Benton County's two-bedroom fair market rent is $1,347. Pulaski County's — Little Rock, the state capital — is $1,147.
Northwest Arkansas costs $200 a month more than the capital, and Benton County is the most expensive rent area in the state.
Arkansas's statewide figure is $880, forty-third-highest in the country, and that is also Arkansas's cheapest rent area.
A note before you start. This is general education, not housing, legal or financial advice. Rent figures come from HUD's Fair Market Rents for FY2026, published under 24 CFR 888.113. An FMR is the 40th percentile of GROSS rent — rent plus tenant-paid utilities — for standard-quality units in a defined rent area, so roughly 60% of units cost more. Take-home figures are computed by this site's own tax engine for tax year 2026 on a single filer. Arkansas landlord-tenant law is outside this dataset.
1. What HUD says renting costs in Arkansas
| Unit size | Statewide fair market rent | Step up |
|---|---|---|
| Studio | $647 | — |
| 1 bedroom | $692 | +$45 |
| 2 bedroom | $880 | +$188 |
| 3 bedroom | $1,191 | +$311 |
| 4 bedroom | $1,282 | +$91 |
The two-to-three-bedroom step is $311, or 35% — $3,732 a year, and much the largest.
The three-to-four step is $91, or 7.6% — the second-shallowest of any state, behind only Nebraska's 4.0%.
So Arkansas's expensive decision is the third bedroom and the fourth is nearly free. A household needing four bedrooms pays $1,092 a year more than one needing three — against $2,600-plus in a state with an average-shaped ladder.
Work out what rent your own income actually supports in Arkansas2. Northwest Arkansas and Little Rock
| County | Studio | 1 bed | 2 bedroom | 3 bedroom | 4 bedroom | Rent area |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Benton County | $1,007 | $1,115 | $1,347 | $1,873 | $2,213 | Fayetteville-Springdale-Rogers, AR MSA |
| Pulaski County (Little Rock) | $984 | $989 | $1,147 | $1,540 | $1,822 | Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway, AR HUD Metro FMR Area |
Look at Pulaski County's first two columns. The studio and one-bedroom are $5 apart — $984 and $989. That is the narrowest county-level gap this series has found, narrower than Jackson, Mississippi's $6 and Provo, Utah's $8. The extra room costs $60 a year.
Benton County's equivalent gap is $108.
And Benton is above Little Rock at every unit size, by a margin that widens with the unit:
| Unit size | Benton County premium over Little Rock |
|---|---|
| Studio | +$23 (+2%) |
| 1 bedroom | +$126 (+13%) |
| 2 bedroom | +$200 (+17%) |
| 3 bedroom | +$333 (+22%) |
| 4 bedroom | +$391 (+21%) |
On a studio the two are almost the same. On a four-bedroom they are $391 apart — $4,692 a year.
Income required at 3x: $48,492 for Benton County's two-bedroom and $41,292 for Little Rock's. A $7,200 gap in what a landlord will demand.
Benton County is Arkansas's dearest rent area. HUD's data shows the level and not the cause; the county is the corporate seat of several very large employers, which is context rather than a measurement.
3. The median sits on the floor
| Measure | Arkansas |
|---|---|
| Distinct rent areas | 68 |
| Cheapest 2-bedroom area | $880 |
| Dearest 2-bedroom area | $1,347 — Benton County |
| Internal spread | 53% |
| Statewide median | $880 — the same as the floor |
Arkansas's statewide median equals its minimum, which can only happen when at least half the observations sit on it. So at least 34 of Arkansas's 68 rent areas are priced at $880.
Arkansas's floor of $880 is the eighth-lowest in the country.
$973 recurs across HUD's FY2026 table as an administered minimum — it is the cheapest rent area in seventeen states, which makes it look like a national floor. It is not one, and twenty states including Arkansas have areas below it. This site published the opposite claim earlier in this series and corrected it; the mechanism has not been confirmed against HUD's methodology and this site does not guess at it.
A move from Benton County to an $880 area saves $467 a month — $5,604 a year.
4. Three things a fair market rent is not
It is the 40th percentile, not the median. Roughly 60% of standard-quality units rent for more than the FMR.
It is GROSS rent, including tenant-paid utilities. Arkansas runs a hot, humid summer and a real winter, so both heating and cooling contribute. An advertised rent that excludes electricity is not comparable to the FMR.
It is per rent area, not per county. Northwest Arkansas and Little Rock are separate rent areas, and Arkansas's 68 areas cover 75 counties.
5. What Arkansas takes
Arkansas's individual income tax is graduated across a small number of brackets and the state has been reducing its top rate on a legislated schedule. Arkansas allows a standard deduction and a personal tax credit.
| Annual salary | 30% of gross | 30% of Arkansas take-home | The gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| $45,000 | $1,125 | $927 | $198 |
| $60,000 | $1,500 | $1,214 | $286 |
| $85,000 | $2,125 | $1,643 | $482 |
At a 3x landlord screen, Arkansas rent is 39.2% of take-home — not 30%, in a state whose rent is forty-third-highest of fifty. Federal tax and FICA alone are enough to put every state above 38%.
No Arkansas city levies an income tax, so the take-home figures on this page are complete — which is not true of the Kentucky, Ohio, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Indiana, Missouri or Alabama pages in this series.
Arkansas's sales tax applies at a state rate plus local rates, with groceries taxed at a reduced state rate, and none of it is in any figure here.
6. What the two-bedroom actually requires
| Statewide | Benton County | Little Rock | |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2-bedroom | $880 | $1,347 | $1,147 |
| Gross income a 3x screen demands | $31,680 | $48,492 | $41,292 |
What passing that screen leaves
| Statewide 2-bed | |
|---|---|
| Gross income required | $31,680 |
| Arkansas take-home, single filer | About $26,920 |
| Take-home per month | $2,243 |
| Rent | $880 |
| Rent as a share of take-home | 39.2% |
What the two-bedroom costs at real salaries
| Annual salary | Statewide | Benton County | Little Rock |
|---|---|---|---|
| $45,000 | 28.5% | 43.6% | 37.1% |
| $60,000 | 21.8% | 33.3% | 28.3% |
| $85,000 | 16.1% | 24.6% | 20.9% |
Rent as a share of take-home pay.
The statewide column at $45,000 is 28.5% — inside HUD's 30% line measured against take-home. Only a handful of states in this series manage that.
Little Rock clears the line at $60,000, at 28.3%, which is rarer still for a metropolitan figure.
At $85,000 every column clears it comfortably — 16.1%, 24.6% and 20.9%.
Benton County at $45,000 is 43.6%, and the 3x screen on $1,347 demands $48,492 — $3,492 more than the applicant earns.
The honest counterweight is wages. Arkansas's median household income is among the lowest in the country, so a larger share of Arkansas renters sit below $45,000 than these reference salaries suggest.
7. Rent versus buy in Arkansas
Three things decide it, and the rent is not one of them:
Appreciation. Backward-looking, county-specific, and not a forecast — and Arkansas's counties have diverged sharply. Northwest Arkansas has grown fast; much of the Delta has not. A state figure would mislead badly.
Selling costs. Around 7% of the sale price, and it never comes back.
Ongoing carrying cost. Arkansas's effective property tax rates are among the lowest in the country, which shortens the break-even year materially. Arkansas also offers a homestead property tax credit on an owner-occupied principal residence, and Amendment 79 caps how fast the taxable value of a homestead can rise — the current credit amount and cap rules are outside this dataset.
A low rate plus an assessment cap is a genuinely favourable ownership regime, and it is the strongest argument for buying here.
One counterweight: parts of Arkansas have thin, slow-moving housing markets. A house that takes a long time to sell carries its costs throughout, and the 7% selling cost is the floor, not the total.
Run the Arkansas rent-versus-buy calculator with your own county.
8. What you can actually control
Do not assume Little Rock is Arkansas's expensive market. Benton County is $200 a month above it on a two-bedroom and $391 above on a four-bedroom.
In Little Rock the extra room is nearly free. Its studio and one-bedroom are $5 apart, the narrowest county gap in this series. Take the one-bedroom.
If you need four bedrooms, Arkansas is unusually good value statewide — the fourth bedroom costs 7.6% more than the third, the second-shallowest step of any state. That does not hold in Benton County, where the same step is 18%.
Arkansas's floor is $880, the eighth-lowest in the country. A move from Benton County saves up to $467 a month.
Get the landlord test and the budget test straight. 3x gross gets you approved. 30% of take-home is what you can carry. On Benton County's $1,347 those are $48,492 of income and, at that income, $994 of rent — $353 less than the rent itself.
Existing debt does not appear in the landlord's test.
No Arkansas city levies an income tax, so unlike most states in this series the take-home figures here are complete.
9. How HUD's cost-burden thresholds actually work
The 30% and 50% figures quoted throughout this article are not rules of thumb. They are regulatory definitions, and knowing where they come from tells you what they are and are not good for.
HUD defines a household as "cost-burdened" when it spends more than 30% of gross income on housing, and "severely cost-burdened" above 50%. The threshold traces back to the National Housing Act, and HUD uses it to measure housing need and to set programme eligibility.
Three things follow from that origin, and all three matter to a renter:
It is measured against gross income because a housing programme can verify gross income. A caseworker can read a W-2. They cannot easily verify what your actual tax withholding, retirement deferrals and health premiums leave you. Gross is administratively tractable, not economically correct.
It counts housing costs, not just rent. HUD's measure includes utilities, which is precisely why the fair market rent is defined as gross rent. If you are comparing your own situation against the 30% threshold, include your utility bills — otherwise you are measuring a smaller number against the same line.
It is a population statistic before it is personal advice. The threshold exists to answer "how many households in this county are struggling," and it does that job well. It was never designed to tell one household what it can afford, and it does not account for household size, debt, childcare, medical costs, or the tax rate where you live.
Which is why this article reports both figures. In Arkansas a two-bedroom at $880 against a $31,680 income is exactly at HUD's 30% line by HUD's own measure. Against what actually reaches that household's account it is closer to 40%. Both numbers are correct; they answer different questions.
If you want one number to plan around, use 30% of take-home. It is the more conservative of the two, it is the one that reflects what you can actually spend, and it is what this site's calculator reports alongside the conventional figure.
10. What a landlord checks besides your income
The 3x income screen is the most visible test, and it is not the only one. None of the following is a legal requirement — they are common industry practice, and individual landlords differ.
Credit score. Most professionally managed buildings run a credit check, and many publish a minimum. A low score does not automatically disqualify you, but it commonly triggers a larger deposit or a guarantor requirement.
Rental history and references. Previous landlords, length of tenancy, and any eviction filings. An eviction filing can appear on a tenant screening report even where the case was dismissed, which is worth knowing if you have one.
The security deposit. How much a landlord may ask for, when it must be returned, and what may be deducted are all governed by state law, and those rules vary enormously. Check Arkansas's own statute — this site's rent dataset covers HUD fair market rents and does not cover landlord-tenant law, so nothing on this page should be read as describing it.
Application fees. Charged per applicant in most markets, and often non-refundable. Applying to several places at once is a real cost.
Guarantors and co-signers. Where an applicant fails the income screen, many landlords will accept a guarantor — commonly at a higher multiple, such as 80x the monthly rent in annual income rather than 36x. That is a much larger number than the tenant's own test, and it is the usual route for students and recent graduates.
Proof of income. Pay stubs, an offer letter, or tax returns for the self-employed. Self-employed applicants are frequently asked for two years of returns, which is a materially higher bar than a salaried applicant faces on the same income.
The practical point: the 3x screen decides whether you clear the first filter. Everything above decides whether you get the apartment, and several of those items cost money to fail.
11. When these figures change
HUD publishes fair market rents annually, effective at the start of the federal fiscal year on 1 October. The figures in this article are FY2026.
Three ways your area's number can move:
Re-measurement. HUD builds FMRs from American Community Survey data with more recent trend adjustments. A rent area whose measured market has moved will see its figure move with it.
Redefinition. HUD occasionally redraws rent areas — splitting a metro, adding a county to one, or creating a small-area FMR where ZIP-level figures replace a single metro figure. When that happens, a county's published rent can change substantially without any change in its actual market. Arkansas has 68 rent areas today; that count is not fixed.
The floor. HUD applies a national minimum. In FY2026 the two-bedroom floor is $973, and seventeen states have at least one rent area sitting on it. When the floor rises, every area at the floor rises with it — regardless of what happened locally.
What that means for planning. A fair market rent is a well-sourced annual snapshot, not a forecast. If you are signing a twelve-month lease, the figure that matters is the rent in the lease, and the FMR is context for judging whether that rent is reasonable for the area and the unit size.
Voucher holders should note one thing more. FMRs set the basis for Housing Choice Voucher payment standards, and a public housing agency may set its standard within a range around the FMR rather than exactly at it. Your agency's payment standard is the operative number, not the published FMR.
Frequently asked questions
What is the average rent in Arkansas? HUD's statewide fair market rent for a two-bedroom is $880 a month for FY2026, forty-third-highest of the fifty states. Benton County is $1,347 and Pulaski County (Little Rock) is $1,147.
Why is Northwest Arkansas more expensive than Little Rock? HUD's data shows the level, not the cause. Benton County is Arkansas's most expensive rent area at $1,347, $200 above the capital, and the gap widens to $391 on a four-bedroom.
What income do I need to rent a two-bedroom in Northwest Arkansas? A 3x landlord screen on Benton County's $1,347 needs $48,492 a year. In Little Rock, on $1,147, it needs $41,292.
Why is Little Rock's one-bedroom only $5 more than its studio? That is what HUD's data shows — the extra room costs $60 a year, the narrowest county-level gap this series has found. Benton County's equivalent gap is $108.
Is Arkansas cheap for larger families? Statewide, unusually so — the fourth bedroom costs 7.6% more than the third, the second-shallowest step of any state after Nebraska's 4.0%. In Benton County the same step is 18%.
Do Arkansas cities levy an income tax? No. The take-home figures on this page are complete, which is not true of most states in this series.
Is 30% of income a realistic rent budget in Arkansas? Statewide, yes — the two-bedroom is 28.5% of take-home at $45,000. Little Rock clears the line at $60,000 at 28.3%, and at $85,000 every column clears it.
Should I buy in Arkansas instead? Arkansas's property tax rates are among the lowest in the country and Amendment 79 caps how fast a homestead's taxable value can rise — a genuinely favourable ownership regime. The counterweight is that parts of the state have thin markets where a sale can take a long time.
What to do next
Arkansas's most expensive rent is in the northwest corner, not the capital, and the state's fourth bedroom is nearly free.
- Arkansas rent affordability calculator — the landlord's test and the budget test, side by side.
- Arkansas take-home pay — complete, with no local income tax to add.
- Arkansas rent vs buy — the break-even year, computed rather than assumed.
- The 30% rule is measured against the wrong number — the full argument.
- Renting in the USA in 2026 — all fifty states, county by county.
Every figure on this site is sourced and dated. How we source every number.
Rent figures are HUD Fair Market Rents for FY2026, from HUD User, published under 24 CFR 888.113. An FMR is the 40th percentile of gross rent including tenant-paid utilities for standard-quality units in a defined rent area — not a market median. Statewide figures are the median across Arkansas's 68 distinct rent areas, unweighted by population — which is why the statewide median equals the state minimum. Take-home figures are computed by this site's own tax engine for tax year 2026 on a single filer with no dependents or pre-tax deferrals, using federal figures from IRS Revenue Procedure 2025-32; no Arkansas locality levies an income tax. The 3x landlord screen is a common industry practice, not a legal standard. Arkansas landlord-tenant law, property tax rates, the homestead property tax credit, Amendment 79's assessment cap and sales tax rates are outside this dataset and are discussed qualitatively. This is general education and not housing, legal or financial advice.