Best PlacesThornton, AR Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Thornton, 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.
Thornton ranks 41,192nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Thornton
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.
Thornton's strengths and weaknesses
Where Thornton ranks high
- Cheap childcare$461 a month, better than 97% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 96% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 141 pleasant days a year, better than 89% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 87% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 85% of towns
Where Thornton ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 1% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 4% of towns
- School gradeD, better than only 6% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 8% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Thornton
A household needs to earn about $41,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Thornton home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $80,000, 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 Thornton's effective rate of 0.41%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Thornton
Thornton'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 Thornton.
Who works in Thornton, and how
Work in Thornton centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Thornton
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Thornton.
What the weather is like in Thornton, month by month
Thornton sees roughly 141 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 95 degrees. January highs sit near 57, with lows near 34. The comfortable stretch runs March through May and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 57° | 44° | 34° |
| April | 77° | 64° | 53° |
| July | 95° | 82° | 73° |
| October | 80° | 65° | 53° |
Flying in and out of Thornton
The nearest airport, South Arkansas Regional at Goodwin Field, is about 42 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Memphis International, about 168 miles away.
The best schools in and around Thornton
Schools across Thornton average a D, better than 6% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Fordyce Elementary SchoolsC− · 27% proficient
- Hampton Elementary SchoolC− · 27% proficient
- Bearden Elementary SchoolD+ · 22% proficient
Top high schools
- Fordyce High SchoolD · 20% proficient
- Hampton High SchoolD− · 15% proficient
- Bearden High SchoolD− · 15% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Thornton school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Thornton 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 Thornton against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Thornton
Is Thornton a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Thornton ranks 41,192nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, a stable housing market, and the weather, and lowest on noise and civic engagement. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Thornton expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $164,941. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $80,000 median income, cost of living beats 69% of towns.
Is Thornton safe?
Thornton is safer than 15% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $732 per resident a year.
Compare Thornton with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Thornton. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Thornton 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.
Thornton detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Thornton: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Thornton: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Thornton: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Thornton: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Thornton 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.