Best PlacesSaline County, AR Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Saline County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages hide a wide spread here, so the area matters as much as the address. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Saline County ranks 878th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $83,597, everyday costs sit below the national average, and a strong job market ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are air quality, noise, and summer heat.
The best neighborhoods in Saline County
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.
The best areas in Saline County
The parts of Saline County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Alexander
More households have young kids, incomes run higher, and local pay stretches further.
Benton
Fewer homes sit empty, though it is noisier.
Haskell
Crime runs lower, though schools score lower.
Bryant, Shannon Hills & Mabelvale
Homes cost less.
Hensley & Bauxite
Tree cover is thicker, though fewer adults hold degrees.
Hot Springs Village
Heat risk is higher and prices have run up more.
Saline County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 7% of the country and others in the top 8%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Saline County's strengths and weaknesses
Saline County lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. Few empty homes, a strong job market, and low crime carry most of that.
The one real hole is air quality, near the bottom of the country. Noise and summer heat also cost it ground. That varies block to block rather than evenly, and the map below shows where.
Where Saline County ranks high
- Low vacancyBetter than 94% of counties
- Local economyBetter than 91% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 87% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 87% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 85% of counties
Where Saline County ranks low
- Air qualityBetter than only 3% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 12% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than only 15% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than only 19% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 75 pleasant days a year, better than only 30% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Saline County
A household needs to earn about $59,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Saline County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $83,597, 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 Saline County's effective rate of 0.62%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Saline County
Saline County'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 Saline County.
Who works in Saline County, and how
Work in Saline County centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Saline County
Saline County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties. That concentrates in some parts of Saline County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Saline County growing, and who is moving in?
Saline County has grown about 14% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Little Rock, AR metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Saline County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Saline County, month by month
Saline County sees roughly 75 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 53, with lows near 33. The comfortable stretch runs March through May and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 53° | 42° | 33° |
| April | 75° | 63° | 53° |
| July | 93° | 83° | 74° |
| October | 77° | 65° | 55° |
Flying in and out of Saline County
The nearest airport, Bill and Hillary Clinton Ntl/Adams Field, is about 20 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Memphis International, about 149 miles away.
The best schools in and around Saline County
Schools across Saline County average a B−, better than 64% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Chenal Elementary SchoolA · 65% proficient
- Springhill Elementary SchoolA− · 58% proficient
- Perrin Elementary SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
Top middle schools
- Bethel Middle SchoolA− · 58% proficient
- Harmony Grove Middle SchoolA− · 53% proficient
- Benton Middle SchoolB+ · 48% proficient
Top high schools
- Benton High SchoolB− · 44% proficient
- Bryant High SchoolC+ · 40% proficient
- Perryville High SchoolC · 32% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Saline County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Saline County 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 Saline County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Saline County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 85% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 12% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Saline County
Is Saline County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Saline County ranks 878th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on few empty homes, a strong job market, and low crime, and lowest on air quality and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Saline County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $232,919. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $83,597 median income, cost of living beats 85% of counties.
Is Saline County safe?
Yes, Saline County is safer than 87% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $366 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Saline County?
July highs average about 93 degrees, and January highs near 53 with lows near 33. That works out to about 75 pleasant days a year, more than 30% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Saline County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Alexander, Benton, and Haskell. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Saline County good for families?
Schools beat 64% of counties, crime safety beats 87%, and childcare runs $671 a month.
Is Saline County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 85% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 81% of counties. About 12% of workers already work from home.
Compare Saline County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Saline County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Saline County 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.
Saline County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Saline County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Saline County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Saline County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Saline County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Saline County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.