Best PlacesUnion County, AR Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Union 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.
Union County ranks 2,518th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and air quality ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Union 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.
Union County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Union County ranks high
- Cheap childcare$481 a month, better than 93% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 85% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than 85% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than 82% of counties
- Short commute20.1 minutes each way, better than 78% of counties
Where Union County ranks low
- Air qualityBetter than only 7% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than only 14% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 14% of counties
- Local economyBetter than only 15% of counties
- Household income$57,772 median, better than only 21% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Union County
A household needs to earn about $34,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Union County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $57,772, 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 Union County's effective rate of 0.56%, 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 Union County
Union 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 Union County.
Who works in Union County, and how
Work in Union 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 88%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Union County
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Union County.
Is Union County growing, and who is moving in?
Union County has lost about 8% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Columbia County, AR.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Union County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Union County, month by month
Union County sees roughly 80 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 56, with lows near 35. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 56° | 44° | 35° |
| April | 77° | 63° | 53° |
| July | 93° | 81° | 72° |
| October | 79° | 65° | 54° |
Flying in and out of Union County
The nearest airport, South Arkansas Regional at Goodwin Field, is about 9 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Memphis International, about 199 miles away.
The best schools in and around Union County
Schools across Union County average a C−, better than 26% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Emerson Elementary SchoolA− · 57% proficient
- Parkers Chapel Elem. SchoolB+ · 50% proficient
- Hugh Goodwin Elementary SchoolB · 48% proficient
Top middle schools
- Washington Middle SchoolC · 34% proficient
- Barton Jr. High SchoolC · 33% proficient
- Norphlet Middle SchoolC− · 30% proficient
Top high schools
- Parkers Chapel High SchoolC · 34% proficient
- Emerson High SchoolC · 33% proficient
- Magnolia High SchoolC− · 26% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Union County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Union 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 Union County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Union County suits
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Union County
Is Union County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Union County ranks 2,518th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on affordable childcare, a stable housing market, and tree cover, and lowest on air quality and distance from a big city. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Union County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $134,061. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $57,772 median income, cost of living beats 26% of counties.
Is Union County safe?
Union County is safer than 24% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $694 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Union County?
July highs average about 93 degrees, and January highs near 56 with lows near 35. That works out to about 80 pleasant days a year, more than 38% of counties.
Is Union County good for families?
Schools beat 26% of counties, crime safety beats 24%, and childcare runs $481 a month.
Compare Union County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Union County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Union 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.
Union County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Union County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Union County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Union County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Union County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Union 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.