Best PlacesCleburne County, AR Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Cleburne County, 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.
Cleburne County ranks 2,539th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and empty homes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Cleburne 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.
Cleburne County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Cleburne County ranks high
- Cheap childcare$481 a month, better than 93% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than 90% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than 85% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than 82% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 119 pleasant days a year, better than 74% of counties
Where Cleburne County ranks low
- Low vacancyBetter than only 6% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than only 13% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 15% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 17% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than only 19% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Cleburne County
A household needs to earn about $44,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Cleburne County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $56,920, 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 Cleburne County'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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Cleburne County
Cleburne County 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 Cleburne County.
Who works in Cleburne County, and how
Work in Cleburne County centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Cleburne County
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Cleburne County.
Is Cleburne County growing, and who is moving in?
Cleburne County has held roughly flat in population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Little Rock, AR.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Cleburne County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Cleburne County, month by month
Cleburne County sees roughly 119 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 50, with lows near 29. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 50° | 38° | 29° |
| April | 73° | 59° | 47° |
| July | 92° | 80° | 70° |
| October | 75° | 60° | 49° |
Flying in and out of Cleburne County
The nearest airport, Bill and Hillary Clinton Ntl/Adams Field, is about 55 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Memphis International, about 121 miles away.
The best schools in and around Cleburne County
Schools across Cleburne County average a B−, better than 62% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Rural Special Elem. SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Heber Springs Elem. SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Mcrae Elementary SchoolB− · 42% proficient
Top middle schools
- Heber Springs Middle SchoolA− · 57% proficient
- Southwest Middle SchoolB · 44% proficient
- Quitman Middle SchoolB · 43% proficient
Top high schools
- Concord High SchoolB− · 45% proficient
- Heber Springs High SchoolB− · 44% proficient
- Rural Special High SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Cleburne County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Cleburne 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 Cleburne County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Cleburne County suits
Retirees
The weather beats 74% of counties, health care access beats 60%, and it is quieter than 66%.
Common questions about living in Cleburne County
Is Cleburne County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Cleburne County ranks 2,539th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on affordable childcare, tree cover, and low property taxes, and lowest on empty homes and health outcomes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Cleburne County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $175,234. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $56,920 median income, cost of living beats 17% of counties.
Is Cleburne County safe?
Cleburne County is safer than 46% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $553 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Cleburne County?
July highs average about 92 degrees, and January highs near 50 with lows near 29. That works out to about 119 pleasant days a year, more than 74% of counties.
Is Cleburne County good for families?
Schools beat 62% of counties, crime safety beats 46%, and childcare runs $481 a month.
Compare Cleburne County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Cleburne County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Cleburne 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.
Cleburne County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Cleburne County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Cleburne County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Cleburne County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Cleburne County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Cleburne 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.