Best PlacesPine Bluff, AR Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Pine Bluff, 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.
Pine Bluff ranks 2,094th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and the schools rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Pine Bluff
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.
Pine Bluff's strengths and weaknesses
Where Pine Bluff ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 92% of cities
- Cheap childcare$671 a month, better than 91% of cities
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 88% of cities
- Tree shadeBetter than 82% of cities
- Low property taxBetter than 81% of cities
Where Pine Bluff ranks low
- School gradeF, better than only 1% of cities
- Crime safetyBetter than only 1% of cities
- Low vacancyBetter than only 1% of cities
- Health outlookBetter than only 2% of cities
- Household income$51,807 median, better than only 2% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Pine Bluff
A household needs to earn about $27,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Pine Bluff home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $51,807, 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 Pine Bluff's effective rate of 0.64%, 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 3 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Pine Bluff
Pine Bluff's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Pine Bluff.
Who works in Pine Bluff, and how
Work in Pine Bluff centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Pine Bluff
Pine Bluff has more restaurants and bars per resident than 71% of cities and more parkland per resident than 88% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Pine Bluff and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Pine Bluff, month by month
Pine Bluff sees roughly 81 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 53, with lows near 35. The comfortable stretch runs March through May and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 53° | 43° | 35° |
| April | 75° | 64° | 54° |
| July | 93° | 82° | 74° |
| October | 78° | 65° | 55° |
Flying in and out of Pine Bluff
The nearest airport, Bill and Hillary Clinton Ntl/Adams Field, is about 39 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Memphis International, about 131 miles away.
The best schools in and around Pine Bluff
Schools across Pine Bluff average an F, better than 1% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Friendship Aspire AcademyB− · 43% proficient
- Woodlawn Elementary SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- Taylor Elementary SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
Top middle schools
- Sheridan Middle SchoolB · 43% proficient
- White Hall Junior High SchoolC+ · 39% proficient
- Star City Middle SchoolD+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Woodlawn High SchoolC · 32% proficient
- Sheridan High SchoolC · 31% proficient
- White Hall High SchoolC− · 28% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Pine Bluff school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Pine Bluff 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 Pine Bluff against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Pine Bluff suits
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Pine Bluff
Is Pine Bluff a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Pine Bluff ranks 2,094th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on state finances, affordable childcare, and a stable housing market, and lowest on the schools and crime. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Pine Bluff expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $107,300. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $51,807 median income, cost of living beats 5% of cities.
Is Pine Bluff safe?
Pine Bluff is safer than 0% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $1,558 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Pine Bluff?
July highs average about 93 degrees, and January highs near 53 with lows near 35. That works out to about 81 pleasant days a year, more than 45% of cities.
Is Pine Bluff good for families?
Schools beat 0% of cities, crime safety beats 0%, and childcare runs $671 a month.
Compare Pine Bluff with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Pine Bluff. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Pine Bluff 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.
Pine Bluff detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Pine Bluff: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Pine Bluff: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Pine Bluff: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Pine Bluff: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Pine Bluff 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.