Best PlacesMabelvale, AR Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Mabelvale, 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.
Mabelvale ranks 28,340th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on transit by a wide margin, and air quality ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Mabelvale
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.
Mabelvale's strengths and weaknesses
Where Mabelvale ranks high
- TransitBetter than 94% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 93% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 85% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 85% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 84% of towns
Where Mabelvale ranks low
- Air qualityBetter than only 3% of towns
- School gradeD+, better than only 12% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 15% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 18% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 21% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Mabelvale
A household needs to earn about $40,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Mabelvale home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $72,942, 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 Mabelvale's effective rate of 0.54%, 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 Mabelvale
Mabelvale runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Mabelvale.
Who works in Mabelvale, and how
Work in Mabelvale centers on construction and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Mabelvale
Mabelvale has more restaurants and bars per resident than 67% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Mabelvale and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Mabelvale, month by month
Mabelvale sees roughly 74 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 53, with lows near 33. The comfortable stretch runs March through May and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 53° | 42° | 33° |
| April | 75° | 63° | 53° |
| July | 93° | 83° | 74° |
| October | 77° | 65° | 55° |
Flying in and out of Mabelvale
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 139 miles away.
The best schools in and around Mabelvale
Schools across Mabelvale average a D+, better than 12% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Robert L. Davis Elem. SchoolB− · 40% proficient
- Hill Farm Elementary SchoolC+ · 39% proficient
- Landmark Elementary SchoolD · 17% proficient
Top middle schools
- Sheridan Middle SchoolB · 43% proficient
- Bryant Middle SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Fuller Middle SchoolD− · 19% proficient
Top high schools
- Bryant High SchoolC+ · 40% proficient
- Sheridan High SchoolC · 31% proficient
- Wilbur D. Mills High SchoolF · 10% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Mabelvale school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Mabelvale 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 Mabelvale against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Mabelvale
Is Mabelvale a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Mabelvale ranks 28,340th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on transit, a stable housing market, and state finances, and lowest on air quality and the schools. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Mabelvale expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $159,822. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $72,942 median income, cost of living beats 58% of towns.
Is Mabelvale safe?
Mabelvale is safer than 36% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $605 per resident a year.
Compare Mabelvale with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Mabelvale. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Mabelvale 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.
Mabelvale detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Mabelvale: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Mabelvale: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Mabelvale: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Mabelvale: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Mabelvale 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.