Best PlacesIzard County, AR Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Izard County, 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.
Izard County ranks 2,944th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and health outcomes rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Izard 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.
Izard County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Izard County ranks high
- Cheap childcare$481 a month, better than 93% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than 83% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than 82% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than 80% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 69% of counties
Where Izard County ranks low
- Health outlookBetter than only 4% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 5% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 5% of counties
- Household income$47,655 median, better than only 6% of counties
- BikingBetter than only 6% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Izard County
A household needs to earn about $34,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Izard County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $47,655, 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 Izard County's effective rate of 0.51%, 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 Izard County
Izard County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Izard County.
Who works in Izard County, and how
Work in Izard County centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 90%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Izard County
Izard County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties. That concentrates in some parts of Izard County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Izard County growing, and who is moving in?
Izard County has grown about 5% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from San Antonio, TX.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Izard County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Izard County, month by month
Izard County 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 Izard County
The nearest airport, Boone County, is about 70 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Memphis International, about 132 miles away.
The best schools in and around Izard County
Schools across Izard County average a C+, better than 50% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Melbourne Elementary SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
- Cave City Elementary SchoolC+ · 40% proficient
- Izard Co. Cons. Elem. SchoolC · 33% proficient
Top middle schools
- Cave City Middle School Career And Collegiate PreparatoryB− · 41% proficient
- Izard County Cons Middle SchD+ · 27% proficient
Top high schools
- Melbourne High SchoolB− · 44% proficient
- Calico Rock High SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- Cave City High Career & Collegiate Preparatory SchoolC− · 28% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Izard County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Izard 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 Izard County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Izard County
Is Izard County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Izard County ranks 2,944th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on affordable childcare, tree cover, and state finances, and lowest on health outcomes and the cost of living against local pay. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Izard County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $134,345. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $47,655 median income, cost of living beats 5% of counties.
Is Izard County safe?
Izard County is safer than 52% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $479 per resident a year.
Compare Izard County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Izard County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Izard 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.
Izard County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Izard County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Izard County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Izard County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Izard County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Izard 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.