Altus, Arkansas.
. Fort Smith, AR-OK metro.
to buy the typical home at today's mortgage rate — +$613 (+109%) since Jan 2020.
Monthly payment to buy the typical home
Home value × that month's 30-year mortgage rate, 20% down, principal and interest. This is the line households feel: prices and rates compound each other.
- Arkansas$1,177
- United States$1,922
Living in Altus, Franklin County, Arkansas
Altus is a city of 665 people in Franklin County. Unemployment in Franklin County was 3.9% in August 2026, and the county had 1.0% fewer jobs in 2025 than the year before. The most people in Franklin County work in schools and health care, then manufacturing.
Written by AI Claude Sonnet 5.5 wrote this on 23 October 2026 from the figures here, a list of nearby places and what it knows. It can be wrong or out of date.
What it’s like
The place. Altus is a very small city in Franklin County, Arkansas, with a small population even by the standards of the area. Few adults here hold a four-year degree, and household incomes across the county run below the national picture. Winters are cold but short, with January the coldest month and days that stay above freezing, while July brings hot afternoons. Rain and melted snow fall in good measure through the year.
Work. Residents work mostly in schools, hospitals and social care, with manufacturing, shops, and transport and warehousing close behind. Very few work from home. Across Franklin County, the largest workplaces include Butterball, which slaughters and dresses turkeys, along with the Ozark School District and ABB Motors and Mechanical. Unemployment in the county has eased a little over the past year, though the county has fewer jobs than it did the year before.
Things to do. The nearest water is Dirty Creek, a river a short drive away. Farther afield, a longer drive brings you to the White River, one of the better known rivers in the region, and to Mount Magazine State Park, a protected area in the hills. Blue Mountain Lake, a reservoir, is also a longer drive away for those who like to fish or boat.
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- 318households
- 12%of adults have a degree
- 4%work from home
What people in Franklin County work in
Employed residents by industry, from the Census survey. Franklin County had 4,924 jobs in 2025, 1.0% fewer than the year before (Bureau of Labor Statistics).
Weather through the year
Coldest in January, with highs near 48° and lows near 28°; warmest in July, with highs near 92° and lows near 70°. About 52 inches of rain and melted snow a year.
Average daily high and low, 1991–2020, at the Ozark weather station, 7 miles away (NOAA).
Largest workplaces in Franklin County
- ButterballTurkeys, slaughtering and dressing948
- Ozark School DistrictSchool district286FTE
- ABB Motors and MechanicalMotors, electric, manufacturing233
- Arkansas Valley Electric CooperativeDistribution of electric power180
- Charleston School DistrictSchool district163FTE
- Tokai Carbon GEGraphite electrodes and contacts, electric, manufacturing133
- Harp's Food StoreRetail grocery98
- County Line School DistrictSchool district88FTE
Staff on average in 2025, as each workplace reported it to OSHA with its injury records: 12 workplaces with 20 or more staff, 1,888 people in all across the county; Altus has none of its own. School districts come from the Common Core of Data (NCES, 2023–24); FTE marks full-time equivalent staff. Not listed: many offices and banks, which need not report to OSHA; military bases, whose staff OPM withholds; and, in about half the states, city and county governments.
Natural hazards
- Ice stormsVery high
- Heat wavesRelatively high
- LightningRelatively high
- Winter weatherRelatively high
- TornadoesRelatively high
- DroughtRelatively moderate
FEMA’s National Risk Index (December 2025) rates the risk each natural hazard poses to the people, buildings and farms in Altus’ census tracts, against the rest of the country; all of them together, relatively moderate. It is meant for planning, not a substitute for a local risk assessment or a flood map: FEMA’s index.
From the U.S. Census Bureau’s 2020 census and its American Community Survey (2020–2024 five-year estimates), and the Bureau of Labor Statistics. A survey, so each figure has a margin of error, and figures it is not sure of are left out. More on Franklin County and the Fort Smith, AR-OK metro.
Altus home values
Zillow measures a city over its municipal boundary. Against the state and national figures, mid-tier homes, smoothed and seasonally adjusted.
Not enough data to draw this yet.
Market heat, inside the city limits
Homes for sale
Active for-sale inventory. More supply hands power to buyers.
- Altus5
Zip codes with a Altus address
A different geography, not a breakdown. The figure above covers the municipality; these zips cover everywhere the Post Office calls Altus — often including townships beyond the city limits. Both come straight from Zillow, and they are not expected to average out.