Best PlacesArab, MO Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Arab, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Arab ranks 47,438th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and long commutes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Arab
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
Arab's strengths and weaknesses
Where Arab ranks high
- Cheap childcare$397 a month, better than 99% of towns
- QuietBetter than 78% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 76% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 74% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 73% of towns
Where Arab ranks low
- Short commute41.7 minutes each way, better than only 4% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 58 pleasant days a year, better than only 6% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 11% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 11% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Arab
A household needs to earn about $49,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Arab home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $55,194, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses Arab's effective rate of 0.51%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Arab
Arab runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Arab.
Who works in Arab, and how
Work in Arab centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 91%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Arab
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Arab.
What the weather is like in Arab, month by month
Arab sees roughly 58 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 46, with lows near 29. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 46° | 36° | 29° |
| April | 71° | 59° | 49° |
| July | 90° | 80° | 71° |
| October | 74° | 60° | 50° |
Flying in and out of Arab
The nearest airport, Cape Girardeau Regional, is about 30 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is St Louis Lambert International, about 116 miles away.
The best schools in and around Arab
Schools across Arab average a C, better than 32% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Zalma Elem.D+ · 23% proficient
- Williamsville Elem.D · 19% proficient
Top middle schools
- Greenville Jr. HighB− · 40% proficient
Top high schools
- Greenville HighC+ · 37% proficient
- Zalma HighC · 33% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Arab school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Arab measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare Arab against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Arab
Is Arab a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Arab ranks 47,438th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, quiet, and low property taxes, and lowest on long commutes and the weather. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Arab expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $193,431. The overall cost of living runs about 22% below the national average. Set against a $55,194 median income, cost of living beats 26% of towns.
Is Arab safe?
Arab is safer than 11% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $667 per resident a year.
Compare Arab with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Arab. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Arab represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
Arab detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Arab: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Arab: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Arab: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Arab: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Arab detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.