Cost of Living
per year
per month
How Bentonville's prices compare to the US city average across major spending categories.
How far does your salary go in Bentonville?
Your $100,000 in Bentonville has the same purchasing power as $115,915 in the average US city. You'd need $15,915 less here to maintain that standard of living.
Demographics and workforce data from the US Census ACS 5-Year.
bachelor's or higher
Climate, safety, and walkability indicators.
See a side-by-side breakdown of cost of living, housing, and salaries.
Popular comparisons
Sorted by affordability — most affordable first.
Within 10 points of Bentonville's cost index of 86, sorted by closest match.
People moving to Bentonville usually have at least one specific reason. Most of them line up with what the data shows: living costs come in under the us baseline, a higher-income labor market than the national norm, plus 5 more things worth knowing. Here's what's actually on the table.
Bentonville sits at 86 on the composite cost-of-living index — about 14% under the national average. Not the cheapest place in the country, but enough of a discount to notice on rent and groceries every month. Median rent in town runs about $1,151/mo against a typical household income of $99,074, which is the kind of ratio that leaves room to save.
Median household income in Bentonville is $99,074, a step above the national median of about $75k. The local job market leans toward industries that pay better than average, and that shows up in the take-home for most working households here.
At about 3.2% unemployment, Bentonville's labor market is running on the tight side. Easier to land a role, easier to negotiate, easier to leave one job for a better one — the practical things that matter when you're actually looking.
Bentonville reports roughly 1,500 crime incidents per 100,000 residents, well under the US average of about 3,500 per 100k. As always, citywide numbers paper over real differences between neighborhoods — but the broader trend here is on the calmer end of the US distribution.
Bentonville's air quality index averages about 41 — comfortably in the EPA's "good" range. No daily ritual of checking the AQI before going for a run, no smoky-day plans, no surprise asthma flare-ups for the kids. The kind of background condition you notice mostly by its absence.
The average one-way commute in Bentonville is about 19 minutes — short by US standards (the national average is closer to 27). Over a year of working days, that's hundreds of hours that don't get spent in traffic, which is the kind of thing you notice in the weekend rather than the weekday.
52% of adults 25 and over in Bentonville hold a bachelor's degree or higher — meaningfully above the US average of around 36%. That correlates with the things you'd expect: stronger schools, more white-collar employers, more bookstores than the population alone would predict.
Reasons are pulled from Bentonville's actual data — Census ACS, BLS, BEA, NOAA, EPA AQS, FBI, and Walk Score. We don't list positives that aren't supported by the numbers, which is why different cities show different sections.
Snow is a regular feature, not a surprise. With winter temperatures hovering near 30°F, Bentonville sees enough snowfall that locals don't think twice about it but also enough mild stretches that nobody owns three pairs of boots.
Cold but workable. Winter in Bentonville averages about 30°F — colder than the national norm, mild compared to the upper Midwest. A solid coat handles most days; the genuine cold snaps are short.
Genuinely hot. Summer in Bentonville averages about 92°F, and peak afternoons run well over a hundred. Outdoor plans move to mornings and evenings; AC is the most-used appliance in the house.
Zone 8, give or take a half-zone. Bentonville's typical winter low puts it in that band on the USDA Hardiness map, which is what nurseries label plants against. Use Zone 8 as your starting filter; the USDA's interactive map is more precise for borderline cases.
Bentonville is at about 1,266 feet (386 m) above sea level. High enough to be solidly above any coastal concern, low enough that altitude isn't a factor.
By the numbers, yes. Bentonville reports roughly 1,500 crime incidents per 100,000 residents — well under the US average of about 3,500 per 100k. The big caveat applies as always: every city has neighborhoods that look nothing like the citywide average. But the citywide average here is genuinely good.
No — your dollar actually goes further here. Bentonville's composite cost-of-living index is 86, roughly 14% under the US average. Housing is usually the biggest driver of the discount.
Not really — Bentonville is built around the car. Its Walk Score of 5 out of 100 means almost every errand is a drive. Living without a car is technically possible but real work; most residents wouldn't try it.
Roughly $60,389 a year would match the lifestyle of someone earning $70,000 in an average US city. That's a starting point, not a target — negotiate higher when you can. Median rent in Bentonville runs about $1,151/mo — keeping housing under 30% of gross income points to a similar floor on what you'd want to earn.