Best PlacesBlack Fork, AR Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Black Fork, 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.
Black Fork ranks 46,149th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on tree cover by a wide margin, and low incomes rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Black Fork
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.
Black Fork's strengths and weaknesses
Where Black Fork ranks high
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- Cheap childcare$481 a month, better than 94% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 89% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 85% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 72% of towns
Where Black Fork ranks low
- Household income$40,210 median, better than only 3% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 3% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 8% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 8% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 8% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Black Fork
A household needs to earn about $38,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Black Fork home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $40,210, 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 Black Fork's effective rate of 0.39%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Black Fork
Black Fork runs younger than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Black Fork.
Who works in Black Fork, and how
Work in Black Fork centers on manufacturing and agriculture & forestry. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 95%
- Work from home 3%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Black Fork
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Black Fork.
What the weather is like in Black Fork, month by month
Black Fork sees roughly 102 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 52, with lows near 30. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 52° | 38° | 30° |
| April | 74° | 61° | 51° |
| July | 93° | 81° | 72° |
| October | 77° | 62° | 51° |
Flying in and out of Black Fork
The nearest airport, Fort Smith Regional, is about 39 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Dallas Love Field, about 193 miles away.
The best schools in and around Black Fork
Schools across Black Fork average a C−, better than 24% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Acorn Elementary SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- Waldron Elementary SchoolC− · 29% proficient
- Heavener EsD · 19% proficient
Top middle schools
- Waldron Middle SchoolC · 31% proficient
Top high schools
- Acorn High SchoolC · 33% proficient
- Waldron High SchoolD+ · 24% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Black Fork school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Black Fork 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 Black Fork against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Black Fork
Is Black Fork a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Black Fork ranks 46,149th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on tree cover, affordable childcare, and low property taxes, and lowest on low incomes and biking. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Black Fork expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $153,400. The overall cost of living runs about 24% below the national average. Set against a $40,210 median income, cost of living beats 8% of towns.
Is Black Fork safe?
Black Fork is safer than 22% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $619 per resident a year.
Compare Black Fork with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Black Fork. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Black Fork 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.
Black Fork detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Black Fork: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Black Fork: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Black Fork: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Black Fork: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Black Fork 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.