Little Rock School District, AR

Original Research by School Decision on Little Rock School District

The Little Rock School District is the largest public school system in Arkansas, serving the state capital and its surrounding communities. As a comprehensive PK-through-12 district, it operates a wide network that includes neighborhood elementary and middle schools, magnet programs, a career and technical center, and several high schools, including the historic Central High School. The student body is diverse: more than half of the enrolled students are Black, with a sizable Hispanic population and a smaller but present share of White, Asian, and multiracial students. This composition gives the district a distinctly urban, multiethnic character, and families choosing the district should expect that peer environment.

On state assessments, which are administered through the Arkansas ATLAS system, the district’s overall proficiency across tested subjects and grades sits above the midpoint when compared with other Pulaski County districts. That is a meaningful marker of relative standing in a county that includes several dozen districts. However, the absolute proficiency rates themselves are low in most grades and subjects. In mathematics, the share of students scoring proficient or above ranges from roughly a quarter in the early elementary grades down to a much smaller share in eighth grade. English language arts shows a similar pattern, with proficiency rates hovering around a quarter to a third depending on the grade, and science results fall in a comparable range. These numbers point to a district where a substantial portion of the student body is not yet meeting state benchmarks, and a parent may want to look into this further with the school to understand what academic supports are in place.

The district’s chronic absenteeism rate is in the bottom quartile among Pulaski County’s districts. This is a soft spot that the district itself is likely tracking, and a parent researching specific schools may want to ask about attendance patterns and what steps the school takes to keep students engaged and in class.

Per-pupil current spending is in the upper range among county peers, which suggests the district is investing significant resources into its schools. The district runs a mature set of magnet programs at the elementary, middle, and high school levels, including a STEAM magnet at Hall High School, a STEM academy at Forest Heights, and the Metropolitan Career and Technical Center. These program offerings give families options within the district, though the data available does not provide detail on how competitive admissions are for those magnets or how they compare in academic outcomes.

The housing market across the district’s fourteen zip codes shows wide variation. Home values range from lower-cost areas in the southern parts of the city to more expensive neighborhoods in the west and northwest, with a district-weighted home value that sits near the statewide benchmark for Arkansas. Rents show a similar spread. This range means that the district serves neighborhoods with very different economic profiles, and a family’s experience of the schools can vary considerably depending on which attendance zone they fall into.

The district brief turned up no recently reported changes such as bond elections, millage shifts, curriculum adoptions, or school closures that would be immediately relevant to a parent’s decision. That absence of news in the research is itself a data point, suggesting a period of relative operational stability rather than upheaval, though a family moving into the area would still want to check the district website for any recent board decisions.

For a family, this district presents a tradeoff. It offers the program diversity, magnet options, and resource levels of a large urban system, and its proficiency index sits respectably compared to county peers. But the absolute proficiency numbers are low, and attendance is a known challenge. The district will fit a family that values choice within a large system, is comfortable with the academic starting point, and wants to be plugged into a school community that reflects the demographic reality of a mid-sized Southern capital. A family prioritizing high test scores above other factors may find a better match in one of the county’s suburban or smaller districts.

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District Context

Officially reported figures, 2024-25.

Enrollment

21,105

Grades

PK–12

Schools

Student body

Hispanic 16%

Black 59%

White 19%

Asian 3%

Two+ 2%

Am. Indian / AK Native 0%

Hawaiian / Pac. Isl. 0%

Schools in this District

40 schools are officially reported under this district.

M.L. KING ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

METROPOLITAN CAREER & TECHNICAL CENTER

BRADY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

CARVER STEAM MAGNET ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

CENTRAL HIGH SCHOOL

DUNBAR MAGNET MIDDLE SCHOOL

FAIR PARK EARLY CHILDHOOD CTR

FOREST PARK ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

GIBBS MAGNET ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

JEFFERSON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

MANN MAGNET MIDDLE SCHOOL

MCDERMOTT ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

PARKVIEW MAGNET HIGH SCHOOL

PULASKI HEIGHTS MIDDLE SCHOOL

TERRY ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

WESTERN HILLS ELEM. SCHOOL

WILLIAMS MAGNET ELEM. SCHOOL

STEPHENS ELEMENTARY

BALE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

FULBRIGHT ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

PULASKI HEIGHTS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

BASELINE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

MABELVALE ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

OTTER CREEK ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

WAKEFIELD ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

CLOVERDALE MIDDLE SCHOOL

MABELVALE MIDDLE SCHOOL

WASHINGTON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

CHICOT ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

WATSON ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

DON ROBERTS ELEMENTARY SCHOOL

FOREST HEIGHTS STEM ACADEMY

GEYER SPRINGS EARLY CHILDHOOD CENTER

PINNACLE VIEW MIDDLE SCHOOL

LITTLE ROCK WEST HIGH SCHOOL OF INNOVATION

LITTLE ROCK SOUTHWEST HIGH SCHOOL

LITTLE ROCK HALL STEAM MAGNET HIGH SCHOOL

ROCKEFELLER EARLY CHILDHOOD CENTER

J.A. FAIR K8 PREPARATORY SCHOOL

ROMINE EARLY CHILDHOOD CENTER

Academic Performance

Percent of students meeting or exceeding state standards, by grade.

Mathematics

6 grades reported

30%

Grade 3

33%

Grade 4

30%

Grade 5

23%

Grade 6

22%

Grade 7

12%

Grade 8

English Language Arts

6 grades reported

28%

Grade 3

33%

Grade 4

29%

Grade 5

25%

Grade 6

22%

Grade 7

26%

Grade 8

Science

6 grades reported

28%

Grade 3

32%

Grade 4

26%

Grade 5

24%

Grade 6

27%

Grade 7

25%

Grade 8

Housing & Real Estate

Data as of April 2026 | District-weighted from constituent ZIP codes

Home Values

Typical home value$209,385

Year-over-year change+3.0%

Range across 14 ZIP codes$112K to $478K

vs. state typical0.94x

vs. national typical0.57x

Home value trend (12 months)

ZIP code home values (14 ZIP codes)

ZIP	City	Value	YoY	Weight
72209	Little Rock	$112K	+2.3%	16.5%
72204	Little Rock	$121K	+3.3%	15.4%
72206	Little Rock	$133K	+7.3%	11.3%
72205	Little Rock	$226K	+0.8%	8.3%
72202	Little Rock	$151K	+1.9%	7.3%
72211	Little Rock	$280K	+2.5%	6.4%
72103	Mabelvale	$183K	+4.6%	6.4%
72212	Little Rock	$384K	+3.4%	6.0%
72210	Little Rock	$269K	+3.2%	5.8%
72223	Little Rock	$478K	+3.0%	4.6%
72207	Little Rock	$404K	+2.3%	3.9%
72227	Little Rock	$274K	+2.0%	3.9%
72002	Alexander	$248K	+3.9%	2.7%
72201	Little Rock	$260K	-10.1%	1.3%

Rental Market

Typical monthly rent$1,197/mo

Year-over-year change+3.5%

Range across 12 ZIP codes$1,018 to $1,598/mo

Rent trend (12 months)

ZIP code rents (12 ZIP codes)

ZIP	City	Rent/mo	YoY	Weight
72209	Little Rock	$1,060	+3.7%	16.5%
72204	Little Rock	$1,142	+4.8%	15.4%
72206	Little Rock	$1,018	+3.6%	11.3%
72205	Little Rock	$1,408	+1.6%	8.3%
72202	Little Rock	$1,095	+1.8%	7.3%
72211	Little Rock	$1,126	+3.6%	6.4%
72212	Little Rock	$1,598	—	6.0%
72210	Little Rock	$1,419	—	5.8%
72223	Little Rock	$1,334	+0.6%	4.6%
72207	Little Rock	$1,336	—	3.9%
72227	Little Rock	$1,128	+6.6%	3.9%
72201	Little Rock	$1,181	—	1.3%

Affordability

Est. monthly mortgage (20% down at 6.48%)$1,057/mo

Home price / national median income2.5x

Annual rent / national median income17.1%

Rent exceeds est. mortgage by$140/mo

Comparison

State typical home value$222,300 (+3.0% YoY)

National typical home value$368,198 (+0.6% YoY)

State ZHVI trend (12 months)

National ZHVI trend (12 months)

Economic Context

30-year fixed mortgage rate6.48%

National unemployment rate4.3%

National median household income$83,730

CPI: Rent of shelter (index)447.05

30-year fixed mortgage rate (12 months)

National unemployment rate (12 months)

National median household income (12 months)

CPI: Rent of shelter (index) (12 months)

Sources: Zillow Home Value Index and Zillow Observed Rent Index (Zillow Group), Realtor.com via Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis (FRED)

Data Currently Unavailable

Civil Rights Data (CRDC)

This profile is derived exclusively from publicly available federal and state datasets. It may not reflect the most current information available. We encourage parents and families to supplement this data with information published directly on the school’s website, which may include more recent figures, additional programs, or updated enrollment data.