Best PlacesJacksonville, AR Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Jacksonville, 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.
Jacksonville ranks 2,031st of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and low incomes rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Jacksonville
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.
Jacksonville's strengths and weaknesses
Where Jacksonville ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 92% of cities
- Cheap childcare$671 a month, better than 91% of cities
- Tree shadeBetter than 85% of cities
- Short commute21.7 minutes each way, better than 79% of cities
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 72% of cities
Where Jacksonville ranks low
- Household income$54,286 median, better than only 3% of cities
- Big-city accessBetter than only 7% of cities
- Local economyBetter than only 7% of cities
- Crime safetyBetter than only 9% of cities
- QuietBetter than only 10% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Jacksonville
A household needs to earn about $44,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Jacksonville home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $54,286, 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 Jacksonville's effective rate of 0.71%, 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 Jacksonville
Jacksonville runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Jacksonville.
Who works in Jacksonville, and how
Work in Jacksonville centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Jacksonville
Jacksonville has more restaurants and bars per resident than 66% of cities and more parkland per resident than 86% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Jacksonville and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Jacksonville, month by month
Jacksonville sees roughly 67 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 52, with lows near 31. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 52° | 40° | 31° |
| April | 74° | 62° | 51° |
| July | 93° | 82° | 73° |
| October | 77° | 64° | 53° |
Flying in and out of Jacksonville
The nearest airport, Bill and Hillary Clinton Ntl/Adams Field, is about 12 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Memphis International, about 122 miles away.
The best schools in and around Jacksonville
Schools across Jacksonville average a C, better than 26% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Southside Elementary SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
- Vilonia Elementary SchoolB · 45% proficient
- Mayflower Elementary SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
Top middle schools
- Frank Mitchell Intermediate SchoolB+ · 48% proficient
- Joe T. Robinson Middle SchoolB · 45% proficient
- Cabot Junior High SouthB · 43% proficient
Top high schools
- Vilonia High SchoolC+ · 39% proficient
- Cabot High SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- Joe T. Robinson High SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Jacksonville school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Jacksonville 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 Jacksonville against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Jacksonville suits
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Jacksonville
Is Jacksonville a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Jacksonville ranks 2,031st of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on state finances, affordable childcare, and tree cover, and lowest on low incomes 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 Jacksonville expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $169,239. The overall cost of living runs about 19% below the national average. Set against a $54,286 median income, cost of living beats 10% of cities.
Is Jacksonville safe?
Jacksonville is safer than 9% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $781 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Jacksonville?
July highs average about 93 degrees, and January highs near 52 with lows near 31. That works out to about 67 pleasant days a year, more than 20% of cities.
Is Jacksonville good for families?
Schools beat 26% of cities, crime safety beats 9%, and childcare runs $671 a month.
Compare Jacksonville with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Jacksonville. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Jacksonville 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.
Jacksonville detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Jacksonville: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Jacksonville: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Jacksonville: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Jacksonville: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Jacksonville 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.