Best PlacesMississippi County, AR Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Mississippi County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages are not the whole story, and the strongest areas score well above them. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Mississippi County ranks 2,763rd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and civic engagement ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Mississippi 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.
The best areas in Mississippi County
The parts of Mississippi County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Manila
More households have young kids, crime runs lower, and fewer homes sit empty.
Gosnell
Schools score higher and it is quieter.
Blytheville
Prices have run up less and tree cover is thicker.
Osceola
Local pay stretches less far.
Scores across Mississippi County run from about the 1st to the 68th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Mississippi County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Mississippi County ranks high
- Cheap childcare$481 a month, better than 93% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than 85% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than 82% of counties
- Short commute19.8 minutes each way, better than 80% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 79% of counties
Where Mississippi County ranks low
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 6% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than only 9% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 11% of counties
- School gradeD+, better than only 12% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 13% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Mississippi County
A household needs to earn about $31,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Mississippi County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $56,122, 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 Mississippi County's effective rate of 0.53%, 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 Mississippi County
Mississippi County's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Mississippi County.
Who works in Mississippi County, and how
Work in Mississippi County centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 92%
- Work from home 4%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Mississippi County
Mississippi County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 90% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Mississippi County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Mississippi County growing, and who is moving in?
Mississippi County has lost about 14% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Jonesboro, AR.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Mississippi County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Mississippi County, month by month
Mississippi County sees roughly 82 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 49, with lows near 33. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 49° | 40° | 33° |
| April | 73° | 62° | 52° |
| July | 91° | 82° | 73° |
| October | 77° | 64° | 53° |
Flying in and out of Mississippi County
Memphis International sits about 55 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 2.4 million passengers in 2025, with 78 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Mississippi County
Schools across Mississippi County average a D+, better than 12% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Gosnell Elementary SchoolB · 49% proficient
- Armorel Elementary SchoolB · 48% proficient
- Buffalo Is. Central East Elem.B · 48% proficient
Top middle schools
- Munford Middle SchoolB+ · 48% proficient
- Halls Junior High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
- Senath-hornersville Middle SchD+ · 24% proficient
Top high schools
- Munford High SchoolB− · 44% proficient
- Armorel High SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- Manila High SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Mississippi County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Mississippi 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 Mississippi County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Mississippi County suits
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Mississippi County
Is Mississippi County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Mississippi County ranks 2,763rd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on affordable childcare, cell coverage, and state finances, and lowest on civic engagement and crime. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Mississippi County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $123,592. The overall cost of living runs about 22% below the national average. Set against a $56,122 median income, cost of living beats 30% of counties.
Is Mississippi County safe?
Mississippi County is safer than 9% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $921 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Mississippi County?
July highs average about 91 degrees, and January highs near 49 with lows near 33. That works out to about 82 pleasant days a year, more than 42% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Mississippi County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Manila, Gosnell, and Blytheville. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Mississippi County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Mississippi County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Mississippi 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.
Mississippi County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Mississippi County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Mississippi County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Mississippi County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Mississippi County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Mississippi 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.