Small Town Guide
Menu

Towns / Arkansas

Marked Tree, Arkansas

Marked Tree is a small town of about 2,200 people in Poinsett County, Arkansas. It has lost about 3% of its people since 2020. A typical home costs about 2.1 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 39 miles away as the crow flies.

Population
2,208
down 3% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$96,200
Poinsett County prices up 27% since 2022
Household income
$45,656
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, Jonesboro area
85.9
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
20 miles
Lake Village, AR
To Memphis
39 mi
straight line

The book's checklist

  • Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 14.1% below the U.S. average in the Jonesboro metro area.
  • More house for the moneyA typical home costs 2.1 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhoodThe FBI has no 2025 figures for Marked Tree itself. Many small towns are patrolled by the county sheriff, so call the sheriff's office and ask what calls they get most.
  • Schools in town2 public schools: 1 elementary and 1 high school.
  • A hospital close byChicot Memorial Medical Center in Lake Village, about 20 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityMemphis is about 39 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 Marked Tree 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
$96,200U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 27%Poinsett County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$565 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$45,656U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
54%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$657 a yearArkansas: $1,040
Homes built before 1940
3%U.S.: 12%
Homes built since 2010
1%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
3%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices
85.9U.S. average = 100 (the Jonesboro metro area)

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 Jonesboro metro area, not Marked Tree 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
2,2082020: 2,277
Median age
49.3 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
24%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
21%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
14%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 (28%); manufacturing (13%); other services (13%)
Unemployment rate
7%U.S.: 5%
Work from home
3%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
27%U.S.: 12%

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

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Chicot Memorial Medical Center, Lake Village, AR, about 20 miles away. It's a critical access hospital (a small rural hospital with 25 or fewer beds). Medicare hasn't given it a star rating.

Nearest general hospital: Baptist Memorial Hospital Jonesboro, INC., Jonesboro, AR, about 26 miles away. 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

2 public schools in Marked Tree, run by Marked Tree 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
50%U.S.: 76%
Homes with any internet subscription
74%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
88°F
Days 90°F or hotter
46 a year
Nights at or below freezing
75 a year
Rain and melted snow
52.2 inches a year
Snow
2 inches a year
Elevation
217 feet

Weather stations: Poinsett Sp (15 miles away) and Keiser (22 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: Chicot Memorial Medical Center, Jonesboro, Memphis.

Poinsett County is in a metro area of fewer than 250,000 people (USDA rural-urban code 3, 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 the Highway A-7, Bridges Historic District, the Marked Tree Commercial Historic District and Marked Tree Lock and Siphons.

Read about Marked Tree's history on Wikipedia.

Know Marked Tree?

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

  • Tyronza, AR721 people, 5 miles
  • Payneway, AR (unincorporated)133 people, 5 miles
  • Gilmore, AR172 people, 11 miles
  • Dyess, AR318 people, 13 miles
  • Turrell, AR488 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.