States · Arkansas · Franklin County

Branch, Arkansas.

. Fort Smith, AR-OK metro.

What it costs per month · Branch $1,177/mo

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.

$500 $1,000 $1,500 $2,000 2002 2006 2010 2014 2018 2022 2026 Arkansas $1,177 United States $1,922
$500 $1,000 $1,500 $2,000 2002 2010 2018 2026
  • Arkansas$1,177
  • United States$1,922

Living in Branch, Franklin County, Arkansas

Branch is a city of 296 people in Franklin County. Half its households earn more than $37,500 a year and half less, against $55,886 across 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.

People 296 in the 2020 census
Household income $37,500 the median, give or take $5,946 · Franklin County: $55,886
Unemployment 3.9% Franklin County, August 2026; 4.5% a year before
Homes Too few homes in Branch for the Census survey to measure.

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 It can be wrong or out of date.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. Branch is a very small city in Franklin County, Arkansas, with a population that makes it feel like a close neighbourhood more than a town. Household incomes here are lower than across the county as a whole. Winters are cool, with January the coldest month and highs staying above freezing but lows dropping below it, while summers turn hot by July. Rain and melted snow add up to a fairly wet year.

Work. Residents work mostly in schools, hospitals and social care, with manufacturing, shops, and transport, warehousing and utilities also employing many. Across Franklin County, the largest workplaces include Butterball, a turkey processing plant, the Ozark School District, and ABB Motors and Mechanical, which makes electric motors. Unemployment in the county is lower than it was a year ago, though the county has fewer jobs than the year before.

Things to do. For time outdoors, Mount Magazine State Park and Lake Fort Smith State Park are both protected areas a longer drive away, and the Mulberry River is a river for those who like to be near the water. Fort Smith National Historic Site, also a longer drive away, is a good choice for anyone interested in the region's history.

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What people in Franklin County work in

  • Schools, hospitals and social care22%
  • Manufacturing19%
  • Shops (retail)10%
  • Transport, warehouses and utilities9%
  • Building trades9%
  • Restaurants, hotels and entertainment8%

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

Average daily high and low for each month: coldest in January, 48° and 28°; warmest in July, 92° and 70° 20° 40° 60° 80° 100° J 48° 28° F M A M J J 92° 70° A S O N D
Average daily high and low for each month: coldest in January, 48° and 28°; warmest in July, 92° and 70° 20° 40° 60° 80° 100° J 48° 28° F M A M J J 92° 70° A S O N D

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, 15 miles away (NOAA).

Largest workplaces in Franklin County

  1. ButterballTurkeys, slaughtering and dressing948
  2. Ozark School DistrictSchool district286FTE
  3. ABB Motors and MechanicalMotors, electric, manufacturing233
  4. Arkansas Valley Electric CooperativeDistribution of electric power180
  5. Charleston School DistrictSchool district163FTE
  6. Tokai Carbon GEGraphite electrodes and contacts, electric, manufacturing133
  7. Harp's Food StoreRetail grocery98
  8. 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; Branch 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

  1. Ice stormsVery high
  2. LightningVery high
  3. Winter weatherVery high
  4. Heat wavesRelatively high
  5. WildfireRelatively high
  6. TornadoesRelatively high

FEMA’s National Risk Index (December 2025) rates the risk each natural hazard poses to the people, buildings and farms in Branch’s census tracts, against the rest of the country; all of them together, relatively high. 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.

Branch 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.

5 6 6 2026 Branch 6
5 6 6 2026
  • Branch6

Zip codes with a Branch address

A different geography, not a breakdown. The figure above covers the municipality; these zips cover everywhere the Post Office calls Branch — often including townships beyond the city limits. Both come straight from Zillow, and they are not expected to average out.

Zillow publishes no zip-level series with this city on the address.