States · Arkansas · White County

Kensett, Arkansas.

. Searcy, AR metro.

What it costs per month · Kensett $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 Kensett, White County, Arkansas

Kensett is a city of 1,400 people in White County. Unemployment in White County was 3.6% in August 2026, and the county had 1.6% more jobs in 2025 than the year before. The most people in White County work in schools and health care, then shops.

People 1,400 in the 2020 census
Household income Too few homes in Kensett for the Census survey to measure.
Unemployment 3.6% White County, August 2026; 4.2% a year before
Homes Too few homes in Kensett 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 It can be wrong or out of date.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. Kensett is a small city in White County, Arkansas, home to a small number of residents who live close to one another. Winters are mild and short, with cold snaps but very little snow, while summers run hot and the year brings plenty of rain. Few adults hold a four-year degree, and most people work in practical fields close to home.

Work. Residents work mainly in schools, hospitals and social care, in shops, in manufacturing and in the building trades. Across White County, some of the largest workplaces are White County Medical Center, Harding University and the Searcy School District. Commutes are short, and very few people work from home. The county has added jobs over the past year, and unemployment there has eased compared with a year earlier.

Things to do. Bald Knob National Wildlife Refuge, a protected area, is a short drive away and is the nearest place to get outdoors. A longer drive brings you to the Little Red River, and to Crow Lake, a lake for time on the water. For an evening out, Beebe Theater is also a longer drive away.

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  • 668households
  • 3%of adults have a degree
  • 18 mintypical commute
  • 3%work from home

What people in White County work in

  • Schools, hospitals and social care27%
  • Shops (retail)15%
  • Manufacturing12%
  • Building trades8%
  • Restaurants, hotels and entertainment8%
  • Transport, warehouses and utilities7%

Employed residents by industry, from the Census survey. White County had 26,591 jobs in 2025, 1.6% more than the year before (Bureau of Labor Statistics).

Weather through the year

Average daily high and low for each month: coldest in January, 49° and 30°; warmest in July, 93° and 73° 40° 60° 80° 100° J 49° 30° F M A M J J 93° 73° A S O N D
Average daily high and low for each month: coldest in January, 49° and 30°; warmest in July, 93° and 73° 40° 60° 80° 100° J 49° 30° F M A M J J 93° 73° A S O N D

Coldest in January, with highs near 49° and lows near 30°; warmest in July, with highs near 93° and lows near 73°. About 2 inches of snow and 52 inches of rain and melted snow a year.

Average daily high and low, 1991–2020, at the Searcy weather station, 3 miles away (NOAA).

Largest workplaces in White County

  1. White County Medical CenterGeneral hospital1,192FTE
  2. WalmartGeneral warehousing and storage1,007
  3. Harding UniversityUniversity or college960
  4. Bryce-Searcy LocationPrinting, flexographic640
  5. Land O'Frost - SearcyMeat processed from carcasses591
  6. Searcy School DistrictSchool district582FTE
  7. Beebe School DistrictSchool district515FTE
  8. WalmartWarehouse clubs and supercenters483

Staff on average in 2025, as each workplace reported it to OSHA with its injury records: 48 workplaces with 20 or more staff, 7,744 people in all across the county; Kensett has one of its own. Hospitals come from their Medicare cost reports (CMS, 2023), colleges from IPEDS (NCES, 2023–24) and school districts 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. TornadoesVery high
  3. EarthquakesRelatively high
  4. Inland floodingRelatively high
  5. Strong windRelatively high
  6. Winter weatherRelatively high

FEMA’s National Risk Index (December 2025) rates the risk each natural hazard poses to the people, buildings and farms in Kensett’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 White County and the Searcy, AR metro.

Kensett 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.

4 6 8 2025 2026 Kensett 7
4 6 8 2025 2026
  • Kensett7

Zip codes with a Kensett address

A different geography, not a breakdown. The figure above covers the municipality; these zips cover everywhere the Post Office calls Kensett — 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.