Best PlacesRector, AR Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Rector, 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.
Rector ranks 44,836th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and summer heat is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Rector
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.
Rector's strengths and weaknesses
Where Rector ranks high
- Cheap childcare$481 a month, better than 94% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 87% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 85% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 85% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 79% of towns
Where Rector ranks low
- Heat safetyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Household income$49,089 median, better than only 11% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 12% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 14% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 14% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Rector
A household needs to earn about $24,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Rector home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $49,089, 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 Rector's effective rate of 0.48%, 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 Rector
Rector's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Rector.
Who works in Rector, and how
Work in Rector centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Rector
Rector has more restaurants and bars per resident than 93% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Rector and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Rector, month by month
Rector sees roughly 78 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 92 degrees. January highs sit near 47, with lows near 32. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 47° | 39° | 32° |
| April | 73° | 61° | 52° |
| July | 92° | 82° | 73° |
| October | 76° | 63° | 53° |
Flying in and out of Rector
The nearest airport, Cape Girardeau Regional, is about 77 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Memphis International, about 87 miles away.
The best schools in and around Rector
Schools across Rector average a C−, better than 25% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Senath-hornersville Elem SchB · 48% proficient
- Park Elementary SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Piggott Elementary SchoolC · 34% proficient
Top middle schools
- Senath-hornersville Middle SchD+ · 24% proficient
Top high schools
- Marmaduke High SchoolC · 34% proficient
- Greene Co. Tech High SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Rector High SchoolC− · 28% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Rector school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Rector 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 Rector against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Rector
Is Rector a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Rector ranks 44,836th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, walkability, and state finances, and lowest on summer heat and low incomes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Rector expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $96,057. The overall cost of living runs about 25% below the national average. Set against a $49,089 median income, cost of living beats 21% of towns.
Is Rector safe?
Rector is safer than 23% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $615 per resident a year.
Compare Rector with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Rector. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Rector 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.
Rector detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Rector: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Rector: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Rector: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Rector: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Rector 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.