Best PlacesLafayette County, AR Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Lafayette 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.
Lafayette County ranks 3,104th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a stable housing market by a wide margin, and health outcomes rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Lafayette 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.
Lafayette County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Lafayette County ranks high
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 96% of counties
- Cheap childcare$481 a month, better than 93% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than 91% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than 82% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than 72% of counties
Where Lafayette County ranks low
- Health outlookBetter than only 1% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than only 3% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 3% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than only 4% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 4% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Lafayette County
A household needs to earn about $22,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Lafayette County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $47,141, 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 Lafayette County's effective rate of 0.39%, 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 4 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Lafayette County
Lafayette County 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 Lafayette County.
Who works in Lafayette County, and how
Work in Lafayette County centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 92%
- Work from home 4%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Lafayette County
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Lafayette County.
Is Lafayette County growing, and who is moving in?
Lafayette County has lost about 16% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Texarkana, TX.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Lafayette County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Lafayette County, month by month
Lafayette County sees roughly 84 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 95 degrees. January highs sit near 56, with lows near 37. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 56° | 46° | 37° |
| April | 77° | 65° | 55° |
| July | 95° | 84° | 75° |
| October | 79° | 67° | 57° |
Flying in and out of Lafayette County
The nearest airport, Texarkana Regional-Webb Field, is about 28 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Dallas Love Field, about 193 miles away.
The best schools in and around Lafayette County
Schools across Lafayette County average a D, better than 6% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Genoa Central Elem. SchoolA · 67% proficient
- Fouke Elementary SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Spring Hill Elementary SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
Top middle schools
- Paulette Smith Middle SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- Magnolia Jr. High SchoolC− · 29% proficient
Top high schools
- Bradley High SchoolC+ · 35% proficient
- Fouke High SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Magnolia High SchoolC− · 26% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Lafayette County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Lafayette 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 Lafayette County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Lafayette County
Is Lafayette County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Lafayette County ranks 3,104th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on a stable housing market, affordable childcare, and low property taxes, and lowest on health outcomes and summer heat. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Lafayette County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $88,979. The overall cost of living runs about 22% below the national average. Set against a $47,141 median income, cost of living beats 8% of counties.
Is Lafayette County safe?
Lafayette County is safer than 4% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $1,020 per resident a year.
Compare Lafayette County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Lafayette County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Lafayette 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.
Lafayette County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Lafayette County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Lafayette County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Lafayette County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Lafayette County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Lafayette 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.