Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Prescott grades D− overall, 103rd among Arkansas's 123 graded towns, mostly because of health and safety. Residents are less healthy than 98% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. Its police reported 18 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025, a higher rate per resident than 83% of U.S. towns. One bright spot: homes are within reach, about $82K for a typical one, or 1.5 years of the county’s $54K median household income. 34% of working residents work locally in Prescott, where Arkansas’ towns sit at 21% and U.S. towns at 8%. Its National Register listings include Prairie De Ann Battlefield and D. L. McRae House. Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 68% of U.S. towns.
Where Prescott beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Prairie De Ann BattlefieldPrairie De Ann Battlefield is a National Historic Landmark, the National Register’s top tier.
Census counts: 1,253 in 1880, 3,101 in 2020. The archive holds 18 old photos and papers going back to 1880 and 3 maps from 1901 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 Prescott is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Prescott, 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 Prescott.
Prescott draws workers from Hope and beyond and has homes that are cheap against local pay.
Only 5 of the 123 Arkansas towns we compare have a higher share of adults who have diabetes than Prescott. 42% of adults get no exercise outside work locally. The town does better than the Arkansas average on 2 of 32 CDC measures and worse on 18.
| Prescott | Arkansas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 13% | 12% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 52% | 41% | 35% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 42% | 34% | 25% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 46% | 39% | 36% |
| What stands out | Prescott | AR |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer binge drinkers | 11.3% | 14.6% |
| More adults treating high blood pressure | 80.5% | 76.9% |
| More adults facing a utility shut-off | 18.4% | 10.4% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Two of its 3 schools are shown below, with the reason for each. Its public schools are run by the Prescott School District. The 3 public schools in Prescott teach 901 students between them.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Prescott Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–4 | Grades PK–4 | 363 | C− |
| Prescott High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 296 | D |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within AR on state tests and graduation
1,672 jobs are based in Prescott, 1.5 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in.
Half of commuters travel less than 15 miles. Prescott’s middle household income stands at $48,000. It had 1,672 jobs in 2023, down 135 from 2013. The top destinations are Hope (7%), Texarkana (4%) and Little Rock (4%).
| Prescott | Arkansas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $48,000 | $55,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 21 minutes | 21 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
The violent offense rate for Prescott comes to 6.1 per 1,000 residents. Within Arkansas, it does better than 44% of towns.
| Prescott | Arkansas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 6.1 per 1,000 residents | 3.6 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 19 per 1,000 residents | 13.5 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
On expected storm and flood damage, Prescott sits above 77% of U.S. communities. A third of the town’s expected losses from natural hazards come from inland flooding, followed by ice storms at 27%. Federal disaster aid has reached households in Prescott after 4 declared disasters, most recently in 2024.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Trails total 1.4 miles in 3 parks and preserves. Prescott’s trail network density is 0.2 miles per square mile.
| Prescott | Arkansas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 0.6% | 0.8% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.2 miles per square mile | 0.3 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Johnson Sports Complex | — | 8 |
| 2. Prescott City Park | 0.2 mi | 5 |
| 3. McRay Park | — | 3 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its peak summer temperature stands at 92°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The share of adults 25 and older in Prescott who hold a bachelor’s degree or more: 17%. No age group stands out against Arkansas: all are within 4 points. The Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate puts Prescott at 2,949 residents, down 4.9% since 2020. The midpoint age here is 35.6 years.
| Prescott | Arkansas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 17% | 20% | 29% |
| Median age | 35.6 years | 36.6 years | 40.5 years |
| Aged 65 or older | 16% | 16% | 18% |
49% women, 51% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±5.2 points. Across Arkansas, 50.6% of residents are women. Among residents 25 to 34, 89% are women (AR 50%).
| Prescott | AR | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 15.9% | 12.3% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 9.8% | 10.8% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 15.3% | 9.4% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 4.7% | 13% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 11.6% | 12.7% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 12.5% | 11.8% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 14.1% | 12.5% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 6.9% | 10.3% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 9.2% | 7.2% | 7% |
| No diploma | 5% | 11.3% | 10.4% |
| High school | 45.5% | 34.1% | 26% |
| Some college | 25.7% | 20.7% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 6.5% | 8.2% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 15.2% | 16.3% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 2.2% | 9.5% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 2,900, single groups can be off by several points
At 1.5 years of the county’s $54K median household income, the typical home costs less against local pay than in 98% of Arkansas towns; that ratio is one input to its B+ for cost of living. 76.5% of renter households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, against 44.8% across Arkansas.
55% of Prescott households are owner-occupiers. For Prescott, the rent at the middle of the market is $887 a month.
| Prescott | Arkansas towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 55% | 60% | 73% |
| Median rent | $887 a month | $875 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
None within 15 miles of Prescott; the nearest are
About 6 of every 100 Prescott residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Arkansas.
Where Prescott’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
13 places in Prescott on the National Register of Historic Places.
12 notable people were born in Prescott.
City in Arkansas, United States
Prescott is a city in and the county seat of Nevada County, Arkansas, United States. As of the 2020 census, Prescott had a population of 3,101. Prescott is part of the Hope Micropolitan Statistical Area. Located 100 miles southwest of Little Rock, Prescott was developed on the Prairie D'Âne, named by French colonists before the United States acquired this area. The prairie consisted of approximately 25–30 square miles of rolling open land, surrounded by forest. The area had been a well-known crossroads prior to construction of the Cairo & Fulton Railroad. To the west lies the city of Washington, to the east lies the city of Camden, while to the south lies the Red River, with Shreveport, Tex…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Prescott grades D− overall, better than 4% of U.S. towns and #103 of 123 in Arkansas. It grades D− for health, C− for safety and C− for schools. Health is its weak spot, with a D−.
Within Arkansas, it does better than 44% of towns.
Not for the area. The typical home is worth about $82,000, 63% below the Arkansas typical home. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B+.
12 notable people were born here, including Floyd Robinson and Chuck Tompkins.
