Best PlacesYell County, AR Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Yell County, 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.
Yell County ranks 2,174th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a stable housing market by a wide margin, and civic engagement ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Yell 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.
Yell County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Yell County ranks high
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 97% of counties
- Cheap childcare$481 a month, better than 93% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than 92% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than 88% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than 82% of counties
Where Yell County ranks low
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 2% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 9% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 19% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than only 19% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than only 20% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Yell County
A household needs to earn about $36,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Yell County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $57,826, 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 Yell County's effective rate of 0.39%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Yell County
Yell County'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 Yell County.
Who works in Yell County, and how
Work in Yell County centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 90%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Yell County
Yell County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties. That concentrates in some parts of Yell County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Yell County growing, and who is moving in?
Yell County has lost about 8% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Pope County, AR.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Yell County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Yell County, month by month
Yell County sees roughly 73 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 51, with lows near 30. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 51° | 39° | 30° |
| April | 74° | 61° | 50° |
| July | 93° | 81° | 72° |
| October | 77° | 63° | 52° |
Flying in and out of Yell County
The nearest airport, Memorial Field, is about 46 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Memphis International, about 187 miles away.
The best schools in and around Yell County
Schools across Yell County average a C, better than 40% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Pottsville Elementary SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Dardanelle Elementary SchoolB · 47% proficient
- S.c. Tucker Elementary SchoolB · 45% proficient
Top middle schools
- Pottsville Junior High SchoolB+ · 49% proficient
- Jessieville Middle SchoolB · 44% proficient
- Dardanelle Middle SchoolB− · 42% proficient
Top high schools
- Dardanelle High SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- Pottsville High SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- Danville High SchoolC+ · 35% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Yell County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Yell 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 Yell County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Yell County suits
Families
Schools land around the 40th percentile and crime safety beats 58%.
Common questions about living in Yell County
Is Yell County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Yell County ranks 2,174th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on a stable housing market, affordable childcare, and low property taxes, and lowest on civic engagement and education levels. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Yell County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $143,872. The overall cost of living runs about 21% below the national average. Set against a $57,826 median income, cost of living beats 31% of counties.
Is Yell County safe?
Yes, Yell County is safer than 58% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $488 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Yell County?
July highs average about 93 degrees, and January highs near 51 with lows near 30. That works out to about 73 pleasant days a year, more than 27% of counties.
Is Yell County good for families?
Schools beat 40% of counties, crime safety beats 58%, and childcare runs $481 a month.
Compare Yell County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Yell County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Yell 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.
Yell County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Yell County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Yell County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Yell County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Yell County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Yell 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.