Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Forrest City grades D− overall, in the bottom 2% of U.S. towns, mostly because of health and safety. On CDC estimates, its residents' health ranks in the bottom 2% nationally. Its police reported 161 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025, a higher rate per resident than 98% of U.S. towns. 38% of residents live below the poverty line in Forrest City, above both Arkansas’ towns (17%) and U.S. towns (9.6%). Only 20 of Arkansas’ 201 towns score lower on incomes. Forrest City is home to East Arkansas Community College.
Where Forrest City beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
First United Methodist Church| College | Students |
|---|---|
| East Arkansas Community College | 792 |
| Widest gap | Forrest City | AR |
|---|---|---|
| More adults facing a utility shut-off | 26.7% | 10.4% |
Census counts: 903 in 1880, 13,015 in 2020. The archive holds 8 old photos and papers going back to 1937 and 3 maps from 1939 on.
9 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Arkansas), ordered by how far Forrest City is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Forrest City, 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 Forrest City.
Forrest City has homes that are cheap against local pay, but it reports violent crime at about twice the Arkansas rate and has poverty well above the Arkansas rate.
At 1.6 years of the Forrest City area’s $43K median household income, the typical home (about $70K) costs less against local pay than in 97% of Arkansas towns; that ratio is one input to its B− for cost of living. Values fell 4.1% in the past year while the Arkansas typical home rose 3.4%.
39% of households own their home in Forrest City. The typical Forrest City home is worth about $70,000, 69% below the Arkansas typical home. The median rent in Forrest City is $805 a month.
| Forrest City | Arkansas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 39% | 60% | 73% |
| Median rent | $805 a month | $880 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Its public schools are run by the Forrest City School District. Two of its 7 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Forrest City High School, with 563 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Central Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–2 | Grades PK–2 | 713 | – |
| Forrest City High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 563 | D− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within AR on state tests and graduation
26% of Forrest City adults smoke cigarettes. Among 123 Arkansas towns, just 1 have a higher share of adults who sleep under 7 hours than Forrest City. 47% of Forrest City adults get no exercise outside work.
| Forrest City | Arkansas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 26% | 17% | 14% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 53% | 39% | 35% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 13% | 12% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 47% | 34% | 25% |
| What stands out | Forrest City | AR |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 5.4% | 8.2% |
| Fewer adults with depression | 21% | 24.6% |
| More adults facing a utility shut-off | 26.7% | 10.4% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Violent crime runs at 13.2 per 1,000 residents, about twice the Arkansas rate; the Safety Grade counts each violent crime four times, so this weighs most on its D−. Reported crimes fell from 666 to 534 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
Forrest City’s violent crime rate is 13.2 per 1,000 residents. Forrest City reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 98% report less. Forrest City’s property crime rate is 30.6 per 1,000 residents.
| Forrest City | Arkansas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 13.2 per 1,000 residents | 3.6 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 30.6 per 1,000 residents | 13.5 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Forrest City has mild winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. July afternoons reach 91°, January nights drop to 32° and about 2 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 67% of U.S. communities. Since 1980, 2 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Forrest City.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The average commute for its 3,608 working residents takes 16.4 minutes, against 22.5 across Arkansas.
41% of Forrest City’s working residents work right in town. Since 2013, Forrest City has lost 1,019 jobs, to 4,992 in 2023. Only 8 of the 123 Arkansas towns we compare have a lower median household income than Forrest City.
| Forrest City | Arkansas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 41% | 21% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 16 minutes | 21 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $36,000 | $55,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Just 38 of its 12,939 acres are conserved, so there is little public open land in Forrest City itself; its outdoors grade is D.
0.3 miles of trail in 2 parks and preserves.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Beech Grove Park | — | 3 |
| 2. Sycamore Street Park | — | 1 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
1 within 15 miles of the center of Forrest City
About 5 of every 100 Forrest City residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Arkansas.
15,371 counted in 2010 and 13,015 in 2020; an estimated 12,308 in 2025.
The decline has continued: down 5.4% since 2020, after 15.3% in the decade before.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
9 places in Forrest City on the National Register of Historic Places.
19 notable people were born in Forrest City.
City in the United States
Forrest City is a city in and the county seat of St. Francis County, Arkansas, United States. It was named for General Nathan Bedford Forrest, a notable Confederate war hero who later became the first Grand Wizard of the Ku Klux Klan. Shortly after the end of the Civil War, he had a construction crew camped here, who were completing a railroad between Memphis and Little Rock. As of the 2020 census, Forrest City had a population of 13,015. The city identifies as the "Jewel of the Delta".
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
One town shares a border with Forrest City.
| Town | AR rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Forrest City | #122 | D− | B− | D− | D | D− |
| Caldwell | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Caldwell isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Forrest City with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Forrest City grades D− overall, in the bottom 2% of U.S. towns. It grades D− for health, D− for safety and D for schools. Health is its weak spot, with a D−.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B−.
19 notable people were born here, including Al Green and G. Wood.
