Best PlacesMcRae, AR Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around McRae, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Costs and crime both read low, and the nearest big city is a drive away. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
McRae ranks 36,561st 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 McRae
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.
McRae's strengths and weaknesses
Where McRae ranks high
- Cheap childcare$481 a month, better than 94% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 87% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 85% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 78% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 75% of towns
Where McRae ranks low
- Air qualityBetter than only 11% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 62 pleasant days a year, better than only 12% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 15% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 15% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 16% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in McRae
A household needs to earn about $34,000 a year to comfortably buy the median McRae home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $56,884, 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 McRae's effective rate of 0.42%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in McRae
McRae runs older than the country, though fewer residents are over 65 than the national share.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for McRae.
Who works in McRae, and how
Work in McRae centers on education and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, 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 McRae
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across McRae.
What the weather is like in McRae, month by month
McRae sees roughly 62 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 51, with lows near 30. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 51° | 40° | 30° |
| April | 74° | 61° | 49° |
| July | 93° | 81° | 71° |
| October | 77° | 63° | 51° |
Flying in and out of McRae
The nearest airport, Bill and Hillary Clinton Ntl/Adams Field, is about 36 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Memphis International, about 105 miles away.
The best schools in and around McRae
Schools across McRae average a C+, better than 41% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Westside Elementary SchoolB · 47% proficient
Top middle schools
- Southwest Middle SchoolB · 44% proficient
- Beebe Middle SchoolC · 35% proficient
Top high schools
- Searcy High SchoolC · 35% proficient
- Beebe High SchoolC · 32% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every McRae school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
McRae 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 McRae against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in McRae
Is McRae a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, McRae ranks 36,561st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, low property taxes, and state finances, and lowest on air quality and the weather. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is McRae expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $137,931. The overall cost of living runs about 21% below the national average. Set against a $56,884 median income, cost of living beats 32% of towns.
Is McRae safe?
Yes, McRae is safer than 73% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $350 per resident a year.
Compare McRae with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to McRae. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in McRae 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.
McRae detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for McRae: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in McRae: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of McRae: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in McRae: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
McRae 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.