Small Town Guide
Menu

Towns / Arkansas

Cave City, Arkansas

Cave City is a small town of about 2,000 people in Sharp County, Arkansas. It has grown about 3% since 2020. A typical home costs about 2.4 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 106 miles away as the crow flies.

Population
1,987
up 3.4% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$120,700
Sharp County prices up 27% since 2022
Household income
$49,800
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, rural Arkansas
83
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
13 miles
Batesville, AR
To Memphis
106 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 2.4 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhood9 violent crimes were reported in 2025, about 4.4 per 1,000 people (U.S.: 3.3). Property crime: 10.3 per 1,000 (U.S.: 15.3).
  • Schools in town3 public schools: 1 elementary, 1 middle and 1 high school.
  • A hospital close byWhite River Medical Center in Batesville, about 13 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityMemphis is about 106 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 Cave City 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
$120,700U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 27%Sharp County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$716 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$49,800U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
56%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$529 a yearArkansas: $1,040
Homes built before 1940
0%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
10%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
6%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 27% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the parts of Arkansas outside metro areas, not Cave City 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
1,9872020: 1,921
Median age
37 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
20%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
29%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
11%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
7%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
Schools, health care and social services (26%); manufacturing (17%); construction (16%)
Unemployment rate
5%U.S.: 5%
Average commute
20 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
2%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
20%U.S.: 12%

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

Health care

Nearest emergency room: White River Medical Center, Batesville, AR, about 13 miles away. It's a general hospital. Medicare gives it 3 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

3 public schools in Cave City, run by Cave City School District.

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
51%U.S.: 76%
Homes with any internet subscription
70%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
24°F
July average high
89°F
Days 90°F or hotter
64 a year
Nights at or below freezing
98 a year
Rain and melted snow
51.5 inches a year
Snow
7 inches a year
Elevation
650 feet

Weather station: Evening Shade 1 NNE (10 miles away). 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: White River Medical Center, Jonesboro, Memphis.

Sharp 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

1 place on the National Register of Historic Places, including Crystal River Tourist Camp.

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Buffalo National River50 miles

Read about Cave City's history on Wikipedia.

Know Cave City?

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

  • Sidney, AR203 people, 7 miles
  • Evening Shade, AR433 people, 9 miles
  • Moorefield, AR129 people, 13 miles
  • Strawberry, AR259 people, 13 miles
  • Mount Pleasant, AR383 people, 13 miles
  • Sulphur Rock, AR655 people, 14 miles
  • Cushman, AR447 people, 14 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.