Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Hope earns a D−, 112th among Arkansas's 123 graded towns, mostly because of safety and health. Its crime rate is higher than 96% of U.S. towns, with 76 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025. Residents are less healthy than 96% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. It also has a long history, with 15 places on the National Register. Hope’s violent crime rate is 9.1 per 1,000 residents, above both the Arkansas town median (3.6) and the median of U.S. towns (1.6). Its National Register listings include Washington Historic District and Bill Clinton Birthplace. The median household income is $38K, and 23% of residents live below the poverty line.
Where Hope beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
St. Mark's Episcopal Church| College | Students |
|---|---|
| University of Arkansas Hope-Texarkana | 975 |
Census counts: 1,233 in 1880, 8,952 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1880 and 2 maps from 1951 on.
14 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Arkansas), ordered by how far Hope is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Hope, 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 Hope.
Hope is healthier than towns with similar incomes, has homes that are cheap against local pay and trades workers with Prescott and other neighbors.
Reported crimes fell from 405 to 293 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
Hope’s property crime rate is 26 per 1,000 residents. Hope reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 96% report less.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Its public schools are run by the Hope School District. Two of its 8 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Hope High School, with 611 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| WM. Jefferson Clinton Primary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–6 | Grades PK–6 | 929 | D |
| Hope High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 611 | D |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within AR on state tests and graduation
Against the 1,735 U.S. towns with household incomes like Hope’s, it is less healthy than 71%, so its D− isn’t only a matter of income.
42% of adults get no exercise outside work in Hope. Hope beats the Arkansas average on 1 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 13. 31% of adults worry about having enough food in Hope.
| Hope | Arkansas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 42% | 34% | 25% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 19% | 14% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 48% | 39% | 35% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 25% | 19% |
| What stands out | Hope | AR |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 6.4% | 8.2% |
| More adults facing food insecurity | 30.7% | 18.5% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
At 2.5 years of the county’s $47K median household income, the typical home (about $118K) costs less against local pay than in 78% of Arkansas towns; that ratio is one input to its B for cost of living. 60.9% of renter households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, against 44.8% across Arkansas.
The typical Hope home is worth about $118,000, up 3.4% in a year, 48% below the Arkansas typical home. The median rent in Hope is $823 a month.
| Hope | Arkansas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $823 a month | $880 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 60% | 60% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
3.6 miles of trail in 3 parks and preserves. The biggest place to walk is Fair Park, 170 acres with 1 miles of trail.
| Hope | Arkansas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 2.1% | 0.8% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.3 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Fair Park | 1 mi | 170 |
| 2. Northside Park | — | 25 |
| 3. President William Jefferson Clinton Birthplace Home National Historic Site | — | 1 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Hope has mild winters and hot summers, with plenty of rain. July afternoons reach 92°, January nights drop to 33° and about 2 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Hope has about as many jobs (3,668) as working residents, but only 951 people both live and work here.
About one in 3 of Hope’s working residents works in town. Jobs based in Hope fell to 3,668 in 2023, 771 fewer than in 2013. The top destinations are Prescott (4%), Texarkana (4%) and Texarkana (3%).
| Hope | Arkansas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 29% | 21% | 8% |
| Median household income | $38,000 | $55,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 19 minutes | 21 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 51% of U.S. communities. Since 2016, 3 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Hope.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
1 within 15 miles of the center of Hope
About 4 of every 100 Hope residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Arkansas.
10,095 counted in 2010 and 8,952 in 2020; an estimated 8,445 in 2025.
The decline has continued: down 5.7% since 2020, after 11.3% in the decade before.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
14 places in Hope on the National Register of Historic Places.
22 notable people were born in Hope.
City in Arkansas, United States
Hope is a city in Hempstead County in southwestern Arkansas, United States. Hope is the county seat of Hempstead County and the principal city of the Hope Micropolitan Statistical Area, which includes all of Hempstead and Nevada counties. As of the 2010 census the population was 10,095, and for the 2020 census, the population was 8,952. Hope is the birthplace of three Arkansas governors: Bill Clinton (also president of the United States from 1993 to 2001), Mike Huckabee (who ran for the Republican presidential nomination in 2008 and 2016), and Sarah Huckabee Sanders (the incumbent governor and daughter of Mike Huckabee).
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Hope grades D− overall, in the bottom 2% of U.S. towns and #112 of 123 in Arkansas. It grades D− for health, D− for safety and C− for schools. Safety is its weak spot, with a D−.
That is 2.5 years of the area's median household income ($46,787 across the county). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B.
22 notable people were born here, including Mike Huckabee and Melinda Dillon.
