Best PlacesCarthage, AR Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Carthage, 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.
Carthage ranks 49,909th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and a weak job market ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Carthage
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.
Carthage's strengths and weaknesses
Where Carthage ranks high
- Cheap childcare$494 a month, better than 93% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 88% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 88% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 85% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 74% of towns
Where Carthage ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 1% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 2% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 3% of towns
- Household income$24,032 median, better than only 3% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 4% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Carthage
A household needs to earn about $29,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Carthage home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $24,032, so buying stretches a typical household.
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 Carthage's effective rate of 0.53%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Carthage
Carthage runs older 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 Carthage.
Who works in Carthage, and how
Work in Carthage centers on manufacturing and education. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 81%
- Work from home 4%
- Transit, walk, or bike 16%
Life in Carthage
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Carthage.
What the weather is like in Carthage, month by month
Carthage sees roughly 84 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 55, with lows near 33. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 55° | 42° | 33° |
| April | 76° | 63° | 52° |
| July | 92° | 81° | 72° |
| October | 78° | 63° | 51° |
Flying in and out of Carthage
The nearest airport, Memorial Field, is about 42 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Memphis International, about 160 miles away.
The best schools in and around Carthage
Schools across Carthage average a C−, better than 23% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Rison Elementary SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- Fordyce Elementary SchoolsC− · 27% proficient
- Malvern Elementary SchoolD+ · 24% proficient
Top middle schools
- Sheridan Middle SchoolB · 43% proficient
- Goza Middle SchoolC · 31% proficient
- Malvern Junior High SchoolD · 23% proficient
Top high schools
- Rison High SchoolC+ · 36% proficient
- Sheridan High SchoolC · 31% proficient
- Fordyce High SchoolD · 20% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Carthage school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Carthage 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 Carthage against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Carthage
Is Carthage a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Carthage ranks 49,909th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, a stable housing market, and tree cover, and lowest on a weak job market and summer heat. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Carthage expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $114,855. The overall cost of living runs about 27% below the national average. Set against a $24,032 median income, cost of living beats 3% of towns.
Is Carthage safe?
Carthage is safer than 4% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $1,137 per resident a year.
Compare Carthage with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Carthage. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Carthage 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.
Carthage detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Carthage: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Carthage: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Carthage: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Carthage: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Carthage 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.