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Fairfield Bay, Arkansas

Fairfield Bay is a small town of about 2,200 people in Van Buren County, Arkansas. It has grown about 4% since 2020. A typical home costs about 2.9 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 134 miles away as the crow flies.

Population
2,198
up 4.4% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$164,800
Van Buren County prices up 22% since 2022
Household income
$56,594
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, rural Arkansas
83
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
11 miles
Clinton, AR
To Memphis
134 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 2.9 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhood5 violent crimes were reported in 2025, about 2.3 per 1,000 people (U.S.: 3.3). Property crime: 11.4 per 1,000 (U.S.: 15.3).
  • Schools in townNo public schools inside the town. The nearest high school is Shirley High School, about 5 miles away.
  • A hospital close byOzark Health in Clinton, about 11 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityMemphis is about 134 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 Fairfield Bay 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
$164,800U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 22%Van Buren County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$838 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$56,594U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
87%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$886 a yearArkansas: $1,040
Homes built before 1940
0%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
1%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 22% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the parts of Arkansas outside metro areas, not Fairfield Bay 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
2,1982020: 2,106
Median age
68.4 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
59%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
6%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
30%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
8%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
Arts, recreation, lodging and restaurants (19%); retail (12%); farming, forestry and mining (12%)
Unemployment rate
4%U.S.: 5%
Average commute
28 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
16%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
11%U.S.: 12%

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

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Ozark Health, Clinton, AR, about 11 miles away. It's a critical access hospital (a small rural hospital with 25 or fewer beds). Medicare gives it 4 of 5 stars.

Nearest general hospital: Conway Regional Medical Center, INC, Conway, AR, about 37 miles away. 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 Fairfield Bay itself. The nearest public high school is Shirley High School, about 5 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
64%U.S.: 76%
Homes with any internet subscription
86%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
91°F
Days 90°F or hotter
54 a year
Nights at or below freezing
74 a year
Rain and melted snow
53.8 inches a year
Snow
3 inches a year
Elevation
821 feet

Weather stations: Greers Ferry Dam (16 miles away) and Clinton (10 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: Ozark Health, Conway, Memphis.

Van Buren County is outside any metro area, with fewer than 5,000 people in its towns, next to a metro area (USDA rural-urban code 8, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Buffalo National River34 miles
  • Little Rock Central High School National Historic Site59 miles

Read about Fairfield Bay's history on Wikipedia.

Know Fairfield Bay?

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

  • Shirley, AR249 people, 4 miles
  • Higden, AR116 people, 4 miles
  • Greers Ferry, AR831 people, 6 miles
  • Bee Branch, AR (unincorporated)196 people, 12 miles
  • Fox, AR (unincorporated)381 people, 13 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.