Best PlacesWashington County, AR Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Washington County, 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.
Washington County ranks 906th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It does not top any single list, but it lands above the national middle on a strong job market and cell coverage. The weaker spots are civic engagement, noise, and thin health care access.
The best neighborhoods in Washington 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.
The best areas in Washington County
The parts of Washington County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Goshen
More adults hold degrees, local pay stretches further, and tree cover is thicker.
Tontitown
Incomes run higher and it is quieter.
Johnson
More households have young kids and fewer homes sit empty.
Prairie Grove, Farmington & Lincoln
More residents vote, though biking is worse.
Elkins
Crime runs lower, though commutes are longer.
Fayetteville
Streets are more walkable, though prices have run up more.
Springdale
Health care is harder to reach and schools score lower.
West Fork
Washington County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 5% of the country and others in the top 1%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Washington County's strengths and weaknesses
Washington County lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. A strong job market, cell coverage, and biking carry most of that.
The one real hole is civic engagement, near the bottom of the country. Noise and thin health care access also cost it ground. The detail is below, and the map is where it turns into a choice of neighborhood rather than just a place.
Where Washington County ranks high
- Local economyBetter than 95% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than 88% of counties
- BikingBetter than 86% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than 83% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than 82% of counties
Where Washington County ranks low
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 3% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 12% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 18% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 72 pleasant days a year, better than only 25% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 30% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Washington County
A household needs to earn about $76,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Washington County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $76,286, 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 Washington County's effective rate of 0.55%, 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 Washington County
Washington County runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Washington County.
Who works in Washington County, and how
Work in Washington County centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Washington County
Washington County has more parkland per resident than 79% of counties and more late-night spots per resident than 84% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Washington County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Washington County growing, and who is moving in?
Washington County has grown about 21% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Fayetteville, AR metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Washington County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Washington County, month by month
Washington County sees roughly 72 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 49, with lows near 27. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 49° | 37° | 27° |
| April | 72° | 59° | 47° |
| July | 90° | 79° | 69° |
| October | 74° | 60° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Washington County
The nearest airport, Northwest Arkansas Ntl, is about 15 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Kansas City International, about 223 miles away.
The best schools in and around Washington County
Schools across Washington County average a C+, better than 53% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Vandergriff Elementary SchoolA · 68% proficient
- Root Elementary SchoolA · 65% proficient
- Bernice Young ElementaryA− · 60% proficient
Top middle schools
- Mcnair Middle SchoolA · 62% proficient
- Woodland Junior High SchoolA · 62% proficient
- Hellstern Middle SchoolA− · 55% proficient
Top high schools
- Haas Hall AcademyA+ · 83% proficient
- Haas Hall Academy Jones CenterA− · 65% proficient
- Fayetteville High School EastB− · 45% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Washington County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Washington 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 Washington County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Washington County suits
Families
Schools land around the 53rd percentile and crime safety beats 68%.
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 72% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 11% already work from home.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Washington County
Is Washington County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Washington County ranks 906th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on a strong job market, cell coverage, and biking, and lowest on civic engagement and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Washington County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $300,214. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $76,286 median income, cost of living beats 72% of counties.
Is Washington County safe?
Yes, Washington County is safer than 68% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $474 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Washington County?
July highs average about 90 degrees, and January highs near 49 with lows near 27. That works out to about 72 pleasant days a year, more than 25% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Washington County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Goshen, Tontitown, and Johnson. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Washington County good for families?
Schools beat 53% of counties, crime safety beats 68%, and childcare runs $671 a month.
Is Washington County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 72% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 83% of counties. About 11% of workers already work from home.
Compare Washington County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Washington County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Washington 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.
Washington County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Washington County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Washington County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Washington County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Washington County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Washington 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.