Best PlacesMountain Fork, AR Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Mountain Fork, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Mountain Fork ranks 38,111th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on tree cover by a wide margin, and cell coverage ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Mountain Fork
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.
Mountain Fork's strengths and weaknesses
Where Mountain Fork ranks high
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- Cheap childcare$481 a month, better than 94% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 85% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 85% of towns
- Short commute21.9 minutes each way, better than 80% of towns
Where Mountain Fork ranks low
- Cell coverageBetter than only 9% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 11% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 12% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 12% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 13% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Mountain Fork
A household needs to earn about $61,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Mountain Fork home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $60,702; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Mountain Fork's effective rate of 0.44%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Mountain Fork
Mountain Fork runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Mountain Fork.
Who works in Mountain Fork, and how
Work in Mountain Fork centers on education and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Mountain Fork
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Mountain Fork.
What the weather is like in Mountain Fork, month by month
Mountain Fork sees roughly 105 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 53, 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 | 53° | 42° | 33° |
| April | 74° | 61° | 51° |
| July | 92° | 81° | 71° |
| October | 76° | 63° | 52° |
Flying in and out of Mountain Fork
The nearest airport, Fort Smith Regional, is about 48 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Dallas Love Field, about 187 miles away.
The best schools in and around Mountain Fork
Schools across Mountain Fork average a C+, better than 49% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Holly Harshman Elem. SchoolB− · 41% proficient
- Acorn Elementary SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
Top middle schools
- Mena Middle SchoolB · 43% proficient
Top high schools
- Mena High SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Mountain Fork school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Mountain Fork 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 Mountain Fork against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Mountain Fork
Is Mountain Fork a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Mountain Fork ranks 38,111th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on tree cover, affordable childcare, and state finances, and lowest on cell coverage and civic engagement. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Mountain Fork expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $245,906. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $60,702 median income, cost of living beats 33% of towns.
Is Mountain Fork safe?
Mountain Fork is safer than 53% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $461 per resident a year.
Compare Mountain Fork with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Mountain Fork. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Mountain Fork 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.
Mountain Fork detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Mountain Fork: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Mountain Fork: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Mountain Fork: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Mountain Fork: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Mountain Fork 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.