Best PlacesCross County, AR Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Cross 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.
Cross County ranks 2,648th of 3,144 U.S. counties 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 Cross 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.
Cross County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Cross County ranks high
- Cheap childcare$481 a month, better than 93% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than 82% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than 80% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 78% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than 77% of counties
Where Cross County ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 7% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than only 9% of counties
- Household income$54,775 median, better than only 16% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 16% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 18% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Cross County
A household needs to earn about $32,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Cross County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $54,775, 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 Cross County'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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Cross County
Cross County's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Cross County.
Who works in Cross County, and how
Work in Cross County centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 94%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Cross County
Cross County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties. That concentrates in some parts of Cross County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Cross County growing, and who is moving in?
Cross County has lost about 6% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from St. Francis County, AR.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Cross County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Cross County, month by month
Cross County sees roughly 78 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 | 73° | 62° | 53° |
| July | 91° | 81° | 73° |
| October | 77° | 64° | 54° |
Flying in and out of Cross County
Memphis International sits about 48 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 Cross County
Schools across Cross County average a C, better than 36% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Weiner ElementaryA− · 62% proficient
- Mccrory Elementary SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
- Cross County Elementary Tech AcademyB · 50% proficient
Top middle schools
- Wynne Junior High SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
Top high schools
- Cross Cnty High A New Tech SchB− · 42% proficient
- Mccrory High SchoolC · 32% proficient
- Wynne High SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Cross County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Cross 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 Cross County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Cross County
Is Cross County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Cross County ranks 2,648th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on affordable childcare, state finances, and fast internet, and lowest on a weak job market and health outcomes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Cross County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $128,152. The overall cost of living runs about 23% below the national average. Set against a $54,775 median income, cost of living beats 29% of counties.
Is Cross County safe?
Cross County is safer than 28% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $618 per resident a year.
Compare Cross County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Cross County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Cross 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.
Cross County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Cross County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Cross County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Cross County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Cross County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Cross 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.