Your monthly budget in Fayetteville.

Fayetteville had 103,124 residents in 2024, a median household income of $66,237 and a median gross rent of $1,119 a month, according to the Census Bureau’s 2024 American Community Survey. On rent and income, it looks a lot like Little Rock, the state’s largest city, where the same survey found a median rent of $1,136 and a median household income of $66,553. On buying a home, it does not. The median owner-occupied home in Fayetteville was valued at $376,400, against $270,700 in Little Rock.

The reason is the region around it. The University of Arkansas enrolled a record 34,175 students in fall 2025, its fifth record year in a row, according to the university. Up I-49, Walmart’s new Home Office campus in Bentonville was built for more than 15,000 associates, the Northwest Arkansas Council reported in 2025, and Tyson Foods in Springdale and J.B. Hunt in Lowell add thousands more corporate jobs. Many of those workers choose to live in Fayetteville.

A note on this page’s angle: Fayetteville is not simply a cheaper alternative to Little Rock. Renting costs about the same; buying costs considerably more. This page is for the university staff member, the graduate student, the restaurant worker on Dickson Street and the corporate employee who lives in Fayetteville and drives north. By the end you will know what your month costs, what the commute adds and how long a down payment would take.

Two cities in one budget

Fayetteville runs on two calendars. The university sets one: August lease turnover, football weekends that fill restaurants and hotels, and quiet weeks in summer and over winter break. The corporate corridor sets the other: steady salaries, annual bonuses at some employers and a daily drive. A household can belong to both, with one partner on a campus paycheck and the other commuting to Bentonville.

What Arkansas takes in 2026

Arkansas lowered its top individual income tax rate from 3.9% to 3.7% in 2026, retroactive to January 1, and revised withholding accordingly, Thomson Reuters reported. The state also dropped its sales tax on groceries to zero on January 1, 2026, under the Grocery Tax Relief Act, though local taxes on food still apply. The general combined sales tax rate in most of Fayetteville is 9.75%: 6.5% for the state, 1.25% for Washington County and 2% for the city, according to Avalara’s rate tables. There is no city income tax.

The I-49 line in your budget

Living in Fayetteville and working in Bentonville or Lowell means a daily highway commute. Gas is only part of it: tires, oil, maintenance and the faster depreciation of a car that does 1,000 miles a month all count. Put the full commute in your plan as a fixed cost by office days, so you can compare it fairly with a rental closer to work, or with a hybrid schedule if your employer offers one.

Fixed costs in a Fayetteville month

• Rent or mortgage, plus renters or homeowners insurance.
• Electricity from SWEPCO or Ozarks Electric, depending on the address, plus water and gas.
• Car payment, insurance and gas for the I-49 commute, or Razorback Transit if you live near campus.
• Phone and internet.
• Childcare, which has grown tight as the region has grown.
• Student loans and card payments.

Example one: a university staff member renting near campus

The figures in both examples are illustrative. Caleb is an academic advisor at the University of Arkansas and takes home $3,250 a month.

Fixed costs: rent for a one-bedroom off Wedington Drive $1,050, renters insurance $14, electricity and water $130, internet and phone $105, car payment and insurance $390, gas $80, student loan $230, groceries set as a fixed amount $350. Total: $2,349. Weekend reserve: $150.

$3,250 minus $2,349 minus $150 leaves $751 of real free money.

Caleb wants to buy in a few years. A home at the city’s median value of $376,400 would need a 5% down payment of about $18,800, plus closing costs. At $500 a month in a Down payment goal, that is a little over three years. He set the goal with that date, and the plan still leaves him $251 a month free.

Enter your rent and a down payment goal in Monthly, and see the date it really lands →

Example two: a corporate analyst who commutes north and a server on Dickson Street

Natalie is a supply-chain analyst at a corporate office in Bentonville and takes home $5,100 a month, with an annual bonus. Her partner, Diego, serves at a restaurant on Dickson Street. On a normal month he takes home $2,200; on home-game months it rises to about $3,200.

Planned income: $5,100 plus Diego’s normal $2,200, or $7,300.

Fixed costs: rent for a three-bedroom house in east Fayetteville $1,650, renters insurance $20, utilities $220, two cars with insurance $820, gas for Natalie’s commute and Diego’s car $310, a car maintenance goal for the I-49 miles $80, phone and internet $150, student loans $340, credit card payment $200. Total: $3,790. Weekend reserve: $350.

$7,300 minus $3,790 minus $350 leaves $3,160.

Diego’s football-season extra, about $1,000 in each of four or five months, goes to the credit card until it is paid off, then to their Down payment goal. Natalie’s bonus goes there first. They kept the plan based on normal months, so a losing season or a rained-out weekend does not affect the rent.

Monthly in brief

Monthly is a free, manual budgeting app for the web and Android. It does not connect to your bank, does not move money and does not give financial advice. You enter paychecks, tips, bonuses, fixed costs, installments and debts, and it shows your real free money. Savings goals, such as a down payment or car maintenance, live under Patrimonio with a target, a date and logged contributions. The guide to setting a savings goal you actually hit and how to plan your month in five minutes are good next steps.

Real free money and your next step

In Fayetteville, rent is moderate, but the homes, the commute and the university calendar make the month more complicated than it looks. Real free money is what remains after fixed costs, the full cost of your drive and a weekend reserve come out of your normal take-home, with game-day tips and bonuses sent to goals. With that number, you can see when buying here becomes realistic.

Set up your normal month in Monthly, price the I-49 commute, and give your down payment a date →