Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 3,357, settled in 1874.
Paris gives you more for your money than most places: a typical home costs about $155K, 2.7 years of the county’s $59K median household income. It grades C+ overall, 41st of 123 graded towns in Arkansas. The low prices come with trade-offs. Its police reported 31 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025, a higher rate per resident than 93% of U.S. towns, and the median household income is $51K, and 19% of residents live below the poverty line. On the plus side, its schools outperform 81% of the state's. Paris’ violent crime rate is 9.4 per 1,000 residents, above both Arkansas’ towns (3.6) and U.S. towns (1.6). Only 11 of Arkansas’ 200 towns score higher on walkability. Paris has 13 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Paris Post Office and Evelyn Gill Walker House.
Where Paris beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Census counts: 547 in 1890, 3,176 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1880 and 3 maps from 1887 on.
13 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Arkansas), ordered by how far Paris is from typical.
Its grades run from A+ for cost of living (better than 96% of comparable towns) to D for safety (better than 7%), so the C+ overall blends very different results.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Paris, 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 Paris.
Paris pairs an A− for schools with modest home prices, trades lower home prices for longer drives to work and fares better on crime within Arkansas than nationally.
At 57.1 crimes per 1,000 residents a year, it reports more crime than 79% of Arkansas’s graded towns.
The property crime rate in Paris is 23.2 per 1,000 residents. Paris reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 93% report less.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Its A− for schools comes with an A+ for cost of living: the typical home is worth about $155K.
Its public schools are run by the Paris School District. Two of its 4 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Paris High School, with 306 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Paris Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–4 | Grades PK–4 | 416 | B+ |
| Paris High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 306 | B− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within AR on state tests and graduation
Against the 6,273 U.S. towns with household incomes like Paris’s, it is less healthy than 61%, so its C− isn’t only a matter of income. Within Arkansas it is less healthy than 51% of the 123 graded towns: much of Arkansas scores lower on these measures.
Paris beats the Arkansas average on 1 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 5. 45% of Paris adults have high blood pressure.
| Paris | Arkansas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 45% | 41% | 35% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 16% | 14% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 34% | 34% | 25% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 13% | 12% |
| What stands out | Paris | AR |
|---|---|---|
| More adults treating high blood pressure | 80% | 76.9% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 10.1% | 8.2% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Homes are within reach (about $155K for the typical one, A+ for cost of living), but half of working residents commute more than 33 miles.
Paris’ median rent is $641 a month. The typical Paris home is worth about $155,000, up 4.3% in a year, 31% below the Arkansas typical home. 76% of households own their home in Paris.
| Paris | Arkansas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $641 a month | $880 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 76% | 60% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Paris has mild winters and hot summers, with plenty of rain. July afternoons reach 92°, January nights drop to 29° and about 2 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Among 123 Arkansas towns, just 3 have a lower share of children under 18 than Paris. Paris has grown 2.7% since 2020, to 3,357 residents in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate. Children under 18 are 16% of residents (23% statewide); people 65 and older are 23% of residents (18% statewide).
| Paris | Arkansas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 18 | 16% | 25% | 22% |
| Aged 65 or older | 23% | 16% | 18% |
| Median age | 43.8 years | 36.6 years | 40.5 years |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 18% | 20% | 29% |
49% women, 51% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±4.3 points. Across Arkansas, 50.6% of residents are women.
| Paris | AR | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 10% | 12.3% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 6.1% | 10.8% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 6.1% | 9.4% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 16.2% | 13% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 13.3% | 12.7% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 15% | 11.8% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 10.8% | 12.5% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 12.9% | 10.3% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 9.7% | 7.2% | 7% |
| No diploma | 11.3% | 11.3% | 10.4% |
| High school | 46.9% | 34.1% | 26% |
| Some college | 13.8% | 20.7% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 9.7% | 8.2% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 13.2% | 16.3% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 5.2% | 9.5% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 3,400, single groups can be off by several points
Jobs based here fell from 2,345 in 2013 to 1,576.
About one in 4 of Paris’s working residents works in town. Jobs based in Paris fell to 1,576 in 2023, 769 fewer than in 2013. The top destinations are Fort Smith (15%), Russellville (5%) and Clarksville (4%).
| Paris | Arkansas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 25% | 21% | 8% |
| Median household income | $51,000 | $55,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 24 minutes | 21 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
1.0 miles of trail in 4 parks and preserves. Paris City Park, at 30 acres with 1 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve.
| Paris | Arkansas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.2 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 1.2% | 0.8% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Paris City Park | 1 mi | 30 |
| 2. Veterians Park | — | 17 |
| 3. Ozark-Saint Francis National Forest | — | 3 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 55% of U.S. communities. One flood insurance claim has been paid in Paris since 2008.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
None within 15 miles of Paris; the nearest are
About 4 of every 100 Paris residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Arkansas.
3,532 counted in 2010 and 3,176 in 2020; an estimated 3,357 in 2025.
The decline has turned around: up 2.7% since 2020, after a 10.1% drop in the decade before.
U.S. Census 2010 & 2020 counts · Census Bureau estimate, July 1, 2025
13 places in Paris on the National Register of Historic Places.
11 notable people were born in Paris.
City in Arkansas, United States
Paris is a city in Logan County, Arkansas, United States, and serves as the county seat for the northern district of Logan County; its southern district counterpart is Booneville. Its population was 3,176 as of the 2020 U.S. Census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Paris grades C+ overall, better than 37% of U.S. towns and #41 of 123 in Arkansas. It grades C− for health, D for safety and A− for schools. Safety 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+.
11 notable people were born here, including Bob Wootton and Maury Dexter.
