Best PlacesMorriston, AR Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Morriston, 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.
Morriston ranks 47,222nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and a weak job market ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Morriston
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.
Morriston's strengths and weaknesses
Where Morriston ranks high
- Cheap childcare$481 a month, better than 94% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 85% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 84% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 78% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 74% of towns
Where Morriston ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 2% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 3% of towns
- Household income$38,072 median, better than only 3% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 5% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 9% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Morriston
A household needs to earn about $28,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Morriston home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $38,072, 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 Morriston's effective rate of 0.44%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Morriston
Morriston 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 Morriston.
Who works in Morriston, and how
Work in Morriston centers on education and hospitality & food. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Morriston
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Morriston.
What the weather is like in Morriston, month by month
Morriston sees roughly 81 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 49, with lows near 27. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 49° | 37° | 27° |
| April | 72° | 58° | 47° |
| July | 91° | 79° | 69° |
| October | 75° | 60° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Morriston
The nearest airport, Boone County, is about 76 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Memphis International, about 132 miles away.
The best schools in and around Morriston
Schools across Morriston average a B, better than 68% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Salem Elementary SchoolB+ · 54% proficient
- Izard Co. Cons. Elem. SchoolC · 33% proficient
Top middle schools
- Izard County Cons Middle SchD+ · 27% proficient
Top high schools
- Salem High SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Izard Co. Cons. High SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Morriston school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Morriston 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 Morriston against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Morriston
Is Morriston a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Morriston ranks 47,222nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, state finances, and low property taxes, and lowest on a weak job market and the cost of living against local pay. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Morriston expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $110,755. The overall cost of living runs about 20% below the national average. Set against a $38,072 median income, cost of living beats 3% of towns.
Is Morriston safe?
Morriston is safer than 36% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $517 per resident a year.
Compare Morriston with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Morriston. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Morriston 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.
Morriston detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Morriston: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Morriston: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Morriston: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Morriston: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Morriston 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.