Best PlacesDamascus, AR Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Damascus, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Damascus ranks 29,646th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on the weather by a wide margin, and distance from a big city ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Damascus
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.
Damascus' strengths and weaknesses
Where Damascus ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 157 pleasant days a year, better than 94% of towns
- Cheap childcare$559 a month, better than 86% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 85% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 82% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 80% of towns
Where Damascus ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 18% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 20% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 22% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 23% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 23% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Damascus
A household needs to earn about $47,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Damascus home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $63,047, 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 Damascus' effective rate of 0.47%, 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 Damascus
Damascus runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Damascus.
Who works in Damascus, and how
Work in Damascus centers on retail trade and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 93%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Damascus
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Damascus.
What the weather is like in Damascus, month by month
Damascus sees roughly 157 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 Damascus
The nearest airport, Bill and Hillary Clinton Ntl/Adams Field, is about 45 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Memphis International, about 138 miles away.
The best schools in and around Damascus
Schools across Damascus average a C+, better than 43% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Greenbrier Wooster ElementaryA · 67% proficient
- Greenbrier Westside ElementaryA− · 58% proficient
- South Side Elementary SchoolC · 35% proficient
Top middle schools
- Greenbrier Middle SchoolA · 66% proficient
Top high schools
- Greenbrier High SchoolB+ · 51% proficient
- Quitman High SchoolC · 33% proficient
- South Side High SchoolC− · 28% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Damascus school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Damascus 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 Damascus against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Damascus
Is Damascus a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Damascus ranks 29,646th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on the weather, affordable childcare, and state finances, and lowest on distance from a big city and summer heat. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Damascus expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $186,528. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $63,047 median income, cost of living beats 29% of towns.
Is Damascus safe?
Damascus is safer than 54% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $432 per resident a year.
Compare Damascus with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Damascus. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Damascus 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.
Damascus detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Damascus: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Damascus: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Damascus: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Damascus: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Damascus 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.