Best PlacesOark, AR Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Oark, 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.
Oark ranks 48,232nd 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 Oark
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.
Oark's strengths and weaknesses
Where Oark ranks high
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- Cheap childcare$490 a month, better than 93% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 92% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 85% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 83% of towns
Where Oark ranks low
- Cell coverageBetter than only 2% of towns
- Household income$38,521 median, better than only 3% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 6% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 9% of towns
- School gradeD, better than only 9% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Oark
A household needs to earn about $40,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Oark home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $38,521; 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 Oark's effective rate of 0.45%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Who lives in Oark
Oark 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 Oark.
Who works in Oark, and how
Work in Oark centers on agriculture & forestry and other services. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 75%
- Work from home 24%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Oark
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Oark.
What the weather is like in Oark, month by month
Oark sees roughly 69 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 49, with lows near 27. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 49° | 37° | 27° |
| April | 72° | 59° | 47° |
| July | 90° | 79° | 69° |
| October | 74° | 60° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Oark
The nearest airport, Boone County, is about 47 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Memphis International, about 208 miles away.
The best schools in and around Oark
Schools across Oark average a D, better than 9% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Oark Elementary SchoolD · 17% proficient
Top high schools
- Oark High SchoolD · 20% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Oark school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Oark 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 Oark against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Oark
Is Oark a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Oark ranks 48,232nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on tree cover, affordable childcare, and a stable housing market, and lowest on cell coverage and low incomes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Oark expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $159,206. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $38,521 median income, cost of living beats 6% of towns.
Is Oark safe?
Oark is safer than 17% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $684 per resident a year.
Compare Oark with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Oark. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Oark 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.
Oark detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Oark: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Oark: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Oark: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Oark: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Oark 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.