Best PlacesCompton, AR Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Compton, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Costs and crime both read low, and the nearest big city is a drive away. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Compton ranks 32,849th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and internet speeds rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Compton
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.
Compton's strengths and weaknesses
Where Compton ranks high
- Cheap childcare$466 a month, better than 96% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 88% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 85% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 81% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 79% of towns
Where Compton ranks low
- Internet speedBetter than only 4% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 7% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 13% of towns
- Short commute33.6 minutes each way, better than only 18% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Compton
A household needs to earn about $56,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Compton home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $68,043, 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 Compton's effective rate of 0.49%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Compton
Compton 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 Compton.
Who works in Compton, and how
Work in Compton centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Compton
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Compton.
What the weather is like in Compton, month by month
Compton sees roughly 72 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 Compton
The nearest airport, Boone County, is about 13 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Memphis International, about 202 miles away.
The best schools in and around Compton
Schools across Compton average a B−, better than 54% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Forest Heights Elem. SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Kingston Elementary SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- Alpena Elementary SchoolC− · 27% proficient
Top middle schools
- Harrison Middle SchoolA− · 57% proficient
Top high schools
- Harrison High SchoolB− · 44% proficient
- Kingston High SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- Alpena High SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Compton school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Compton 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 Compton against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Compton
Is Compton a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Compton ranks 32,849th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, tree cover, and state finances, and lowest on internet speeds and cell coverage. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Compton expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $225,436. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $68,043 median income, cost of living beats 40% of towns.
Is Compton safe?
Yes, Compton is safer than 79% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $333 per resident a year.
Compare Compton with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Compton. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Compton 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.
Compton detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Compton: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Compton: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Compton: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Compton: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Compton 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.