Best PlacesGarland County, AR Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Garland County, 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.
Garland County ranks 2,253rd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It does not top any single list, but it lands above the national middle on tree cover and low property taxes. The weaker spots are summer heat, noise, and air quality.
The best neighborhoods in Garland 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.
The best areas in Garland County
The parts of Garland County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Pearcy & Rockwell
More households have young kids, it is quieter, and more residents vote.
Hot Springs Village
Tree cover is thicker, though heat risk is higher.
Hot Springs
Commutes are shorter, though crime runs higher.
Piney & Royal
Homes cost less, though fewer adults hold degrees.
Scores across Garland County run from about the 2nd to the 81st percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Garland County's strengths and weaknesses
Garland County lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. Tree cover, low property taxes, and state finances carry most of that.
The one real hole is summer heat, near the bottom of the country. Noise and air quality also cost it ground. That varies block to block rather than evenly, and the map below shows where.
Where Garland County ranks high
- Tree shadeBetter than 91% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than 82% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than 82% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than 72% of counties
- Short commute21.4 minutes each way, better than 70% of counties
Where Garland County ranks low
- Heat safetyBetter than only 4% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 16% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than only 16% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 19% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 21% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Garland County
A household needs to earn about $50,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Garland County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $63,663, 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 Garland County's effective rate of 0.49%, 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 Garland County
Garland County 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 Garland County.
Who works in Garland County, and how
Work in Garland County centers on retail trade and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Garland County
Garland County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 66% of counties and less parkland per resident than most counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Garland County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Garland County growing, and who is moving in?
Garland County has grown about 2% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Little Rock, AR.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Garland County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Garland County, month by month
Garland County sees roughly 84 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 54, with lows near 34. The comfortable stretch runs March through May and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 54° | 43° | 34° |
| April | 75° | 63° | 53° |
| July | 93° | 83° | 74° |
| October | 78° | 65° | 55° |
Flying in and out of Garland County
The nearest airport, Memorial Field, is about 2 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Memphis International, about 180 miles away.
The best schools in and around Garland County
Schools across Garland County average a C+, better than 50% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Park Magnet An Ib Pyp World Class SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
- Lakeside Intermediate SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
- Lake Hamilton Elementary SchB · 48% proficient
Top middle schools
- Bismarck Middle SchoolA− · 54% proficient
- Lakeside Middle SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Fountain Lake Middle School Cobra Digital Prep AcademyB · 46% proficient
Top high schools
- Bismarck High SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Lakeside High SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Mount Ida High SchoolC · 33% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Garland County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Garland 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 Garland County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Garland County suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 9% already work from home.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Garland County
Is Garland County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Garland County ranks 2,253rd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on tree cover, low property taxes, and state finances, and lowest on summer heat and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Garland County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $201,544. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $63,663 median income, cost of living beats 37% of counties.
Is Garland County safe?
Garland County is safer than 37% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $576 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Garland County?
July highs average about 93 degrees, and January highs near 54 with lows near 34. That works out to about 84 pleasant days a year, more than 45% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Garland County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Pearcy & Rockwell, Hot Springs Village, and Hot Springs. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Garland County good for families?
Schools beat 50% of counties, crime safety beats 37%, and childcare runs $671 a month.
Is Garland County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 37% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 72% of counties. About 9% of workers already work from home.
Compare Garland County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Garland County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Garland 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.
Garland County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Garland County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Garland County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Garland County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Garland County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Garland 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.