Best PlacesCotton Town, AR Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Cotton Town, 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.
Cotton Town ranks 39,361st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a stable housing market by a wide margin, and internet speeds rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Cotton Town
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.
Cotton Town's strengths and weaknesses
Where Cotton Town ranks high
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 96% of towns
- Short commute16.6 minutes each way, better than 96% of towns
- Cheap childcare$481 a month, better than 94% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 89% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 85% of towns
Where Cotton Town ranks low
- Internet speedBetter than only 5% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 7% of towns
- Household income$45,266 median, better than only 8% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 14% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 15% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Cotton Town
A household needs to earn about $30,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Cotton Town home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $45,266, 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 Cotton Town's effective rate of 0.39%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Cotton Town
Cotton Town runs older than the country, though fewer residents are over 65 than the national share, 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 Cotton Town.
Who works in Cotton Town, and how
Work in Cotton Town centers on manufacturing and construction. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 93%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Cotton Town
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Cotton Town.
What the weather is like in Cotton Town, month by month
Cotton Town sees roughly 73 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 51, with lows near 30. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 51° | 39° | 30° |
| April | 74° | 61° | 50° |
| July | 93° | 81° | 72° |
| October | 77° | 63° | 52° |
Flying in and out of Cotton Town
The nearest airport, Memorial Field, is about 43 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Memphis International, about 176 miles away.
The best schools in and around Cotton Town
Schools across Cotton Town average a C+, better than 42% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Pottsville Elementary SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Dardanelle Primary SchoolC · 33% proficient
- Ola Elementary SchoolD · 20% proficient
Top middle schools
- Pottsville Junior High SchoolB+ · 49% proficient
- Dardanelle Middle SchoolB− · 42% proficient
Top high schools
- Dardanelle High SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- Pottsville High SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- Perryville High SchoolC · 32% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Cotton Town school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Cotton Town 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 Cotton Town against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Cotton Town
Is Cotton Town a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Cotton Town ranks 39,361st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a stable housing market, short commutes, and affordable childcare, and lowest on internet speeds and civic engagement. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Cotton Town expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $122,400. The overall cost of living runs about 21% below the national average. Set against a $45,266 median income, cost of living beats 14% of towns.
Is Cotton Town safe?
Cotton Town is safer than 53% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $425 per resident a year.
Compare Cotton Town with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Cotton Town. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Cotton Town 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.
Cotton Town detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Cotton Town: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Cotton Town: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Cotton Town: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Cotton Town: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Cotton Town 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.