Best PlacesHeights, Little Rock, AR Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Heights, Little Rock, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Heights, Little Rock ranks 626th of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on what local pay buys by a wide margin, and distance from a big city ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Heights, Little Rock
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.
Heights, Little Rock's strengths and weaknesses
Where Heights, Little Rock ranks high
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 99% of neighborhoods
- Short commute14.2 minutes each way, better than 99% of neighborhoods
- Healthcare accessBetter than 98% of neighborhoods
- Cheap childcare$671 a month, better than 96% of neighborhoods
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 94% of neighborhoods
Where Heights, Little Rock ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 4% of neighborhoods
- Low vacancyBetter than only 12% of neighborhoods
- Air qualityBetter than only 17% of neighborhoods
- Heat safetyBetter than only 24% of neighborhoods
- Nice weatherabout 74 pleasant days a year, better than only 30% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Heights, Little Rock
A household needs to earn about $157,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Heights, Little Rock home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $160,853, 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 Heights, Little Rock's effective rate of 0.84%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Heights, Little Rock
Heights, Little Rock runs younger than the country, though it still carries a larger-than-average share of residents over 65, 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 Heights, Little Rock.
Who works in Heights, Little Rock, and how
Work in Heights, Little Rock centers on health care & social and professional & technical. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Heights, Little Rock
Heights, Little Rock has more restaurants and bars per resident than 66% of neighborhoods and more parkland per resident than 84% of neighborhoods. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Heights, Little Rock and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Heights, Little Rock, month by month
Heights, Little Rock sees roughly 74 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 53, with lows near 33. The comfortable stretch runs March through May and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 53° | 42° | 33° |
| April | 75° | 63° | 53° |
| July | 93° | 83° | 74° |
| October | 77° | 65° | 55° |
Flying in and out of Heights, Little Rock
The nearest airport, Bill and Hillary Clinton Ntl/Adams Field, is about 7 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Memphis International, about 135 miles away.
The best schools in and around Heights, Little Rock
Schools across Heights, Little Rock average a B, better than 74% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- Forest Park Elementary SchoolA · 68% proficient
- Jefferson Elementary SchoolA · 65% proficient
- Forest Heights Stem AcademyB+ · 50% proficient
Top middle schools
- Pulaski Heights Middle SchoolB− · 40% proficient
Top high schools
- Central High SchoolC+ · 36% proficient
- Little Rock Hall Steam Magnet High SchoolF · 3% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Heights, Little Rock school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Heights, Little Rock 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 Heights, Little Rock against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in Heights, Little Rock
Is Heights, Little Rock a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Heights, Little Rock ranks 626th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on what local pay buys, short commutes, and health care access, and lowest on distance from a big city and empty homes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Heights, Little Rock expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $597,011. The overall cost of living runs about 5% below the national average. Set against a $160,853 median income, cost of living beats 99% of neighborhoods.
Is Heights, Little Rock safe?
Heights, Little Rock is safer than 37% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $809 per resident a year.
Compare Heights, Little Rock with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Heights, Little Rock. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Heights, Little Rock 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.
Heights, Little Rock detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Heights, Little Rock: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Heights, Little Rock: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Heights, Little Rock: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Heights, Little Rock: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Heights, Little Rock 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.