Best PlacesMonroe County, AR Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Monroe 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.
Monroe County ranks 3,124th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a stable housing market by a wide margin, and a weak job market ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Monroe 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.
Monroe County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Monroe County ranks high
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 98% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than 95% of counties
- Cheap childcare$481 a month, better than 93% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than 82% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than 72% of counties
Where Monroe County ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 1% of counties
- Household income$42,506 median, better than only 1% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 1% of counties
- School gradeD−, better than only 2% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than only 2% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Monroe County
A household needs to earn about $21,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Monroe County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $42,506, 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 Monroe County's effective rate of 0.33%, 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 Monroe County
Monroe 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 Monroe County.
Who works in Monroe County, and how
Work in Monroe County centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment runs well above 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 Monroe County
Monroe County has more parkland per resident than 84% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Monroe County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Monroe County growing, and who is moving in?
Monroe County has lost about 16% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Sharkey County, MS.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Monroe County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Monroe County, month by month
Monroe County sees roughly 77 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 51, with lows near 35. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 51° | 42° | 35° |
| April | 74° | 63° | 54° |
| July | 92° | 82° | 74° |
| October | 77° | 65° | 55° |
Flying in and out of Monroe County
The nearest airport, Bill and Hillary Clinton Ntl/Adams Field, is about 57 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Memphis International, about 73 miles away.
The best schools in and around Monroe County
Schools across Monroe County average a D−, better than 2% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Palestine-wheatley Elem. Sch.B− · 44% proficient
- Augusta Elementary SchoolD− · 12% proficient
- C.b. Partee Elementary SchoolF · 8% proficient
Top high schools
- Palestine-wheatley Senior HighC · 32% proficient
- Augusta High SchoolD− · 17% proficient
- Clarendon High SchoolD− · 15% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Monroe County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Monroe 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 Monroe County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Monroe County
Is Monroe County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Monroe County ranks 3,124th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on a stable housing market, low property taxes, and affordable childcare, and lowest on a weak job market and low incomes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Monroe County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $87,575. The overall cost of living runs about 20% below the national average. Set against a $42,506 median income, cost of living beats 3% of counties.
Is Monroe County safe?
Monroe County is safer than 2% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $1,194 per resident a year.
Compare Monroe County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Monroe County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Monroe 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.
Monroe County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Monroe County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Monroe County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Monroe County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Monroe County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Monroe 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.