Best PlacesHorseshoe Bend, AR Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Horseshoe Bend, 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.
Horseshoe Bend ranks 43,944th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and health outcomes rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Horseshoe Bend
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.
Horseshoe Bend's strengths and weaknesses
Where Horseshoe Bend ranks high
- Cheap childcare$481 a month, better than 94% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 85% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 72% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 72% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 69% of towns
Where Horseshoe Bend ranks low
- Health outlookBetter than only 6% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 10% of towns
- Household income$49,432 median, better than only 12% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 14% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 18% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Horseshoe Bend
A household needs to earn about $32,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Horseshoe Bend home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $49,432, 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 Horseshoe Bend'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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Horseshoe Bend
Horseshoe Bend 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 Horseshoe Bend.
Who works in Horseshoe Bend, and how
Work in Horseshoe Bend centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Horseshoe Bend
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Horseshoe Bend.
What the weather is like in Horseshoe Bend, month by month
Horseshoe Bend sees roughly 81 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 49, with lows near 27. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 49° | 37° | 27° |
| April | 72° | 58° | 47° |
| July | 91° | 79° | 69° |
| October | 75° | 60° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Horseshoe Bend
The nearest airport, Boone County, is about 78 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Memphis International, about 129 miles away.
The best schools in and around Horseshoe Bend
Schools across Horseshoe Bend average a C−, better than 25% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Salem Elementary SchoolB+ · 54% proficient
- Melbourne Elementary SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
- Cherokee Elementary SchoolB · 46% proficient
Top middle schools
- Cave City Middle School Career And Collegiate PreparatoryB− · 41% proficient
- Highland Middle SchoolC+ · 39% proficient
- Izard County Cons Middle SchD+ · 27% proficient
Top high schools
- Salem High SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Melbourne High SchoolB− · 44% proficient
- Highland High SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Horseshoe Bend school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Horseshoe Bend 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 Horseshoe Bend against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Horseshoe Bend
Is Horseshoe Bend a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Horseshoe Bend ranks 43,944th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, state finances, and low taxes, and lowest on health outcomes and distance from a big city. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Horseshoe Bend expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $127,156. The overall cost of living runs about 21% below the national average. Set against a $49,432 median income, cost of living beats 18% of towns.
Is Horseshoe Bend safe?
Horseshoe Bend is safer than 40% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $493 per resident a year.
Compare Horseshoe Bend with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Horseshoe Bend. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Horseshoe Bend 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.
Horseshoe Bend detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Horseshoe Bend: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Horseshoe Bend: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Horseshoe Bend: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Horseshoe Bend: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Horseshoe Bend 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.