Best PlacesWalnut Valley, Little Rock, AR Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Walnut Valley, Little Rock, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Walnut Valley, Little Rock ranks 4,015th of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and distance from a big city ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Walnut Valley, Little Rock
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.
Walnut Valley, Little Rock's strengths and weaknesses
Where Walnut Valley, Little Rock ranks high
- Cheap childcare$671 a month, better than 96% of neighborhoods
- Short commute16.0 minutes each way, better than 96% of neighborhoods
- State fiscal healthBetter than 92% of neighborhoods
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 87% of neighborhoods
- Cell coverageBetter than 83% of neighborhoods
Where Walnut Valley, Little Rock ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 3% of neighborhoods
- Air qualityBetter than only 15% of neighborhoods
- Low vacancyBetter than only 16% of neighborhoods
- QuietBetter than only 21% of neighborhoods
- BikingBetter than only 22% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Walnut Valley, Little Rock
A household needs to earn about $61,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Walnut Valley, Little Rock home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $63,592, 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 Walnut Valley, Little Rock's effective rate of 0.82%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Walnut Valley, Little Rock
Walnut Valley, Little Rock runs younger 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 Walnut Valley, Little Rock.
Who works in Walnut Valley, Little Rock, and how
Work in Walnut Valley, Little Rock centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Walnut Valley, Little Rock
Walnut Valley, Little Rock has more restaurants and bars per resident than 89% of neighborhoods. That concentrates in some parts of Walnut Valley, Little Rock and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Walnut Valley, Little Rock, month by month
Walnut Valley, Little Rock sees roughly 74 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 53, with lows near 33. The comfortable stretch runs March through May and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 53° | 42° | 33° |
| April | 75° | 63° | 53° |
| July | 93° | 83° | 74° |
| October | 77° | 65° | 55° |
Flying in and out of Walnut Valley, Little Rock
The nearest airport, Bill and Hillary Clinton Ntl/Adams Field, is about 10 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Memphis International, about 139 miles away.
The best schools in and around Walnut Valley, Little Rock
Schools across Walnut Valley, Little Rock average a C, better than 38% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- Forest Heights Stem AcademyB+ · 50% proficient
- Fulbright Elementary SchoolC+ · 39% proficient
- Terry Elementary SchoolD · 17% proficient
Top middle schools
- Pinnacle View Middle SchoolB+ · 47% proficient
Top high schools
- Central High SchoolC+ · 36% proficient
- Parkview Magnet High SchoolC− · 26% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Walnut Valley, Little Rock school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Walnut Valley, Little Rock 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 Walnut Valley, Little Rock against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in Walnut Valley, Little Rock
Is Walnut Valley, Little Rock a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Walnut Valley, Little Rock ranks 4,015th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on affordable childcare, short commutes, and state finances, and lowest on distance from a big city and air quality. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Walnut Valley, Little Rock expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $233,133. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $63,592 median income, cost of living beats 48% of neighborhoods.
Is Walnut Valley, Little Rock safe?
Walnut Valley, Little Rock is safer than 34% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $871 per resident a year.
Compare Walnut Valley, Little Rock with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Walnut Valley, Little Rock. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Walnut Valley, Little Rock 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.
Walnut Valley, Little Rock detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Walnut Valley, Little Rock: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Walnut Valley, Little Rock: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Walnut Valley, Little Rock: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Walnut Valley, Little Rock: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Walnut Valley, Little Rock 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.