Best PlacesForty Four, AR Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Forty Four, 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.
Forty Four ranks 45,943rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on tree cover by a wide margin, and the cost of living against local pay is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Forty Four
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.
Forty Four's strengths and weaknesses
Where Forty Four ranks high
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- Cheap childcare$481 a month, better than 94% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 85% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 80% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 78% of towns
Where Forty Four ranks low
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 8% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 8% of towns
- Household income$46,786 median, better than only 9% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 10% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Forty Four
A household needs to earn about $33,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Forty Four home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $46,786, 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 Forty Four's 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 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 Forty Four
Forty Four runs older 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 Forty Four.
Who works in Forty Four, and how
Work in Forty Four centers on manufacturing and education. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 94%
- Work from home 3%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Forty Four
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Forty Four.
What the weather is like in Forty Four, month by month
Forty Four sees roughly 81 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 47, 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 | 47° | 37° | 29° |
| April | 71° | 59° | 48° |
| July | 90° | 79° | 70° |
| October | 73° | 61° | 51° |
Flying in and out of Forty Four
The nearest airport, Boone County, is about 55 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Memphis International, about 145 miles away.
The best schools in and around Forty Four
Schools across Forty Four average a C+, better than 43% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Arrie Goforth Elementary SchoolB− · 40% proficient
- Calico Rock Elementary SchoolC · 33% proficient
Top high schools
- Calico Rock High SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- Norfork High SchoolC · 32% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Forty Four school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Forty Four 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 Forty Four against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Forty Four
Is Forty Four a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Forty Four ranks 45,943rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on tree cover, affordable childcare, and state finances, and lowest on the cost of living against local pay and civic engagement. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Forty Four expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $132,726. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $46,786 median income, cost of living beats 8% of towns.
Is Forty Four safe?
Yes, Forty Four is safer than 58% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $408 per resident a year.
Compare Forty Four with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Forty Four. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Forty Four 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.
Forty Four detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Forty Four: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Forty Four: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Forty Four: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Forty Four: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Forty Four 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.