Best PlacesPotter Junction, AR Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Potter Junction, 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.
Potter Junction ranks 37,474th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on short commutes by a wide margin, and civic engagement ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Potter Junction
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.
Potter Junction's strengths and weaknesses
Where Potter Junction ranks high
- Short commute16.9 minutes each way, better than 95% of towns
- Cheap childcare$481 a month, better than 94% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 85% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 85% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 75% of towns
Where Potter Junction ranks low
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 6% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 12% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 13% of towns
- Household income$51,151 median, better than only 14% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 16% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Potter Junction
A household needs to earn about $40,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Potter Junction home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $51,151, 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 Potter Junction's effective rate of 0.43%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Potter Junction
Potter Junction runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Potter Junction.
Who works in Potter Junction, and how
Work in Potter Junction centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in Potter Junction
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Potter Junction.
What the weather is like in Potter Junction, month by month
Potter Junction sees roughly 106 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 Potter Junction
The nearest airport, Fort Smith Regional, is about 52 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Dallas Love Field, about 190 miles away.
The best schools in and around Potter Junction
Schools across Potter Junction average a C+, better than 50% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Holly Harshman Elem. SchoolB− · 41% 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 Potter Junction school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Potter Junction 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 Potter Junction against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Potter Junction
Is Potter Junction a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Potter Junction ranks 37,474th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on short commutes, affordable childcare, and low property taxes, and lowest on civic engagement and distance from a big city. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Potter Junction expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $163,132. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $51,151 median income, cost of living beats 20% of towns.
Is Potter Junction safe?
Yes, Potter Junction is safer than 64% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $384 per resident a year.
Compare Potter Junction with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Potter Junction. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Potter Junction 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.
Potter Junction detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Potter Junction: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Potter Junction: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Potter Junction: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Potter Junction: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Potter Junction 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.