Best PlacesDora, AR Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Dora, 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.
Dora ranks 16,730th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a strong job market by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Dora
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.
Dora's strengths and weaknesses
Where Dora ranks high
- Local economyBetter than 98% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 89% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 85% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 81% of towns
Where Dora ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 4% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 68 pleasant days a year, better than only 21% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 22% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 27% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 27% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Dora
A household needs to earn about $53,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Dora home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $67,123, 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 Dora's effective rate of 0.50%, 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 Dora
Dora runs younger than the country, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Dora.
Who works in Dora, and how
Work in Dora centers on health care & social and hospitality & food. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Dora
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Dora.
What the weather is like in Dora, month by month
Dora sees roughly 68 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 96 degrees. January highs sit near 54, with lows near 29. The comfortable stretch runs March through May and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 54° | 40° | 29° |
| April | 77° | 62° | 49° |
| July | 96° | 83° | 73° |
| October | 80° | 65° | 52° |
Flying in and out of Dora
The nearest airport, Fort Smith Regional, is about 9 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Dallas Love Field, about 229 miles away.
The best schools in and around Dora
Schools across Dora average a B−, better than 62% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Rena Elementary SchoolB · 48% proficient
- Harry C. Morrison Elem. SchoolD · 18% proficient
Top middle schools
- Northridge Middle SchoolB+ · 50% proficient
- Dora Kimmons Jr. High SchoolD+ · 26% proficient
Top high schools
- Van Buren High SchoolC · 34% proficient
- Northside High SchoolD · 20% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Dora school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Dora 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 Dora against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Dora
Is Dora a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Dora ranks 16,730th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a strong job market, tree cover, and low crime, and lowest on noise and the weather. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Dora expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $210,128. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $67,123 median income, cost of living beats 52% of towns.
Is Dora safe?
Yes, Dora is safer than 89% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $273 per resident a year.
Compare Dora with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Dora. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Dora 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.
Dora detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Dora: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Dora: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Dora: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Dora: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Dora 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.