Best PlacesBlakely, AR Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Blakely, 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.
Blakely ranks 38,910th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a strong job market by a wide margin, and summer heat is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Blakely
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.
Blakely's strengths and weaknesses
Where Blakely ranks high
- Local economyBetter than 98% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 85% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 81% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 80% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than 75% of towns
Where Blakely ranks low
- Heat safetyBetter than only 1% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 14% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 15% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 16% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 18% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Blakely
A household needs to earn about $48,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Blakely home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $65,177, 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 Blakely's effective rate of 0.46%, 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 3 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Blakely
Blakely runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Blakely.
Who works in Blakely, and how
Work in Blakely centers on health care & social and finance & insurance. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 17%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Blakely
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Blakely.
What the weather is like in Blakely, month by month
Blakely sees roughly 84 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 54, with lows near 34. The comfortable stretch runs March through May and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 54° | 43° | 34° |
| April | 75° | 63° | 53° |
| July | 93° | 83° | 74° |
| October | 78° | 65° | 55° |
Flying in and out of Blakely
The nearest airport, Memorial Field, is about 15 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Memphis International, about 179 miles away.
The best schools in and around Blakely
Schools across Blakely average a C+, better than 49% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Jessieville Elementary SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Perryville Elementary SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
Top middle schools
- Jessieville Middle SchoolB · 44% proficient
Top high schools
- Perryville High SchoolC · 32% proficient
- Jessieville High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Blakely school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Blakely 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 Blakely against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Blakely
Is Blakely a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Blakely ranks 38,910th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a strong job market, state finances, and low property taxes, and lowest on summer heat and internet speeds. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Blakely expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $190,992. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $65,177 median income, cost of living beats 38% of towns.
Is Blakely safe?
Blakely is safer than 18% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $693 per resident a year.
Compare Blakely with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Blakely. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Blakely 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.
Blakely detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Blakely: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Blakely: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Blakely: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Blakely: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Blakely 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.