Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 3,576, settled in 1840.
Huntsville gives you more for your money than most places: homes are within reach, about $262K for a typical one, or 3.2 years of the Fayetteville metro’s $82K median household income. It grades C overall, 54th of 123 graded towns in Arkansas. The low prices come with trade-offs. Residents are less healthy than 94% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. Huntsville has 3 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Madison County Courthouse and War Eagle Creek Bridge. Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 82% of U.S. towns. Only 1 of the 123 Arkansas towns we compare have a lower July high than Huntsville.
Where Huntsville beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
2,346 counted in 2010 and 2,879 in 2020; an estimated 3,576 in 2025.
Growth hasn’t slowed: 24.3% since 2020, after 22.7% in the decade before.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Arkansas), ordered by how far Huntsville is from typical.
Its grades run from A+ for cost of living (better than 97% of comparable towns) to D for health (better than 6%), so the C overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 255 in 1850, 2,879 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 2013 and 3 maps from 1900 on.
3 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Huntsville, 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 Huntsville.
Huntsville trades lower home prices for longer drives to work, draws workers from Springdale and beyond and has hotter summers than most of the country, though not than most of Arkansas.
30% of adults say their health is fair or poor in Huntsville, above both Arkansas’ towns (25%) and U.S. towns (19%). 38% of Huntsville adults get no exercise outside work. Huntsville beats the Arkansas average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 11.
| Huntsville | Arkansas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 25% | 19% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 38% | 34% | 25% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 16% | 14% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 19% | 17% |
| What stands out | Huntsville | AR |
|---|---|---|
| More uninsured adults | 15.3% | 11.3% |
| More adults facing food insecurity | 23.5% | 18.5% |
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 23.4% | 18.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Its public schools are run by the Huntsville School District. Two of its 4 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Huntsville High School, with 581 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Watson Primary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–2 | Grades PK–2 | 516 | – |
| Huntsville High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 581 | C− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within AR on state tests and graduation
2,183 jobs are based in Huntsville, 2.2 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in. Jobs based here grew from 1,446 in 2013 to 2,183.
About one in 3 of Huntsville’s working residents works in town. 20% of residents live below the poverty line in Huntsville, where Arkansas’ towns sit at 17% and U.S. towns at 9.6%. Jobs based in Huntsville grew to 2,183 in 2023, 737 more than in 2013.
| Huntsville | Arkansas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 32% | 21% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 20% | 17% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 26 minutes | 21 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $58,000 | $55,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
July afternoons average 88.5°: hotter than most of the country, but cooler than 97% of Arkansas places with climate records; January nights average 25.8°.
Huntsville has chilly winters and warm summers. Only 9 of the 123 Arkansas towns we compare have a lower January low than Huntsville.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Homes are within reach (about $262K for the typical one, A+ for cost of living), but half of working residents commute more than 22 miles.
The median rent in Huntsville is $620 a month. The typical Huntsville home is worth about $262,000, up 2.8% in a year, 17% above the Arkansas typical home.
| Huntsville | Arkansas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $620 a month | $880 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 65% | 60% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
1.0 miles of trail in 3 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Huntsville Mitchusson Park, at 54 acres.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Walking Trail | 0.4 mi | 4 |
| 2. Huntsville Mitchusson Park | — | 54 |
| 3. Town Commons | — | 1 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 52% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
None within 15 miles of Huntsville; the nearest are
About 4 of every 100 Huntsville residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Arkansas.
Where Huntsville’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
3 places in Huntsville on the National Register of Historic Places.
5 notable people were born in Huntsville.
City in Arkansas, United States
Huntsville is a city in and the county seat of Madison County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 2,867 at the 2020 census, up from 2,346 in 2010. During the American Civil War in 1862, it was the site of what became known as the Huntsville Massacre. Huntsville is part of the Northwest Arkansas region.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Huntsville grades C overall, better than 30% of U.S. towns and #54 of 123 in Arkansas. It grades D for health and B− for schools. Health is its weak spot, with a D.
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 A+.
5 notable people were born here, including Ronnie Hawkins and Gary Miller.
