 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
78 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 15 properties have flooded more than once.
Since 1982, 78 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Batesville.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
| Batesville | Arkansas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 0.4% | 0.8% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.2 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Fitzhugh Park | 0.8 mi | 19 |
| 2. Riverside Park | 0.5 mi | 14 |
| 3. Kennedy Park | — | 8 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Typical home values rose 5% in the year to September 2026.
| Batesville | Arkansas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 52% | 60% | 73% |
| Median rent | $882 a month | $875 a month | $1,185 a month |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Batesville has mild winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. July afternoons reach 90°, January nights drop to 29° and about 2 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
No broad age group is more than 4 points off the Arkansas average. Batesville has grown 5.9% since 2020, to 11,860 residents in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate.
| Batesville | Arkansas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 33.9 years | 36.6 years | 40.5 years |
| Under 18 | 26% | 25% | 22% |
| Aged 65 or older | 16% | 16% | 18% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 22% | 20% | 29% |
51% women, 49% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±2.8 points. Across Arkansas, 50.6% of residents are women.
| Batesville | AR | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 13.1% | 12.3% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 12.6% | 10.8% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 14.5% | 9.4% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 10.9% | 13% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 14.6% | 12.7% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 8.4% | 11.8% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 10.1% | 12.5% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 6.7% | 10.3% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 9.1% | 7.2% | 7% |
| No diploma | 12.6% | 11.3% | 10.4% |
| High school | 34.1% | 34.1% | 26% |
| Some college | 21.2% | 20.7% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 10.3% | 8.2% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 12.5% | 16.3% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 9.3% | 9.5% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
2 within 15 miles of the center of Batesville
About 6 of every 100 Batesville residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Arkansas.
Where Batesville’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
26 places in Batesville on the National Register of Historic Places.
17 notable people were born in Batesville.
City in Arkansas, United States
Batesville is the largest city in and the county seat of Independence County, Arkansas, United States, 80 miles (128 km) northeast of Little Rock, the state capital. According to the 2020 Census, the population of the city was 11,191. The city serves as a regional manufacturing and distribution hub for the Ozark Mountain region and Northeast Arkansas.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
One town shares a border with Batesville.
| Town | AR rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Batesville | #71 | C− | B+ | C− | B | C− |
| Moorefield | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Moorefield isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Batesville with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Batesville grades C− overall, better than 19% of U.S. towns and #71 of 123 in Arkansas. It grades C− for health, C− for safety and B for schools. Hazard risk is its weak spot, with a D.
Within Arkansas, it does better than 48% of towns.
Not for the area. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B+.
17 notable people were born here, including Mark Martin and William Read Miller.
