Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Pine Bluff earns a D−, ranked 117th of 123 in Arkansas, mostly because of safety and schools. It reports more crime per resident than 99% of U.S. towns, including 533 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025. Its schools rank behind 97% of the state's. It also has a long history, with 57 places on the National Register. 48% of working residents work locally in Pine Bluff, above both the Arkansas town median (21%) and the median of U.S. towns (8%). Its National Register listings include MacMillan-Dilley House and Ferguson House. Residents are less healthy than 96% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates.
Where Pine Bluff beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Hudson-Grace-Borreson House| College | Students |
|---|---|
| University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff | 1,930 |
| Southeast Arkansas College | 515 |
| Jefferson Regional School of Nursing | 80 |
Its founding year, 1828, comes before those of 95% of the Arkansas towns we grade with a known year. Its 57 National Register listings are more than in 96% of Arkansas towns with a listing.
Census counts: 460 in 1850, a peak of 57,400 in 1970, 41,253 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1860 and 2 maps from 1962 on.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Arkansas), ordered by how far Pine Bluff is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Pine Bluff, 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 Pine Bluff.
Pine Bluff has homes that are cheap against local pay, but it reports violent crime at about twice the Arkansas rate and has a long record of flood insurance claims.
At 1.3 years of the Pine Bluff area’s $52K median household income, the typical home (about $68K) costs less against local pay than in 99% of Arkansas towns; that ratio is one input to its B+ for cost of living. Values fell 4.1% in the past year while the Arkansas typical home rose 3.4%.
The typical Pine Bluff home is worth about $68,000, 69% below the Arkansas typical home. 52% of households own their home in Pine Bluff.
| Pine Bluff | Arkansas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 52% | 60% | 73% |
| Median rent | $855 a month | $880 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Its public schools are run by the Pine Bluff School District. Two of its 16 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Friendship Aspire Academy Hazel St. Pine BluffLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–5 | Grades K–5 | 469 | A |
| Pine Bluff High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 10–12 | Grades 10–12 | 688 | D− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within AR on state tests and graduation
Violent crime runs at 13.9 per 1,000 residents, about twice the Arkansas rate; the Safety Grade counts each violent crime four times, so this weighs most on its D−. Property crime runs at 36.3 per 1,000 residents, about twice the Arkansas rate, most of it theft.
Pine Bluff’s property crime rate is 36.3 per 1,000 residents. Among 108 Arkansas towns, just 4 have a higher violent crime rate than Pine Bluff. Pine Bluff reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 99% report less.
| Pine Bluff | Arkansas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 13.9 per 1,000 residents | 3.6 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 36.3 per 1,000 residents | 13.5 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
40% of Pine Bluff adults feel lonely. Pine Bluff beats the Arkansas average on 4 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 17. 31% of Pine Bluff adults say their health is fair or poor.
| Pine Bluff | Arkansas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 13% | 12% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 52% | 41% | 35% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 34% | 19% | 14% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 49% | 39% | 35% |
| What stands out | Pine Bluff | AR |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 5.8% | 8.2% |
| Fewer binge drinkers | 11.3% | 14.6% |
| More adults facing a utility shut-off | 21.4% | 10.4% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
17 miles of trail in 14 parks and preserves. The biggest place to walk is Pine Bluff Regional Park, 921 acres with 5.9 miles of trail.
| Pine Bluff | Arkansas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 3.7% | 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. Pine Bluff Regional Park | 5.9 mi | 921 |
| 2. Martin Luther King Jr. Park | 1.8 mi | 114 |
| 3. Central Park | 0.3 mi | 8 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Pine Bluff has mild winters and warm summers, with plenty of rain. The July high in Pine Bluff is 92°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Jobs based in Pine Bluff fell to 17,573 in 2023, 3,421 fewer than in 2013. The top destinations are Little Rock (13%), North Little Rock (3%) and White Hall (3%). Half commute less than 6 miles.
| Pine Bluff | Arkansas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 24% | 17% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $43,000 | $55,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 19 minutes | 21 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Work from home | 4.2% | 6.3% | 11% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
207 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 31 properties have flooded more than once.
Expected storm and flood damage is higher than in 61% of U.S. communities. Since 1978, 207 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Pine Bluff.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
No broad age group is more than 4 points off the Arkansas average. Pine Bluff has lost 7.4% of its people since 2020, down to 38,213 in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate. 20% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 26% across Arkansas.
| Pine Bluff | Arkansas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 20% | 20% | 29% |
| Under 18 | 22% | 25% | 22% |
| Median age | 37.5 years | 36.6 years | 40.5 years |
52% women, 48% men
About 92 men for every 100 women (the survey’s margin: ±1.1 points). Across Arkansas, 50.6% of residents are women. Median age: women 39.9, men 35.6.
| Pine Bluff | AR | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 12.4% | 12.3% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 9.9% | 10.8% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 11.6% | 9.4% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 13% | 13% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 12.5% | 12.7% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 11.2% | 11.8% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 12.7% | 12.5% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 10% | 10.3% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 6.7% | 7.2% | 7% |
| No diploma | 13.5% | 11.3% | 10.4% |
| High school | 41.3% | 34.1% | 26% |
| Some college | 20.5% | 20.7% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 4.6% | 8.2% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 14.4% | 16.3% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 5.8% | 9.5% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
3 within 15 miles of the center of Pine Bluff
About 6 of every 100 Pine Bluff residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Arkansas.
3 colleges in town.
57 places in Pine Bluff on the National Register of Historic Places.
City in Arkansas, United States
Pine Bluff is a city in Jefferson County, Arkansas, United States, and its county seat. The population was 41,253 at the 2020 census, making it the tenth-most populous city in Arkansas. Pine Bluff is situated in the southeast section of the Arkansas Delta and straddles the Arkansas Timberlands region to its west. Its topography is flat with wide expanses of farmland, similar to other places in the Delta Lowlands. Pine Bluff has numerous creeks, streams, and bayous, including Bayou Bartholomew, the longest bayou in the world and the second most ecologically diverse stream in the United States. Large bodies of water include Lake Pine Bluff, Lake Langhofer (Slack Water Harbor), and the Arkansa…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
One town shares a border with Pine Bluff.
| Town | AR rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Pine Bluff | #117 | D− | B+ | D− | D− | D− |
| White Hall | #55 | C | C+ | B− | B+ | C− |
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Pine Bluff grades D− overall, in the bottom 2% of U.S. towns and #117 of 123 in Arkansas. It grades D− for health, D− for safety and D− for schools. Safety is its weak spot, with a D−.
Not for the area. That is 1.3 years of the area's median household income ($51,605 across the Pine Bluff, AR area). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B+.
