Best PlacesCarroll County, AR Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Carroll County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages are not the whole story, and the strongest areas score well above them. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Carroll County ranks 2,251st of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and civic engagement ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Carroll County
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.
The best areas in Carroll County
The parts of Carroll County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Berryville
More households have young kids, fewer homes sit empty, and commutes are shorter.
Holiday Island
Tree cover is thicker and health care is easier to reach.
Eureka Springs
More adults hold degrees, though heat risk is higher.
Green Forest
Scores across Carroll County run from about the 12th to the 54th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Carroll County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Carroll County ranks high
- Cheap childcare$481 a month, better than 93% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than 82% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than 80% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than 80% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than 75% of counties
Where Carroll County ranks low
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 13% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 16% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 68 pleasant days a year, better than only 16% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 16% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 18% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Carroll County
A household needs to earn about $50,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Carroll County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $56,756, 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 Carroll County's effective rate of 0.50%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Carroll County
Carroll County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Carroll County.
Who works in Carroll County, and how
Work in Carroll County centers on manufacturing and construction. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Carroll County
Carroll County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 84% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Carroll County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Carroll County growing, and who is moving in?
Carroll County has grown about 4% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Fayetteville, AR.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Carroll County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Carroll County, month by month
Carroll County sees roughly 68 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 47, with lows near 28. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 47° | 37° | 28° |
| April | 71° | 58° | 48° |
| July | 90° | 79° | 69° |
| October | 73° | 60° | 50° |
Flying in and out of Carroll County
The nearest airport, Branson, is about 23 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Kansas City International, about 211 miles away.
The best schools in and around Carroll County
Schools across Carroll County average a C, better than 41% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Green Forest Elementary SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Eureka Springs Elem. SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Blue Eye Elem.B− · 40% proficient
Top middle schools
- Lingle Middle SchoolB · 46% proficient
- Blue Eye MiddleC+ · 38% proficient
- Eureka Springs Middle SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
Top high schools
- Blue Eye HighB · 47% proficient
- Kingston High SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- Eureka Springs High SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Carroll County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Carroll County 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 Carroll County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Carroll County suits
Families
Schools land around the 41st percentile and crime safety beats 56%.
Common questions about living in Carroll County
Is Carroll County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Carroll County ranks 2,251st of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on affordable childcare, state finances, and low property taxes, and lowest on civic engagement and an overheated housing market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Carroll County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $201,263. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $56,756 median income, cost of living beats 16% of counties.
Is Carroll County safe?
Yes, Carroll County is safer than 56% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $491 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Carroll County?
July highs average about 90 degrees, and January highs near 47 with lows near 28. That works out to about 68 pleasant days a year, more than 16% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Carroll County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Berryville, Holiday Island, and Eureka Springs. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Carroll County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Carroll County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Carroll County 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.
Carroll County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Carroll County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Carroll County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Carroll County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Carroll County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Carroll County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.