Best PlacesRea Valley, AR Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Rea Valley, 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.
Rea Valley ranks 42,691st of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and civic engagement ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Rea Valley
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.
Rea Valley's strengths and weaknesses
Where Rea Valley ranks high
- Cheap childcare$481 a month, better than 94% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 89% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 85% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 83% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 78% of towns
Where Rea Valley ranks low
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 10% of towns
- Household income$48,403 median, better than only 10% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 12% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 14% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 18% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Rea Valley
A household needs to earn about $45,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Rea Valley home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $48,403, 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 Rea Valley's effective rate of 0.45%, 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 Rea Valley
Rea Valley 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 Rea Valley.
Who works in Rea Valley, and how
Work in Rea Valley centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Rea Valley
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Rea Valley.
What the weather is like in Rea Valley, month by month
Rea Valley sees roughly 70 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 49, with lows near 28. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 49° | 37° | 28° |
| April | 72° | 59° | 48° |
| July | 92° | 80° | 70° |
| October | 75° | 61° | 49° |
Flying in and out of Rea Valley
The nearest airport, Boone County, is about 34 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Memphis International, about 166 miles away.
The best schools in and around Rea Valley
Schools across Rea Valley average a C, better than 36% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Yellville-summit Elem. SchoolB · 46% proficient
- Flippin Elementary SchoolD+ · 23% proficient
Top middle schools
- Flippin Middle SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
Top high schools
- Yellville-summit High SchoolC+ · 35% proficient
- Flippin High SchoolC− · 27% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Rea Valley school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Rea Valley 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 Rea Valley against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Rea Valley
Is Rea Valley a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Rea Valley ranks 42,691st of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, a strong job market, and state finances, and lowest on civic engagement and low incomes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Rea Valley expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $182,289. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $48,403 median income, cost of living beats 14% of towns.
Is Rea Valley safe?
Rea Valley is safer than 19% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $670 per resident a year.
Compare Rea Valley with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Rea Valley. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Rea Valley 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.
Rea Valley detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Rea Valley: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Rea Valley: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Rea Valley: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Rea Valley: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Rea Valley 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.