Best PlacesWaldo, AR Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Waldo, 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.
Waldo ranks 45,993rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and low incomes rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Waldo
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.
Waldo's strengths and weaknesses
Where Waldo ranks high
- Cheap childcare$481 a month, better than 94% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 91% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 87% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 85% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 78% of towns
Where Waldo ranks low
- Household income$42,907 median, better than only 3% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 4% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 5% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 6% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 10% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Waldo
A household needs to earn about $20,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Waldo home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $42,907, 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 Waldo'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 3 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Waldo
Waldo's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Waldo.
Who works in Waldo, and how
Work in Waldo 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 92%
- Work from home 3%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Waldo
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Waldo.
What the weather is like in Waldo, month by month
Waldo sees roughly 78 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 Waldo
The nearest airport, South Arkansas Regional at Goodwin Field, is about 30 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Dallas Love Field, about 209 miles away.
The best schools in and around Waldo
Schools across Waldo average a C−, better than 25% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Nevada Elementary SchoolD · 17% proficient
Top middle schools
- Magnolia Jr. High SchoolC− · 29% proficient
Top high schools
- Magnolia High SchoolC− · 26% proficient
- Nevada High SchoolD · 18% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Waldo school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Waldo 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 Waldo against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Waldo
Is Waldo a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Waldo ranks 45,993rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, a stable housing market, and low property taxes, and lowest on low incomes and civic engagement. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Waldo expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $79,903. The overall cost of living runs about 26% below the national average. Set against a $42,907 median income, cost of living beats 12% of towns.
Is Waldo safe?
Waldo is safer than 37% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $515 per resident a year.
Compare Waldo with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Waldo. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Waldo 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.
Waldo detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Waldo: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Waldo: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Waldo: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Waldo: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Waldo 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.