Best PlacesSebastian County, AR Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Sebastian County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Sebastian County ranks 1,593rd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It does not top any single list, but it lands above the national middle on affordable childcare and fast internet. The weaker spots are civic engagement, noise, and the weather.
The best neighborhoods in Sebastian 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 Sebastian County
The parts of Sebastian 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.
Greenwood
It is quieter, more residents vote, and schools score higher.
Barling & Lavaca
Crime runs lower and health care is easier to reach.
Fort Smith
Fewer adults hold degrees and local pay stretches less far.
Scores across Sebastian County run from about the 5th to the 88th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Sebastian County's strengths and weaknesses
Sebastian County lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. Affordable childcare is the standout, in the top 2% of counties. Fast internet and cell coverage follow.
The one real hole is civic engagement, near the bottom of the country. Noise and the weather also cost it ground. The detail is below, and the map is where it turns into a choice of neighborhood rather than just a place.
Where Sebastian County ranks high
- Cheap childcare$422 a month, better than 98% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than 94% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than 88% of counties
- Short commute19.3 minutes each way, better than 83% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than 82% of counties
Where Sebastian County ranks low
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 3% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 11% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 68 pleasant days a year, better than only 17% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than only 18% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 26% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Sebastian County
A household needs to earn about $47,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Sebastian County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $62,598, 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 Sebastian County's effective rate of 0.59%, 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 Sebastian County
Sebastian 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 Sebastian County.
Who works in Sebastian County, and how
Work in Sebastian County centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Sebastian County
Sebastian County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 72% of counties and more parkland per resident than 86% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Sebastian County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Sebastian County growing, and who is moving in?
Sebastian County has grown about 3% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Fort Smith, AR metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Sebastian County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Sebastian County, month by month
Sebastian County sees roughly 68 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 96 degrees. January highs sit near 54, with lows near 29. The comfortable stretch runs March through May and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 54° | 40° | 29° |
| April | 77° | 62° | 49° |
| July | 96° | 83° | 73° |
| October | 80° | 65° | 52° |
Flying in and out of Sebastian County
The nearest airport, Fort Smith Regional, is about 1 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Dallas Love Field, about 223 miles away.
The best schools in and around Sebastian County
Schools across Sebastian County average a C+, better than 53% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- East Pointe Elementary SchoolA · 62% proficient
- John P. Woods Elem. SchoolA− · 59% proficient
- Westwood Elementary SchoolA− · 59% proficient
Top middle schools
- Greenwood Junior High SchoolA− · 58% proficient
- L. A. Chaffin Jr. High SchoolA− · 56% proficient
- East Hills Middle SchoolA− · 53% proficient
Top high schools
- Greenwood High SchoolB · 46% proficient
- Southside High SchoolB− · 43% proficient
- Charleston High SchoolB− · 42% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Sebastian County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Sebastian 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 Sebastian County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Sebastian County suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 8% already work from home.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Sebastian County
Is Sebastian County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Sebastian County ranks 1,593rd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on affordable childcare, fast internet, and cell coverage, and lowest on civic engagement and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Sebastian County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $184,304. The overall cost of living runs about 20% below the national average. Set against a $62,598 median income, cost of living beats 50% of counties.
Is Sebastian County safe?
Sebastian County is safer than 40% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $583 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Sebastian County?
July highs average about 96 degrees, and January highs near 54 with lows near 29. That works out to about 68 pleasant days a year, more than 17% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Sebastian County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Greenwood, Barling & Lavaca, and Fort Smith. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Sebastian County good for families?
Schools beat 53% of counties, crime safety beats 40%, and childcare runs $422 a month.
Is Sebastian County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 50% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 94% of counties. About 8% of workers already work from home.
Compare Sebastian County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Sebastian County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Sebastian 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.
Sebastian County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Sebastian County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Sebastian County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Sebastian County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Sebastian County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Sebastian 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.