Best PlacesRule, AR Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Rule, 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.
Rule ranks 41,688th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and thin health care access ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Rule
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.
Rule's strengths and weaknesses
Where Rule ranks high
- Cheap childcare$481 a month, better than 94% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 85% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 85% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than 76% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 72% of towns
Where Rule ranks low
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 6% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 13% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 14% of towns
- Household income$52,202 median, better than only 15% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 15% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Rule
A household needs to earn about $36,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Rule home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $52,202, 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 Rule'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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Rule
Rule'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 Rule.
Who works in Rule, and how
Work in Rule centers on manufacturing and construction. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Rule
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Rule.
What the weather is like in Rule, month by month
Rule sees roughly 71 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 47, with lows near 28. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 47° | 37° | 28° |
| April | 71° | 58° | 48° |
| July | 90° | 79° | 69° |
| October | 73° | 60° | 50° |
Flying in and out of Rule
The nearest airport, Boone County, is about 17 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Memphis International, about 214 miles away.
The best schools in and around Rule
Schools across Rule average a C, better than 35% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Green Forest Elementary SchoolB · 47% proficient
- Berryville Intermediate SchC · 32% proficient
Top middle schools
- Green Forest Intermed SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Berryville Middle SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Top high schools
- Berryville High SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Green Forest High SchoolD · 21% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Rule school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Rule 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 Rule against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Rule
Is Rule a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Rule ranks 41,688th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, low property taxes, and state finances, and lowest on thin health care access and biking. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Rule expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $145,652. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $52,202 median income, cost of living beats 15% of towns.
Is Rule safe?
Rule is safer than 34% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $547 per resident a year.
Compare Rule with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Rule. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Rule 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.
Rule detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Rule: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Rule: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Rule: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Rule: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Rule 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.