Best PlacesMountainburg, AR Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Mountainburg, 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.
Mountainburg ranks 30,286th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores best on state finances, and long commutes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Mountainburg
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.
Mountainburg's strengths and weaknesses
Where Mountainburg ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 85% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 80% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 75% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 72% of towns
- Cheap childcare$671 a month, better than 70% of towns
Where Mountainburg ranks low
- Short commute33.5 minutes each way, better than only 18% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 66 pleasant days a year, better than only 18% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 21% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 21% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 27% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Mountainburg
A household needs to earn about $44,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Mountainburg home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $77,857, 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 Mountainburg's effective rate of 0.47%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Mountainburg
Mountainburg runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Mountainburg.
Who works in Mountainburg, and how
Work in Mountainburg centers on retail trade and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 4%
- Transit, walk, or bike 9%
Life in Mountainburg
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Mountainburg.
What the weather is like in Mountainburg, month by month
Mountainburg sees roughly 66 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 96 degrees. January highs sit near 54, with lows near 29. The comfortable stretch runs March through May and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 54° | 40° | 29° |
| April | 77° | 62° | 49° |
| July | 96° | 83° | 73° |
| October | 80° | 65° | 52° |
Flying in and out of Mountainburg
The nearest airport, Fort Smith Regional, is about 22 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Memphis International, about 240 miles away.
The best schools in and around Mountainburg
Schools across Mountainburg average a C+, better than 45% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Mountainburg Elementary SchoolB · 45% proficient
Top middle schools
- Alma Middle SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Cedarville Middle SchoolC+ · 36% proficient
- Mountainburg Middle School Brain AcademyD+ · 27% proficient
Top high schools
- Alma High SchoolC · 32% proficient
- Ozark High SchoolC · 31% proficient
- Mountainburg High SchoolD · 23% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Mountainburg school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Mountainburg 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 Mountainburg against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Mountainburg
Is Mountainburg a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Mountainburg ranks 30,286th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, low property taxes, and tree cover, and lowest on long commutes and the weather. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Mountainburg expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $175,101. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $77,857 median income, cost of living beats 66% of towns.
Is Mountainburg safe?
Mountainburg is safer than 27% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $579 per resident a year.
Compare Mountainburg with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Mountainburg. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Mountainburg 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.
Mountainburg detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Mountainburg: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Mountainburg: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Mountainburg: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Mountainburg: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Mountainburg 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.