Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Jonesboro grades D− overall, ranked 109th of 123 in Arkansas, mostly because of safety and incomes. Its crime rate is higher than 92% of U.S. towns, with 468 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025. The median household income is $55K, and 23% of residents live below the poverty line. What it does well: it is more walkable than 52% of U.S. towns. 64% of working residents work locally in Jonesboro, above both Arkansas’ towns (21%) and U.S. towns (8%). On cost of living, just 11 of Arkansas’ 201 towns do worse. Its National Register listings include Craighead County Courthouse and Frierson House.
Where Jonesboro beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Frierson House| College | Students |
|---|---|
| Arkansas State University | 7,450 |
Census counts: 155 in 1870, 78,576 in 2020. The archive holds 5 old photos and papers going back to 1880 and 3 maps from 1939 on.
18 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Arkansas), ordered by how far Jonesboro is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Jonesboro, 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 Jonesboro.
Jonesboro draws workers from Paragould and beyond, fares better on crime within Arkansas than nationally and is healthier than towns with similar incomes.
45,727 jobs are based in Jonesboro, 1.5 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in.
Jonesboro’s average trip to work is 18 minutes. Jobs based in Jonesboro grew to 45,727 in 2023, 6,191 more than in 2013. The top destinations are Paragould (4%), Little Rock (3%) and Batesville (1%).
| Jonesboro | Arkansas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 18 minutes | 21 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $55,000 | $55,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 7.7% | 6.1% | 11% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Three of its 29 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Valley View Intermediate SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades 3–6 | Grades 3–6 | 933 | A |
| The Academies at Jonesboro High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 7–12 | Grades 7–12 | 1,505 | C− |
| Valley View Junior High SchoolTop results in townGrades 7–9 | Grades 7–9 | 699 | A |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within AR on state tests and graduation
At 54.8 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports more crime than 77% of Arkansas’s graded towns. Reported crimes fell from 3,174 to 2,474 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
The violent crime rate in Jonesboro is 5.6 per 1,000 residents. Jonesboro reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 92% report less. The property crime rate in Jonesboro is 24.1 per 1,000 residents.
| Jonesboro | Arkansas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 5.6 per 1,000 residents | 3.6 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 24.1 per 1,000 residents | 13.5 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
32 miles of trail in 13 parks and preserves. Craighead Forest Park, at 610 acres with 15.3 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve.
| Jonesboro | Arkansas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 1.8% | 0.8% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.4 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Craighead Forest Park | 15.3 mi | 610 |
| 2. Forrest L. Wood Crowley’s Ridge Nature Center | 2.4 mi | 117 |
| 3. Southside Softball Complex | 1.7 mi | 64 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Against the 7,542 U.S. towns with household incomes like Jonesboro’s, it is less healthy than 53%, so its C isn’t only a matter of income. Within Arkansas it is healthier than 61% of the 123 graded towns: much of Arkansas scores lower on these measures.
Jonesboro beats the Arkansas average on 4 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 6. 41% of Jonesboro adults sleep under 7 hours.
| Jonesboro | Arkansas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 41% | 39% | 36% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 22% | 19% | 14% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 25% | 23% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 32% | 34% | 25% |
| What stands out | Jonesboro | AR |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults with heart disease | 6.4% | 7.7% |
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 6.9% | 8.2% |
| More adults without reliable transportation | 12.3% | 9.7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
232 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 35 properties have flooded more than once.
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 74% of U.S. communities. Since 1978, 232 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Jonesboro.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Jonesboro has mild winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. July afternoons reach 90°, January nights drop to 30° and about 4 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Adults 18 to 34 are 28% of residents (22% statewide). Jonesboro has grown 6.1% since 2020, to 83,296 residents in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate. 32% of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more in Jonesboro.
| Jonesboro | Arkansas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 33.9 years | 36.6 years | 40.5 years |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 32% | 20% | 29% |
| Aged 65 or older | 14% | 16% | 18% |
| Under 18 | 24% | 25% | 22% |
51.5% women, 48.5% men
About 94 men for every 100 women. Across Arkansas, 50.6% of residents are women. Median age: women 35.9, men 32.5.
| Jonesboro | AR | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 12.9% | 12.3% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 11.1% | 10.8% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 13% | 9.4% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 14.6% | 13% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 13.9% | 12.7% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 10.6% | 11.8% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 9.8% | 12.5% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 8.5% | 10.3% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 5.7% | 7.2% | 7% |
| No diploma | 9.2% | 11.3% | 10.4% |
| High school | 28.4% | 34.1% | 26% |
| Some college | 22% | 20.7% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 8.6% | 8.2% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 18.7% | 16.3% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 13.1% | 9.5% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
The typical Jonesboro home is worth about $227,000, up 3.7% in a year, close to the Arkansas typical home.
| Jonesboro | Arkansas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 54% | 60% | 73% |
| Renters paying 30%+ of income on rent | 54% | 44% | 48% |
| Median rent | $956 a month | $875 a month | $1,185 a month |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
1 within 15 miles of the center of Jonesboro
About 8 of every 100 Jonesboro residents are enrolled in college, against 5 across Arkansas.
67,263 counted in 2010 and 78,576 in 2020; an estimated 83,296 in 2025.
Growth hasn’t slowed: 6.1% since 2020, after 16.8% in the decade before.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
18 places in Jonesboro on the National Register of Historic Places.
29 notable people were born in Jonesboro.
City in Northeast Arkansas
Jonesboro () is a city in and it is one of two county seats of Craighead County, Arkansas, United States. The population was 78,579 as of the 2020 census, and was estimated at 83,296 in 2025, making it the fifth-most-populous city in Arkansas. Located on Crowley's Ridge in the northeastern part of the state. Jonesboro is the home of Arkansas State University and is the cultural and economic center of Northeast Arkansas. In 2025, the Jonesboro metropolitan area had a population of 139,440, and the greater Jonesboro–Paragould combined statistical area had a population of 186,851.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
One town shares a border with Jonesboro.
Bay has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Compare Jonesboro with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Jonesboro grades D− overall, better than 2% of U.S. towns and #109 of 123 in Arkansas. It grades C for health, D for safety and C for schools. Safety is its weak spot, with a D.
That is 4 years of the area's median household income ($56,738 across the Jonesboro, AR metro area). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C+.
29 notable people were born here, including John Grisham and Wes Bentley.
