Best PlacesUrsula, AR Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Ursula, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Costs and crime both read low, and the nearest big city is a drive away. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Ursula ranks 24,385th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and summer heat is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Ursula
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.
Ursula's strengths and weaknesses
Where Ursula ranks high
- Cheap childcare$445 a month, better than 97% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 86% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 86% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 85% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than 82% of towns
Where Ursula ranks low
- Heat safetyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 16% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 21% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 68 pleasant days a year, better than only 22% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 26% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Ursula
A household needs to earn about $44,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Ursula home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $60,299, 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 Ursula's effective rate of 0.66%, 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 Ursula
Ursula runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Ursula.
Who works in Ursula, and how
Work in Ursula 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 89%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Ursula
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Ursula.
What the weather is like in Ursula, month by month
Ursula 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 Ursula
The nearest airport, Fort Smith Regional, is about 16 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Memphis International, about 233 miles away.
The best schools in and around Ursula
Schools across Ursula average a B−, better than 54% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Charleston Elementary SchoolB · 46% proficient
- Lavaca Elementary SchoolB− · 42% proficient
Top middle schools
- Lavaca Middle SchoolC · 32% proficient
Top high schools
- Charleston High SchoolB− · 42% proficient
- Lavaca High SchoolC+ · 35% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Ursula school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Ursula 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 Ursula against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Ursula
Is Ursula a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Ursula ranks 24,385th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, a stable housing market, and few empty homes, and lowest on summer heat and civic engagement. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Ursula expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $173,431. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $60,299 median income, cost of living beats 40% of towns.
Is Ursula safe?
Yes, Ursula is safer than 82% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $326 per resident a year.
Compare Ursula with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Ursula. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Ursula 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.
Ursula detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Ursula: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Ursula: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Ursula: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Ursula: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Ursula 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.