Housing options in and around Little Rock AFB are many, varied and, for the most part, very affordable. There is plenty of family housing on base, off-base rentals range from small apartments to very large multi-story homes, and there are plenty of new and pre-owned homes for sale. Because you are likely going to be here for a few years, consider all the possible options and choose carefully the one that is best for you. The Air Force has moved you to Little Rock AFB and will move you to your next duty station when you leave here, but it won't pay to move you from neighborhood to neighborhood in the local area while you are here.
DormitoriesSingle Airmen in pay grades E-1 through E-4 with less than three years of service are required to report to the Consolidated Dorms Management Office in Building 723 upon arrival. As dorm space is at a premium, your rank and date of rank determine whether or not you will be assigned a room in your squadron's dorm, or sent to the base housing office to investigate off-base possibilities or the possibility of living in family house in an unaccompanied status. As a general rule, any E-1 through E-4 with less than three years of service will be assigned a dorm room. The dorms are centrally located on base and within easy walking distance of the BX, commissary, chapel and other recreational facilities.
With the exception of the maintenance squadron dorm, all of the dorms are essentially the same. You will have a private room with a shared bath. Furniture in your room will include a full-size (double) bed, a dresser, an armoire suitable for holding a television and a chair. You can also request a desk and a recliner if you wish. Telephone and cable television service are available in the rooms should you elect to subscribe and pay for either service. The maintenance squadron dorm is designed with pods of six rooms, each with a private bath, sharing a common kitchen and living room area.
Each dorm has a dayroom with pool tables, other games, a sofa, a large-screen television and a DVD player among other amenities. Each floor in each dormitory has a shared kitchen space with appliances and utensils. Washers and driers are available. The dining facility serving all of the dorms is the Razorback Cafe, located a couple of minutes walking distance from all of the dorms.
The dining facility operates on the following schedule:
Monday - Friday:
Breakfast: 6 a.m. - 7:30 a.m.
Lunch: 10:30 a.m. - 1 p.m.
Dinner: 4 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.
Saturday, Sunday and Holidays:Brunch: 8:30 a.m. - 1 p.m.
Dinner: 5 p.m. - 7:30 p.m.
Dorm residents who go up in rank and/or time in service may be authorized and/or asked to move out of the dorm into the local economy or into family housing to make way for more junior airmen being assigned to Little Rock AFB. Determining who gets to move out of the dorms is done exclusively by rank and time in service.
Housing OfficeThe first stop in selecting a place to live for anyone moving to Little Rock AFB with a family, or who is single and E-5, or above, should be the base Housing Office in building 1995 at the corner of Arnold Drive and Arkansas Boulevard. This includes those airmen who are moving from the dorm into other housing. At first glance, the options for housing may seem overwhelming, but the staff in the housing office will sit down with each individual and help make sense of it all. Family housing on base is the first option you should consider. There are 1,227 family housing units on Little Rock AFB ranging from half of a two-bedroom duplex to four-bedroom single family homes. These houses, complete with all utilities except the telephone and cable TV services you have to pay for, can be had for the cost of your monthly BAH. There is no waiting for housing. Units are currently available for all pay grades.
Most of the family housing units date to when the base was built in the 1950s, though they have all been upgraded from time to time. Right now there are 25 newly constructed homes on base and at least as many more under construction. Within a few years it is expected that all base housing will be either new or completely renovated.
Single airmen transferring from the dorms will be charged BAH for family housing at the slightly higher rate paid to married airmen. But, if you team up with a roommate in family housing, you'll only pay a single BAH between the two of you, so splitting the cost will put a little extra tax-free cash in your pocket. If you decide to move into family housing, or at least want to investigate what is available, the staff at the housing office will direct you to the Town Hall in the family housing area where the civilian owner of the housing units is headquartered. This company runs the family housing units for the Air Force and is responsible for maintenance, renovations and placing personnel in the various housing units.
At Town Hall you will be told what is available, offered the keys to several sets of quarters appropriate to your pay grade and family size, and invited to drive through the neighborhoods and investigate the various houses. If you find one you that meets with your approval—and your spouse's approval—then it's back to town hall to fill out the paperwork.
Essentially the paperwork is filling out an allotment to the company that runs the Little Rock AFB family housing. The allotment will be in the amount of your BAH, which is the only money you must put up to secure a family housing unit. There are no deposits or extra months of rent to be paid in advance. Paperwork complete, you can probably start moving in later that same day. If you're in a real hurry to find a place to live, family housing can accommodate you almost instantly. To get some ideas in advance of what is available in family housing at Little Rock AFB, go online to
http://www.littlerockafbhousing.com.
Renting Off-base HousingThere are literally hundreds of rental units for every budget and in almost any size imaginable within easy commuting distance of Little Rock Air Force Base. If renting is your goal, you can even search ahead of time by going to www.ahrn.com, a single site for military members to research housing options at bases all over the world. If you haven't done so before arriving at the housing office, there's a computer available for your use in the waiting room.
Typically, renters will be required to pay the first and last month's rent and perhaps a security deposit before being allowed to move in. This can vary somewhat depending on your credit rating—the worse your credit rating, the higher the deposit is likely to be—and other factors such as pets. Security deposits and any overpayment of rent are generally refunded if you leave the rental in as good or better shape than it was when you moved in.
In the spring of 2008, typical rates for rental housing in the Little Rock AFB area were as follows:
1 bedroom/1 bathroom apartment:
$400-$700 per month;
2 bedroom/1 bathroom apartment:
$500-$700 per month;
3 bedroom/2 bathroom apartment:
$700-$950 per month;
2 bedroom/1 bathroom house or duplex:
$400-$700 per month;
3 bedroom/2 bathroom house:
$700-$1,400 per month;
4 bedroom or larger house:
$1,400-$2,400 per month.
You can certainly spend more than this if you wish and you can possibly find something even cheaper, but these numbers are a good average of what was available. The other option renters have is urban/rural. You can live in Little Rock itself, Arkansas' largest city about 15 miles from the base, or you can live in the country. Rental units with acreage are available. If you wish to rent, you will find plenty of options.
Buying a HomeAs with rentals, the options are many and varied, and central Arkansas is not a high-priced housing market. In other words, your BAH will likely make the payments on a much nicer house than it is possible to purchase near bases in other parts of the country. And, as of spring 2008, it is pretty much a buyer's market for houses, with a couple of caveats. You must have a regular income and good job security—being in the Air Force takes care of that—and your credit rating must be solid. Having been burned too many times in the not too distant past, lenders are being a bit tighter on who qualifies for a loan these days.
Again, the housing office on base is the place to start if you're thinking of buying a home. They can help you out with a list of real estate agents, for sale listings online and in the local newspapers and information about the various communities near the base.
SchoolsIf you have children, one of your biggest concerns is likely to be the schools in the local area, so much so that it may influence where you look for a home if you decide to live off base. In general, most who live on base are satisfied with the quality of the on-base elementary school and the junior high and high school just off base that serve students living in family housing. Outside the gate, however, things can get a little confusing and some schools are probably better than others or perhaps more suited to your children than others.
For example, Little Rock AFB, Little Rock, Jacksonville and a host of other towns are part of Pulaski County, and there is a Pulaski County School District. However, several towns have pulled their schools out of the county school district and formed separate school districts. Examples of this are the towns of Cabot, Vilonia and Beebe, all popular places to live with Air Force personnel. Even the city of Little Rock and the city of North Little Rock have each formed school districts separate from the county school district. In other words, before you pick a place to live, investigate the schools and see if they are right for your children.
Here's a list of most of the school districts in the area to help you get started:
Beebe School District(501) 882-5463
http://badger.k12.ar.us/Cabot Public School District(501) 843-3363
http://cabot.k12.ar.usPulaski County Special School District(501) 490-2000
http://www.pcssd.orgLittle Rock School District(501) 447-1000
http://www.lrsd.orgNorth Little Rock School District(501) 771-8000
http://www.nlrsd.k12.ar.usVilonia Public Schools(501) 796-2113
http://viloniaschools.k12.ar.us/
Another great resource for investigating the quality of schools anywhere in the nation and comparing the performance of various schools is www.greatschools.net. Visit this site, work your way down to Arkansas, put in appropriate zip codes for the communities you are considering and you will be able to judge the performance, or as many schools as you care to research.
