Best PlacesFayetteville, AR Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in the Fayetteville metro, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Costs and crime read low across the board, which puts the choice down to which part suits you. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Photo by Brandonrush, CC BY-SA 3.0, via commons
Fayetteville ranks 118th of 387 U.S. metro areas on the BestNeighborhood index. It earns the spot by being affordable and steady rather than flashy: everyday costs run well below the national average, and crime is low. The trade is civic engagement: the nearest large city and its jobs, flights, and culture are a drive away.
The best neighborhoods in the Fayetteville metro
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.
The best areas in Fayetteville
The towns and districts of the Fayetteville metro, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood in each, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the metro.
Bentonville
Incomes run higher, local pay stretches further, and more adults hold degrees.
Centerton, Bella Vista & Gravette
Crime runs lower and health care is easier to reach.
Cave Springs, Johnson & Tontitown
More households have young kids, though tree cover is thinner.
Elkins & Huntsville
It is quieter, though biking is worse.
Prairie Grove, Farmington & Lincoln
More residents vote, though disaster risk is higher.
Siloam Springs & Gentry
Prices have run up less.
Rogers
Health outcomes score lower.
Springdale
Schools score lower.
Downtown Fayetteville
Streets are more walkable, though more homes sit empty.
Fayetteville shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 5% of the country and others in the top 1%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Fayetteville's strengths and weaknesses
Fayetteville lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. A strong job market is the standout, in the top 1% of metro areas. State finances and what local pay buys follow.
The drawbacks are real but narrow. Civic engagement, transit, and thin health care access hold the score down. The detail is below, and the map is where it turns into a choice of neighborhood rather than just a place.
Where Fayetteville ranks high
- Local economyBetter than 99% of metro areas
- State fiscal healthBetter than 86% of metro areas
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 85% of metro areas
- Low property taxBetter than 83% of metro areas
- Cheap childcare$671 a month, better than 83% of metro areas
Where Fayetteville ranks low
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 7% of metro areas
- TransitBetter than only 13% of metro areas
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 26% of metro areas
- WalkabilityBetter than only 26% of metro areas
- QuietBetter than only 27% of metro areas
What it costs to buy a home in Fayetteville
A household needs to earn about $81,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Fayetteville home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $88,262, 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 Fayetteville's effective rate of 0.55%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Fayetteville
Fayetteville runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Fayetteville.
Who works in Fayetteville, and how
Work in Fayetteville 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 83%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Fayetteville
Fayetteville has more parkland per resident than 77% of metro areas and more late-night spots per resident than 79% of metro areas. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Fayetteville and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Fayetteville growing, and who is moving in?
Fayetteville has grown about 26% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Little Rock, AR.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Fayetteville go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Fayetteville, month by month
Fayetteville sees roughly 73 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 49, with lows near 27. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 49° | 37° | 27° |
| April | 72° | 59° | 47° |
| July | 90° | 79° | 69° |
| October | 74° | 60° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Fayetteville
The nearest airport, Northwest Arkansas Ntl, is about 16 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Kansas City International, about 224 miles away.
The best schools in and around Fayetteville
Schools across Fayetteville average a B−, better than 57% of metro areas.
Top elementary schools
- Vandergriff Elementary SchoolA · 68% proficient
- Root Elementary SchoolA · 65% proficient
- Bernice Young ElementaryA− · 60% proficient
Top middle schools
- Mcnair Middle SchoolA · 62% proficient
- Woodland Junior High SchoolA · 62% proficient
- Hellstern Middle SchoolA− · 55% proficient
Top high schools
- Haas Hall AcademyA+ · 83% proficient
- Fayetteville High School EastB− · 45% proficient
- Prairie Grove High SchoolC · 34% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Fayetteville school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Fayetteville 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 Fayetteville against the other 386 metro areas.
Who Fayetteville suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 85% of metro areas, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 14% already work from home.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Fayetteville
Is Fayetteville a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Fayetteville ranks 118th of 387 metro areas. It scores highest on a strong job market, state finances, and what local pay buys, and lowest on civic engagement and transit. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Fayetteville expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $322,565. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $88,262 median income, cost of living beats 85% of metro areas.
Is Fayetteville safe?
Yes, Fayetteville is safer than 76% of metro areas. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $422 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Fayetteville?
July highs average about 90 degrees, and January highs near 49 with lows near 27. That works out to about 73 pleasant days a year, more than 27% of metro areas.
What are the best neighborhoods in Fayetteville?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Bentonville, Centerton, Bella Vista & Gravette, and Cave Springs, Johnson & Tontitown. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Fayetteville good for families?
Schools beat 57% of metro areas, crime safety beats 76%, and childcare runs $671 a month.
Is Fayetteville good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 85% of metro areas, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 61% of metro areas. About 14% of workers already work from home.
Compare Fayetteville with other metro areas
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Fayetteville. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Fayetteville 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.
Fayetteville detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Fayetteville: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Fayetteville: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Fayetteville: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Fayetteville: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Fayetteville 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.