Best PlacesManning, AR Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Manning, 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.
Manning ranks 46,965th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on tree cover by a wide margin, and a weak job market ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Manning
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.
Manning's strengths and weaknesses
Where Manning ranks high
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- Cheap childcare$481 a month, better than 94% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 92% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 85% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 74% of towns
Where Manning ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 2% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 4% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 5% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 5% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 7% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Manning
A household needs to earn about $33,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Manning home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $50,796, 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 Manning's effective rate of 0.52%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Manning
Manning 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 Manning.
Who works in Manning, and how
Work in Manning centers on manufacturing and education. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 3%
- Transit, walk, or bike 12%
Life in Manning
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Manning.
What the weather is like in Manning, month by month
Manning sees roughly 84 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 55, with lows near 33. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 55° | 42° | 33° |
| April | 76° | 63° | 52° |
| July | 92° | 81° | 72° |
| October | 78° | 63° | 51° |
Flying in and out of Manning
The nearest airport, Memorial Field, is about 36 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Memphis International, about 175 miles away.
The best schools in and around Manning
Schools across Manning average a D+, better than 17% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Fordyce Elementary SchoolsC− · 27% proficient
- Malvern Elementary SchoolD+ · 24% proficient
Top middle schools
- Goza Middle SchoolC · 31% proficient
- Malvern Junior High SchoolD · 23% proficient
Top high schools
- Ouachita High SchoolC · 33% proficient
- Arkadelphia High SchoolD · 21% proficient
- Fordyce High SchoolD · 20% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Manning school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Manning 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 Manning against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Manning
Is Manning a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Manning ranks 46,965th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on tree cover, affordable childcare, and a stable housing market, and lowest on a weak job market and cell coverage. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Manning expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $129,540. The overall cost of living runs about 29% below the national average. Set against a $50,796 median income, cost of living beats 32% of towns.
Is Manning safe?
Manning is safer than 14% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $854 per resident a year.
Compare Manning with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Manning. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Manning 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.
Manning detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Manning: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Manning: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Manning: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Manning: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Manning 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.