Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Lake City gives you more for your money than most places: a typical home costs about $164K, 2.9 years of the Jonesboro metro’s $57K median household income. It grades C overall, 48th among Arkansas's 123 graded towns. The low prices come with trade-offs. FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 80% of U.S. communities, with earthquakes at the top, and the median household income is $60K, and 12% of residents live below the poverty line. On the plus side, its schools rank ahead of 78% of Arkansas towns. Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 94% of U.S. towns. St. Francis River Bridge is on the National Register of Historic Places. Lake City's civic life (library use, community groups, volunteering) trails 81% of U.S. towns.
Where Lake City beats most towns.
2,082 counted in 2010 and 2,326 in 2020; an estimated 2,796 in 2025.
Growth hasn’t slowed: 20.8% since 2020, after 11.7% 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 Lake City is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 434 in 1900, 2,326 in 2020. The archive holds 18 old photos and papers going back to 1988 and 3 maps from 1941 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Lake 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 Lake City.
Lake City pairs an A− for schools with modest home prices, fares better on crime within Arkansas than nationally and looks healthier within Arkansas than nationally.
1.0 miles of trail in 3 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Wayne "Biscuit" Shorts Memorial Park, at 20 acres.
| Lake City | Arkansas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 0.1% | 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. Wayne "Biscuit" Shorts Memorial Park | 0.4 mi | 20 |
| 2. Carter Park | — | 2 |
| 3. Walker Park | — | 1 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its A− for schools comes with a B for cost of living: the typical home is worth about $165K.
Its public schools are run by the Riverside School District. Its two schools are below. The largest public high school is Riverside High School, with 342 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Riverside West Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–6 | Grades PK–6 | 300 | A− |
| Riverside High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 7–12 | Grades 7–12 | 342 | B− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within AR on state tests and graduation
Within Arkansas it is healthier than 60% of the 123 graded towns: much of Arkansas scores lower on these measures.
Lake City beats the Arkansas average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 1. 28% of adults have been diagnosed with depression in Lake City, above both Arkansas’ towns (25%) and U.S. towns (23%). 20% of Lake City adults report frequent mental distress.
| Lake City | Arkansas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 25% | 23% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 19% | 17% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 32% | 34% | 25% |
| Fair or poor health (CDC PLACES) | 24% | 25% | 19% |
| What stands out | Lake City | AR |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 27.8% | 18.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Since 2009, 4 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Lake City.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Most working residents leave Lake City for work: only 3% work in town. Since 2013, Lake City has added 23 jobs, to 378 in 2023. The top destinations are Jonesboro (53%), Trumann (3%) and Paragould (2%).
| Lake City | Arkansas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 3.2% | 22% | 8% |
| Median household income | $60,000 | $55,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 21 minutes | 21 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Typical home values rose 5.1% in the year to September 2026. Lake City’s median rent is $854 a month, near the Arkansas town median ($880 a month) and below the median of U.S. towns ($1,185 a month).
| Lake City | Arkansas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $854 a month | $880 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 66% | 60% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Adults 35 to 64 are 28% of residents (37% statewide); adults 18 to 34 are 31% of residents (22% statewide). The median age in Lake City is 32.1 years. Lake City has grown 21% since 2020, to 2,796 residents in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate.
| Lake City | Arkansas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 32.1 years | 36.6 years | 40.5 years |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 17% | 20% | 29% |
| Under 18 | 25% | 25% | 22% |
51% women, 49% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±4.3 points. Across Arkansas, 50.6% of residents are women.
| Lake City | AR | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 12.1% | 12.3% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 13% | 10.8% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 12.4% | 9.4% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 18.4% | 13% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 9.8% | 12.7% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 10.9% | 11.8% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 6.8% | 12.5% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 7% | 10.3% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 9.5% | 7.2% | 7% |
| No diploma | 11.5% | 11.3% | 10.4% |
| High school | 39.6% | 34.1% | 26% |
| Some college | 22.5% | 20.7% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 9.9% | 8.2% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 10.4% | 16.3% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 6.1% | 9.5% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 2,800, single groups can be off by several points
Lake City has mild winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. Lake City’s July high is 91°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
At 16 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports less crime than 85% of Arkansas’s graded towns. Violent crime is rare: 6 reported in 2025, 2.1 per 1,000 residents.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
1 within 15 miles of the center of Lake City
About 6 of every 100 Lake City residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Arkansas.
Where Lake City’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
City in Arkansas, United States
Lake City is a city in Craighead County, Arkansas, United States, along the St. Francis River. Lake City is one of two county seats in Craighead County. The population was 2,326 as of the 2020 census. It is included in the Jonesboro, Arkansas Metropolitan Statistical Area.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Lake City grades C overall, better than 32% of U.S. towns and #48 of 123 in Arkansas. It grades C− for health, B for safety and A− for schools. Walkability 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.
2 notable people were born here, including Gavin Stone and Dean Kirby.
