Best PlacesBenton, AR Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Benton, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Costs and crime both read low, and the nearest big city is a drive away. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Benton ranks 1,271st of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a stable housing market by a wide margin, and distance from a big city ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Benton
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.
Benton's strengths and weaknesses
Where Benton ranks high
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 98% of cities
- State fiscal healthBetter than 92% of cities
- Cheap childcare$671 a month, better than 91% of cities
- Local economyBetter than 85% of cities
- Tree shadeBetter than 84% of cities
Where Benton ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 5% of cities
- BikingBetter than only 7% of cities
- Air qualityBetter than only 12% of cities
- TransitBetter than only 13% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than only 15% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Benton
A household needs to earn about $58,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Benton home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $81,778, 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 Benton's effective rate of 0.63%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Benton
Benton's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Benton.
Who works in Benton, and how
Work in Benton centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Benton
Benton has more parkland per resident than 76% of cities. That concentrates in some parts of Benton and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Benton, month by month
Benton sees roughly 74 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 53, with lows near 33. The comfortable stretch runs March through May and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 53° | 42° | 33° |
| April | 75° | 63° | 53° |
| July | 93° | 83° | 74° |
| October | 77° | 65° | 55° |
Flying in and out of Benton
The nearest airport, Bill and Hillary Clinton Ntl/Adams Field, is about 23 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Memphis International, about 151 miles away.
The best schools in and around Benton
Schools across Benton average a B−, better than 56% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Springhill Elementary SchoolA− · 58% proficient
- Perrin Elementary SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
- Caldwell Elementary SchoolB · 49% proficient
Top middle schools
- Bethel Middle SchoolA− · 58% proficient
- Harmony Grove Middle SchoolA− · 53% proficient
- Benton Middle SchoolB+ · 48% proficient
Top high schools
- Benton High SchoolB− · 44% proficient
- Bryant High SchoolC+ · 40% proficient
- Perryville High SchoolC · 32% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Benton school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Benton 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 Benton against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Benton suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 10% already work from home.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Benton
Is Benton a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Benton ranks 1,271st of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on a stable housing market, state finances, and affordable childcare, and lowest on distance from a big city and biking. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Benton expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $228,892. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $81,778 median income, cost of living beats 52% of cities.
Is Benton safe?
Yes, Benton is safer than 74% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $383 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Benton?
July highs average about 93 degrees, and January highs near 53 with lows near 33. That works out to about 74 pleasant days a year, more than 35% of cities.
Is Benton good for families?
Schools beat 56% of cities, crime safety beats 74%, and childcare runs $671 a month.
Compare Benton with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Benton. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Benton 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.
Benton detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Benton: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Benton: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Benton: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Benton: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Benton 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.