Best PlacesKerlin, AR Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Kerlin, 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.
Kerlin ranks 35,758th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and air quality ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Kerlin
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.
Kerlin's strengths and weaknesses
Where Kerlin ranks high
- Cheap childcare$481 a month, better than 94% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 88% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 85% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 82% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 76% of towns
Where Kerlin ranks low
- Air qualityBetter than only 6% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 7% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 10% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 10% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 11% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Kerlin
A household needs to earn about $64,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Kerlin home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $63,439; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Kerlin's effective rate of 0.51%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Kerlin
Kerlin 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 Kerlin.
Who works in Kerlin, and how
Work in Kerlin centers on health care & social and retail trade. 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 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Kerlin
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Kerlin.
What the weather is like in Kerlin, month by month
Kerlin sees roughly 77 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 56, with lows near 35. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 56° | 44° | 35° |
| April | 77° | 63° | 53° |
| July | 93° | 81° | 72° |
| October | 79° | 65° | 54° |
Flying in and out of Kerlin
The nearest airport, South Arkansas Regional at Goodwin Field, is about 24 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Dallas Love Field, about 212 miles away.
The best schools in and around Kerlin
Schools across Kerlin average a C, better than 34% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Emerson Elementary SchoolA− · 57% proficient
Top middle schools
- Magnolia Jr. High SchoolC− · 29% proficient
Top high schools
- Emerson High SchoolC · 33% proficient
- Magnolia High SchoolC− · 26% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Kerlin school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Kerlin 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 Kerlin against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Kerlin
Is Kerlin a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Kerlin ranks 35,758th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, tree cover, and state finances, and lowest on air quality and biking. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Kerlin expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $253,872. The overall cost of living runs about 20% below the national average. Set against a $63,439 median income, cost of living beats 42% of towns.
Is Kerlin safe?
Kerlin is safer than 29% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $566 per resident a year.
Compare Kerlin with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Kerlin. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Kerlin 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.
Kerlin detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Kerlin: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Kerlin: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Kerlin: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Kerlin: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Kerlin 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.