Best PlacesWidener, AR Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Widener, 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.
Widener ranks 47,432nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on affordable childcare by a wide margin, and the schools rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Widener
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.
Widener's strengths and weaknesses
Where Widener ranks high
- Cheap childcare$459 a month, better than 97% of towns
- Short commute20.0 minutes each way, better than 88% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 85% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 85% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 79% of towns
Where Widener ranks low
- School gradeF, better than only 1% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 3% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 4% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 8% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 9% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Widener
A household needs to earn about $12,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Widener home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $57,301, 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 Widener's effective rate of 0.48%, 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 2 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Widener
Widener's age mix sits close to the national median, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Widener.
Who works in Widener, and how
Work in Widener centers on wholesale trade and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 95%
- Work from home 4%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Widener
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Widener.
What the weather is like in Widener, month by month
Widener sees roughly 77 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 50, with lows near 34. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 50° | 41° | 34° |
| April | 73° | 62° | 53° |
| July | 91° | 81° | 73° |
| October | 77° | 64° | 54° |
Flying in and out of Widener
Memphis International sits about 39 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 2.4 million passengers in 2025, with 78 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Widener
Schools across Widener average an F, better than 1% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Faulk Elementary SchoolF · 10% proficient
- Anna Strong Learning AcademyF · 6% proficient
Top middle schools
- Wynne Junior High SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- West Junior High SchoolD · 21% proficient
- Lincoln AcademyF · 6% proficient
Top high schools
- Wynne High SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Forrest City High SchoolF · 8% proficient
- Lee High SchoolF · 5% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Widener school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Widener 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 Widener against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Widener
Is Widener a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Widener ranks 47,432nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, short commutes, and state finances, and lowest on the schools and civic engagement. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Widener expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $46,500. The overall cost of living runs about 19% below the national average. Set against a $57,301 median income, cost of living beats 28% of towns.
Is Widener safe?
Widener is safer than 4% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $1,119 per resident a year.
Compare Widener with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Widener. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Widener 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.
Widener detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Widener: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Widener: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Widener: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Widener: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Widener 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.