Best PlacesSharp County, AR Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Sharp County, 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.
Sharp County ranks 2,858th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and health outcomes rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Sharp 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.
Sharp County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Sharp County ranks high
- Cheap childcare$481 a month, better than 93% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than 86% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than 83% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than 82% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 75% of counties
Where Sharp County ranks low
- Health outlookBetter than only 5% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than only 6% of counties
- BikingBetter than only 6% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 8% of counties
- Household income$51,268 median, better than only 10% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Sharp County
A household needs to earn about $30,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Sharp County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $51,268, 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 Sharp County'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 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 Sharp County
Sharp County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Sharp County.
Who works in Sharp County, and how
Work in Sharp County centers on health care & social and construction. 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 3%
Life in Sharp County
Sharp County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties. That concentrates in some parts of Sharp County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Sharp County growing, and who is moving in?
Sharp County has grown about 8% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Independence County, AR.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Sharp County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Sharp County, month by month
Sharp County sees roughly 77 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 49, with lows near 27. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 49° | 37° | 27° |
| April | 72° | 58° | 47° |
| July | 91° | 79° | 69° |
| October | 75° | 60° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Sharp County
The nearest airport, Boone County, is about 91 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Memphis International, about 117 miles away.
The best schools in and around Sharp County
Schools across Sharp County average a C+, better than 55% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Melbourne Elementary SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
- Hillcrest Elementary SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
- Cherokee Elementary SchoolB · 46% proficient
Top middle schools
- Cave City Middle School Career And Collegiate PreparatoryB− · 41% proficient
- Highland Middle SchoolC+ · 39% proficient
Top high schools
- Melbourne High SchoolB− · 44% proficient
- Highland High SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- Hillcrest High SchoolC · 33% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Sharp County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Sharp 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 Sharp County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Sharp County
Is Sharp County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Sharp County ranks 2,858th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on affordable childcare, tree cover, and low property taxes, and lowest on health outcomes and empty homes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Sharp County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $119,380. The overall cost of living runs about 20% below the national average. Set against a $51,268 median income, cost of living beats 13% of counties.
Is Sharp County safe?
Sharp County is safer than 46% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $520 per resident a year.
Compare Sharp County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Sharp County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Sharp 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.
Sharp County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Sharp County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Sharp County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Sharp County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Sharp County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Sharp 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.