Best PlacesCarson Lake, AR Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Carson Lake, 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.
Carson Lake ranks 43,385th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Carson Lake
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.
Carson Lake's strengths and weaknesses
Where Carson Lake ranks high
- Cheap childcare$481 a month, better than 94% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 94% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 92% of towns
- Short commute20.5 minutes each way, better than 86% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 85% of towns
Where Carson Lake ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 2% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 3% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 11% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 12% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Carson Lake
A household needs to earn about $25,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Carson Lake home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $56,198, 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 Carson Lake's effective rate of 0.45%, 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 Carson Lake
Carson Lake runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Carson Lake.
Who works in Carson Lake, and how
Work in Carson Lake centers on education and agriculture & forestry. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 91%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Carson Lake
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Carson Lake.
What the weather is like in Carson Lake, month by month
Carson Lake sees roughly 89 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 50, with lows near 34. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 50° | 41° | 34° |
| April | 72° | 62° | 52° |
| July | 91° | 82° | 73° |
| October | 75° | 64° | 54° |
Flying in and out of Carson Lake
Memphis International sits about 40 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 Carson Lake
Schools across Carson Lake average a C−, better than 23% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Rivercrest Elementary SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- Osceola Elementary SchoolD− · 12% proficient
Top middle schools
- Osceola Middle SchoolF · 12% proficient
Top high schools
- Academies At Rivercrest High SchoolC− · 27% proficient
- Osceola High SchoolF · 7% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Carson Lake school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Carson Lake 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 Carson Lake against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Carson Lake
Is Carson Lake a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Carson Lake ranks 43,385th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, cell coverage, and a strong job market, and lowest on tree cover and biking. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Carson Lake expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $99,200. The overall cost of living runs about 21% below the national average. Set against a $56,198 median income, cost of living beats 28% of towns.
Is Carson Lake safe?
Carson Lake is safer than 24% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $601 per resident a year.
Compare Carson Lake with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Carson Lake. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Carson Lake 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.
Carson Lake detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Carson Lake: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Carson Lake: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Carson Lake: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Carson Lake: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Carson Lake 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.