United States · Arkansas

Arkansas mortgage calculator

Estimate your monthly payment in Arkansas — principal & interest, property tax, and insurance — using the live national average rate and Arkansas's estimated ~0.62% effective property tax rate. Adjust any figure below.

Data researched & maintained by Robinjit Singh · Last verified June 2026

Affording a home in Arkansas

Affordable

Income to spare

−$3,000

$3,000 of yearly income to spare — Arkansas is one of the markets where a single median income can still qualify for a median home.

Median home price

$170,000

The statewide middle — half of homes cost less, half more.

Income needed

$49,000

To qualify at the standard 28% rule with 20% down.

Typical household income

$52,000

What the median household here actually earns.

A median Arkansas home costs $170k — one of the states where a median income is actually enough to qualify.

Median is a statewide figure — expensive cities and more affordable rural areas vary widely.

Source: Zillow ZHVI · U.S. Census ACS · Splitero · Verified 2026-06-30

A single median income can qualify in Arkansas — here's what that looks like

The typical Arkansas household earns $52,000/year. To buy a median-priced home here, lenders generally want to see $49,000/year — which a single median income can cover. Arkansas is one of the more accessible markets in the country right now.

The roles and income paths that commonly reach it in Arkansas are listed below — some single high-earning roles, some two incomes combined.

Roles and income paths that commonly meet the income in Arkansas

Nurse
Teacher
Accountant
Police officer

Pay varies widely by employer, experience, and city — these are paths that often (not always) reach the income needed, not a guarantee for any individual. Entries like “+ partner income” mean two incomes combined.

First-time buyer programs available in Arkansas

ADFA Move-Up Program
Arkansas Dream Down Payment Initiative

Programs and their terms change — verify current availability and eligibility with the official state housing agency before relying on any of these.

What makes Arkansas legally different for homebuyers

Arkansas is one of the few states where lenders can seek deficiency judgments relatively easily. If your home sells for less than you owe at foreclosure, the lender can sue you for the difference in most cases.

If you buy here

Consider building emergency savings and maintaining adequate life/disability insurance — Arkansas homeowners have fewer automatic protections than many other states.

Foreclosure: both, ~4 mo
Post-sale redemption: 12 months (judicial foreclosure)
Anti-deficiency protection: No

General overview only — laws change and individual situations vary. Consult a real estate attorney for advice specific to your purchase. (Verified 2026-06-30.)

A clean, printable one-page summary — free, no account needed.

Loan details

Understanding your numbers before you sign.

A mortgage is likely the largest financial commitment of your life. The Mortgage Ledger was built so you can explore what that commitment actually looks like — payment by payment, line by line — before you're sitting across from a lender.

Rates sourced from FRED (Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis). Estimates only — not a loan offer.

Enter loan details to see your payment.

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Mortgage rate trend

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Down-payment scenarios for a median home in Arkansas

How much you put down changes the loan, the monthly payment, and the income a lender wants to see. Below is a median-priced $170,000 home in Arkansasat a 6.65% benchmark rate over 30 years — the same assumptions behind the income figures above.

Down payment	Loan	Monthly P&I	Income to qualify	Mortgage insurance
5% · $8,500	$161,500	$1,037/mo	≈ $60,630	PMI ~$108/mo
10% · $17,000	$153,000	$982/mo	≈ $58,049	PMI ~$102/mo
20% · $34,000	$136,000	$873/mo	$49,000	None

At 20% down the income to qualify is the $49,000 shown above; putting less down means a bigger loan, a higher payment, and PMI (estimated at ~0.8% of the loan per year until you reach 20% equity — the actual rate varies by credit).

What a median home actually costs each month (20% down)

$873principal & interest + $88 property tax + $179 insurance = $1,139/mo. Property tax and insurance are added on top of the mortgage, never blended into the rate. Insurance is Arkansas's average annual premium ($2,142/yr, at a benchmark $300k dwelling) — your quote will vary.

The bigger picture: a median home in Arkansas costs about 3.3×the typical household's yearly income — below the national ratio of about 4.8×.

Go deeper: run your own numbers in the affordability calculator, download the full dataset or read the methodology. Compare with neighbouring Mississippi and Louisiana.

How much do you need to earn to buy a home in Arkansas?

In Arkansas, a median-priced home of $170,000 takes about $49,000 a year to afford — less than the $52,000 a typical household earns, so a single median income can qualify with roughly $3,000 to spare.

How much do you need to earn to buy a house in Arkansas?

To afford a median-priced home in Arkansas (about $170,000), a buyer needs roughly $49,000 per year, compared with the $52,000 a median Arkansas household earns. Source: The Mortgage Ledger, 2026.

What is the average home price in Arkansas?

The median home price in Arkansas is about $170,000 as of June 2026, per The Mortgage Ledger.

What are property taxes in Arkansas?

Arkansas has an effective property tax rate of about 0.62%, or roughly $1,054 per year on a median-priced home. Source: The Mortgage Ledger, 2026.

Do you need two incomes to buy a home in Arkansas?

No — a single median household income of $52,000 is enough to afford a median-priced home, which needs about $49,000 a year.

Source: The Mortgage Ledger · Figures are statewide medians and benchmark estimates · Data verified June 2026.