Best PlacesDrew County, AR Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Drew 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.
Drew County ranks 2,827th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and low incomes rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Drew 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.
Drew County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Drew County ranks high
- Cheap childcare$481 a month, better than 93% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 84% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than 82% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than 78% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than 76% of counties
Where Drew County ranks low
- Household income$44,548 median, better than only 3% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 5% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 8% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than only 13% of counties
- School gradeD+, better than only 14% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Drew County
A household needs to earn about $37,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Drew County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $44,548, 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 Drew County's effective rate of 0.54%, 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 Drew County
Drew County runs younger 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 Drew County.
Who works in Drew County, and how
Work in Drew County centers on education and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Drew County
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Drew County.
Is Drew County growing, and who is moving in?
Drew County has lost about 9% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Little Rock, AR.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Drew County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Drew County, month by month
Drew County sees roughly 78 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 55, with lows near 36. The comfortable stretch runs March through May and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 55° | 45° | 36° |
| April | 76° | 64° | 54° |
| July | 93° | 82° | 74° |
| October | 79° | 66° | 56° |
Flying in and out of Drew County
The nearest airport, Greenville Mid-Delta, is about 47 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Memphis International, about 142 miles away.
The best schools in and around Drew County
Schools across Drew County average a D+, better than 14% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Monticello Intermediate SchoolC · 30% proficient
- Hermitage Elementary SchoolC− · 28% proficient
- Mcgehee Elementary SchoolC− · 26% proficient
Top middle schools
- Monticello Middle SchoolC− · 29% proficient
- Dumas Junior High SchoolC− · 28% proficient
- Hamburg Middle SchoolD+ · 26% proficient
Top high schools
- Monticello High SchoolC− · 27% proficient
- Hamburg High SchoolD+ · 24% proficient
- Hermitage High SchoolD · 22% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Drew County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Drew 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 Drew County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Drew County
Is Drew County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Drew County ranks 2,827th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on affordable childcare, a stable housing market, and state finances, and lowest on low incomes and civic engagement. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Drew County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $147,323. The overall cost of living runs about 22% below the national average. Set against a $44,548 median income, cost of living beats 8% of counties.
Is Drew County safe?
Drew County is safer than 17% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $728 per resident a year.
Compare Drew County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Drew County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Drew 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.
Drew County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Drew County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Drew County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Drew County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Drew County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Drew 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.