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Bull Shoals, Arkansas

Bull Shoals is a small town of about 1,900 people in Marion County, Arkansas. It has lost about 3% of its people since 2020. A typical home costs about 3.8 years of the typical household's income, compared with 4.1 across the U.S. The nearest metro area of about a million people or more, Memphis, is about 171 miles away as the crow flies.

Population
1,888
down 3.5% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$158,100
Marion County prices up 28% since 2022
Household income
$41,976
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, rural Arkansas
83
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
11 miles
Mountain Home, AR
To Memphis
171 mi
straight line

The book's checklist

  • Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 17% below the U.S. average in the parts of Arkansas outside metro areas.
  • More house for the moneyA typical home costs 3.8 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhood0 violent crimes were reported in 2025, about 0 per 1,000 people (U.S.: 3.3). Property crime: 4.7 per 1,000 (U.S.: 15.3).
  • Schools in townNo public schools inside the town. The nearest high school is Flippin High School, about 6 miles away.
  • A hospital close byBaxter Health in Mountain Home, about 11 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityMemphis is about 171 miles away as the crow flies. The book suggests staying within about 60 miles if you'll miss big-city sports, concerts and theater.

A check means Bull Shoals meets the rule of thumb from Frank and Dave's book. An empty box isn't a deal breaker: it's something to weigh for your family. A question mark means there isn't enough data.

For a lifetime

Homes and money

Typical home value, as owners valued them in 2020-2024
$158,100U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 28%Marion County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$715 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$41,976U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
70%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$956 a yearArkansas: $1,040
Homes built before 1940
2%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
5%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
16%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices
83U.S. average = 100 (the parts of Arkansas outside metro areas)

Home values and rents are what households told the Census Bureau across 2020 to 2024, so they trail today's market: county prices have moved up 28% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the parts of Arkansas outside metro areas, not Bull Shoals alone. Check current listings before you budget.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates; Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions); U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024.

The people

Population, 2025 estimate
1,8882020: 1,956
Median age
50.2 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
32%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
14%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
17%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
16%U.S.: 6%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025); U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Work

Biggest lines of work
Manufacturing (30%); schools, health care and social services (18%); professional and business services (11%)
Average commute
26 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
7%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
15%U.S.: 12%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Baxter Health, Mountain Home, AR, about 11 miles away. It's a general hospital. Medicare gives it 2 of 5 stars.

Look up doctors, clinics and the hospitals themselves on Medicare's Care Compare. Ask where the most serious cases are sent.

Sources: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information.

Schools

There are no public schools inside Bull Shoals itself. The nearest public high school is Flippin High School, about 6 miles away.

See each school on the federal school search, then check test scores and graduation rates on Arkansas's school report card.

Sources: National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal); National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024.

Internet

Homes with cable, fiber or DSL internet
75%U.S.: 76%
Homes with any internet subscription
87%U.S.: 91%

Before you buy, look up the address on the FCC's National Broadband Map to see which providers serve it.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Weather

January average low
28°F
July average high
90°F
Days 90°F or hotter
47 a year
Nights at or below freezing
73 a year
Rain and melted snow
50.9 inches a year
Snow
8 inches a year
Elevation
645 feet

Weather stations: Mountain Home Baxter Ap (7 miles away) and Mtn Home 1 NNW (11 miles away, rain and snow). Averages for 1991 to 2020.

Sources: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020; U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program.

Getting around

Straight-line miles. The road is always longer, and as the book says, an interstate at 70 is a different trip from a farm road at 45. Check the real drive: Baxter Health, Springfield, Memphis.

Marion County is outside any metro area, with fewer than 5,000 people in its towns, not next to a metro area (USDA rural-urban code 9, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

3 places on the National Register of Historic Places, including Mountain Village 1890.

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Buffalo National River16 miles

Read about Bull Shoals's history on Wikipedia.

Know Bull Shoals?

Tell us what a visitor shouldn't miss, and what living there is really like. Write to Main Street at mainstreet@smalltownguide.com. The best notes from people who know the town will be added here.

Nearby

Straight-line miles.

Small towns

Smaller places

  • Lakeview, AR783 people, 3 miles
  • Oakland, AR (unincorporated)146 people, 6 miles
  • Midway, AR (unincorporated)1,279 people, 7 miles
  • Cotter, AR946 people, 7 miles
  • Summit, AR526 people, 10 miles
  • Sundown, MO (unincorporated)178 people, 13 miles
  • Theodosia, MO207 people, 15 miles

Sources

  1. U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025)
  2. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates
  3. Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions)
  4. U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
  5. FBI, Crime in the United States, Table 8 (offenses known to law enforcement by city)
  6. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information
  7. National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal)
  8. National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024
  9. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020
  10. U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program
  11. National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places listings
  12. National Park Service, park unit boundaries
  13. USDA Economic Research Service, Rural-Urban Continuum Codes, 2023
  14. U.S. Census Bureau, 2025 Gazetteer files and 2020 urban areas

Census survey figures are estimates with a margin of error; we leave out any figure whose margin is too wide to be useful. Data last gathered October 5, 2026. See something wrong? Write to mainstreet@smalltownguide.com.