Best PlacesCalvin, AR Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Calvin, 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.
Calvin ranks 45,863rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and civic engagement ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Calvin
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.
Calvin's strengths and weaknesses
Where Calvin ranks high
- Cheap childcare$481 a month, better than 94% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 86% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 85% of towns
- Short commute22.3 minutes each way, better than 78% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 77% of towns
Where Calvin ranks low
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 3% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 4% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 7% of towns
- Household income$48,125 median, better than only 10% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 12% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Calvin
A household needs to earn about $19,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Calvin home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $48,125, 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 Calvin's effective rate of 0.42%, 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 Calvin
Calvin runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Calvin.
Who works in Calvin, and how
Work in Calvin centers on agriculture & forestry and other services. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 92%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Calvin
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Calvin.
What the weather is like in Calvin, month by month
Calvin sees roughly 73 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 47, with lows near 31. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 47° | 38° | 31° |
| April | 72° | 60° | 50° |
| July | 91° | 81° | 73° |
| October | 76° | 62° | 51° |
Flying in and out of Calvin
Memphis International sits about 85 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 2.4 million passengers in 2025, with 78 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Calvin
Schools across Calvin average a C−, better than 25% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Tuckerman Elementary SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Westside Elementary SchoolC+ · 36% proficient
- Hoxie Elementary SchoolC · 34% proficient
Top middle schools
- Swifton Middle SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Westside Middle SchoolC+ · 39% proficient
Top high schools
- Tuckerman High SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Westside High SchoolC− · 28% proficient
- Walnut Ridge High SchoolC− · 28% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Calvin school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Calvin 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 Calvin against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Calvin
Is Calvin a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Calvin ranks 45,863rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, low property taxes, and state finances, and lowest on civic engagement and health outcomes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Calvin expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $77,100. The overall cost of living runs about 23% below the national average. Set against a $48,125 median income, cost of living beats 20% of towns.
Is Calvin safe?
Calvin is safer than 49% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $449 per resident a year.
Compare Calvin with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Calvin. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Calvin 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.
Calvin detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Calvin: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Calvin: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Calvin: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Calvin: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Calvin 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.