West Memphis, Marion making news in housing market

Affordable rent, safe community put cities on the map in pair of studies

ralphhardin@gmail.com The cities of West Memphis and Marion were name dropped in a pair of recently-released studies.

Hi there, In the September edition of the Arkansas Rent Report, a report looking at rent changes and rent trends in August mentioned the affordablity of living in West Memphis “As the peak rental season is nearing its end, rents in Arkansas started to slowly decrease, clocking in at $831 per month in August, $8 above what renters were paying a year ago,” said Daniel Ilies, communications specialist for Rent Cafe. “Rents in Little Rock experienced an uptick of 1.8% in August, reaching $798 per month, $14 above what renters were paying a year ago. Following the national trend, rents in multiple Arkansas cities displayed a slowdown over the past month, some notable examples being Conway and West Memphis.”

West Memphis was, in fact, the most affordable community for renters in the state.

“The cheapest city for renters is West Memphis,” Ilies said, “with an average rent of $546.”

This decline bucks the national trend, according to the report. Nationally, the fastest-growing annual rents were registered in Oregon, up by 17.2% ($95) over the year, while rents dropped most in Worthington, down by $41 since August 2018.

Just down the road, some good news out of Marion, as that community was included in a recently compilation of Arkansas’s safest communities.

According to Security Baron, Marion ranked as one of the safest cities (33rd) in Arkansas, thanks largely to a solid citizen- to-officer ratio and low violent crime rate.

The analysis found that Marion (with a population of 12,356) emerged with a very decent ranking on the list, with an average safety score of 59.83 and a rate of 10.76 violent crimes per 1,000 citizens. The city also has a citizen-to-officer ratio of 2.27 per 1,000 people and an average income of $71,759.

Additionally, there are 4,322 households in Marion, with a rate of 33.43 property crimes per 1,000 citizens.

For comparison, according to Joe Auer of Security Baron, “It was also found that the safest city in Arkansas is Greenbrier, with a safety score of 89.35 and an average income of $43,667. Greenbrier has a rate of only 0.36 violent crimes per 1,000 citizens and in fact, a citizen-to-officer ratio of 1.64 per 1,000 people. El Dorado ranked last on the list, with a safety score of 50.01 and a median income of $37,366. The small city in Union County has a rate of 11.28 violent crimes per 1,000 citizens, along with a citizen- to-officer ratio of 2.79 per 1,000 people.

El Dorado was found to have 7,330 households and an average of 45.9 property crimes per 1,000 residents.”

Security Baron created an infographic where you can view the top 50 safest cities in Arkansas, along with their safety scores and other interesting crime statistics: https://securitybaron. com/safe-cities/ arkansas/.

“Theft or violence can occur ‘in the nick of crime’ and no one is immune,” said Auer of Security Baron. ”Although it is difficult to predict when crime will occur, it is vital to ensure the area you are visiting or moving to is secure and not infamous for any sort of criminal behaviour. You can use safety scores and rankings to check!”