Suppose real estate is the most significant investment a majority of people make in their lifetime. In that case, it’s best to understand the places in Arkansas with best potential return on investment.
After working in real estate adjacent roles for over a decade, I had the hypothesis that the best place to buy for a return on investment would be up-and-coming cities. Smaller cities where crime might be high now, but people still move to.
To test my hypothesis, we are going to look at places in Arkansas that are growing faster than average, but where home prices are below average, and crime rates are higher than average.
In everyday terms, these might be “deals”. The best deal in Arkansas at the moment according to Saturday Night Science? That would be Tontitown.
Table Of Contents: Top Ten | Methodology | Summary | Table
The 10 Best Places To Buy A Home In Arkansas For 2024
The methodology that wen’t into this can be a bit complicated, so we’ll break it down for you in as much detail as we can below.
For more Arkansas reading:
- Best Counties To Live In Arkansas
- Best Places To Raise A Family In Arkansas
- Best Places To Retire In Arkansas
The 10 Best Cities To Buy A House In Arkansas For 2024
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Population: 5,114
Median Home Price: $452,138
Population Change: 9.8%
Home Price Change: 5.8%
More on Tontitown: Data | Real Estate
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Population: 5,559
Median Home Price: $135,166
Population Change: -0.7%
Home Price Change: 0.3%
More on White Hall: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate
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Population: 5,411
Median Home Price: $116,425
Population Change: 0.4%
Home Price Change: 0.5%
More on Walnut Ridge: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate
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Population: 6,149
Median Home Price: $191,278
Population Change: 3.5%
Home Price Change: 5.1%
More on Ward: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate
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Population: 5,605
Median Home Price: $171,634
Population Change: -0.4%
Home Price Change: 3.4%
More on Mena: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate
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Population: 5,755
Median Home Price: $248,641
Population Change: 1.3%
Home Price Change: 5.1%
More on Greenbrier: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate
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Population: 5,667
Median Home Price: $203,546
Population Change: 1.0%
Home Price Change: 3.0%
More on Berryville: Data | Crime | Cost Of Living | Real Estate
Methodology: How do you determine the best places to buy a home in Arkansas for 2024?
We were in real estate for almost five years and have worked on this site for another 9. Suffice it to say we’ve put a lot of thought into finding an excellent place to buy a home.
So all that thinking has come to this moment where we get to spell out how we’d approach finding an up-and-coming place to live in Arkansas. Put differently, the analysis will try to find places in Arkansas with undervalued homes relative to pent-up demand using Saturday Night Science.
To do that, we looked at the most recent American Community Survey Census data for 2018-2022 and compared it to the previous vintage. Specifically, we used the following criteria:
- Y-o-Y Change In Population (People want to live here)
- Y-o-Y Change In Median Home Prices (People are willing to pay for it)
- Home Prices Relative To The State Average (It’s still kinda cheap)
We want places that are growing, have seen home prices increase in recent years, and are still “cheap” for Arkansas with the following caveats:
- Home prices had to be within 20% of the state average (Much lower than that, and you get to some of the more dangerous places)
- Home prices increased in the last year, and
- Above 5,000 people (Bigger cities have more data points)
So of the 0 cities and towns in Arkansas, only 67 places made it through our initial filters to even be considered.
We then ranked each place from 1 to 67 for the above criteria, with 1 being the best. We averaged the rankings to create a “best place to buy” index, with the place having the lowest index being the best.
Turns out that Tontitown is the best potential gem in the not-so-rough in the Natural State.
Summary: The Best Places To Purchase A House In Arkansas for 2024
There’s our analysis of the best places to buy a house in Arkansas. And, to be clear, we aren’t necessarily saying these places are the best places to live, just that it looks like they might be in a couple of years based on the data.
In fact, every place in the following table meets our criteria, so even though it may not look super long, remember we started off with all 0 places in the state.
The best cities to buy a house in Arkansas are Tontitown, Cave Springs, Cherokee Village, Sheridan, White Hall, Walnut Ridge, Ward, Mena, Greenbrier, and Berryville.
So if we’d could rent or buy in these cities, we’d definitely buy.
For more Arkansas reading, check out:
Best Places To Buy A Home In Arkansas
| Rank | City | Population | Median Home Price | Population Change | Home Price Increase |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Tontitown | 5,114 | $452,138 | 9.8% | 5.8% |
| 2 | Cave Springs | 5,521 | $496,461 | 5.7% | 3.1% |
| 3 | Cherokee Village | 5,061 | $133,112 | 1.7% | 4.5% |
| 4 | Sheridan | 5,002 | $202,521 | 1.9% | 3.2% |
| 5 | White Hall | 5,559 | $135,166 | -0.7% | 0.3% |
| 6 | Walnut Ridge | 5,411 | $116,425 | 0.4% | 0.5% |
| 7 | Ward | 6,149 | $191,278 | 3.5% | 5.1% |
| 8 | Mena | 5,605 | $171,634 | -0.4% | 3.4% |
| 9 | Greenbrier | 5,755 | $248,641 | 1.3% | 5.1% |
| 10 | Berryville | 5,667 | $203,546 | 1.0% | 3.0% |
| 11 | Warren | 5,409 | $92,878 | -1.4% | 5.1% |
| 12 | Alma | 5,837 | $221,560 | 0.5% | 2.2% |
| 13 | Pea Ridge | 6,851 | $307,676 | 5.5% | 4.2% |
| 14 | Prairie Grove | 7,131 | $288,545 | 3.2% | 3.7% |
| 15 | De Queen | 6,132 | $150,208 | -1.0% | 1.3% |
| 16 | Pocahontas | 7,384 | $133,708 | 1.6% | 2.1% |
| 17 | Morrilton | 6,980 | $148,958 | 0.5% | 5.5% |
| 18 | Osceola | 6,911 | $120,733 | -1.5% | -0.7% |
| 19 | Trumann | 7,383 | $114,974 | -0.4% | 9.0% |
| 20 | Heber Springs | 7,066 | $233,693 | 0.7% | 0.9% |
| 21 | Farmington | 7,991 | $307,212 | 5.1% | 4.5% |
| 22 | Newport | 7,984 | $75,772 | 2.0% | -5.7% |
| 23 | Wynne | 8,284 | $122,012 | -0.8% | 1.5% |
| 24 | Beebe | 8,447 | $194,728 | 1.2% | 5.7% |
| 25 | Stuttgart | 8,189 | $104,107 | -2.1% | -7.7% |
| 26 | Greenwood | 9,544 | $213,853 | 0.5% | 2.9% |
| 27 | Monticello | 8,443 | $153,792 | -1.4% | -0.9% |
| 28 | Lowell | 10,005 | $313,249 | 3.9% | 4.8% |
| 29 | Clarksville | 9,453 | $164,172 | 0.1% | 3.3% |
| 30 | Hope | 8,921 | $74,003 | -1.0% | 2.2% |
| 31 | Helena-West Helena | 9,470 | $85,028 | -2.4% | -12.6% |
| 32 | Arkadelphia | 10,354 | $162,200 | 0.2% | 3.4% |
| 33 | Batesville | 11,163 | $153,111 | 0.4% | -1.1% |
| 34 | Camden | 10,587 | $95,543 | -0.5% | 3.0% |
| 35 | Malvern | 10,859 | $126,080 | 2.2% | 0.2% |
| 36 | Magnolia | 11,044 | $133,915 | -1.4% | -2.8% |
| 37 | Marion | 13,635 | $215,239 | 0.1% | 2.5% |
| 38 | Mountain Home | 12,876 | $215,052 | 1.2% | 4.5% |
| 39 | Harrison | 13,154 | $208,474 | 0.6% | 8.0% |
| 40 | Blytheville | 13,276 | $73,259 | -2.1% | -14.9% |
| 41 | Forrest City | 13,010 | $64,860 | -2.7% | 7.5% |
| 42 | Centerton | 18,655 | $321,706 | 6.9% | 1.5% |
| 43 | Siloam Springs | 17,632 | $262,203 | 4.1% | 3.1% |
| 44 | El Dorado | 17,606 | $122,597 | -1.1% | -0.2% |
| 45 | Maumelle | 19,183 | $293,632 | 0.6% | 3.6% |
| 46 | Bryant | 20,750 | $237,351 | 1.7% | 1.2% |
| 47 | Van Buren | 23,398 | $182,864 | 0.8% | 2.9% |
| 48 | Searcy | 22,961 | $196,057 | -0.5% | 7.0% |
| 49 | West Memphis | 24,351 | $107,794 | -1.3% | -3.3% |
| 50 | Cabot | 26,543 | $231,016 | 0.5% | 3.8% |
| 51 | Jacksonville | 29,332 | $149,179 | -0.2% | -0.9% |
| 52 | Paragould | 29,690 | $178,485 | 1.2% | 1.4% |
| 53 | Russellville | 28,946 | $190,613 | -0.4% | 3.6% |
| 54 | Texarkana | 29,404 | $157,796 | -0.3% | -3.5% |
| 55 | Sherwood | 32,715 | $213,321 | 0.5% | -0.4% |
| 56 | Benton | 35,318 | $223,530 | 1.6% | -0.0% |
| 57 | Hot Springs | 38,025 | $237,324 | -0.1% | 3.6% |
| 58 | Pine Bluff | 41,172 | $79,285 | -1.9% | 3.9% |
| 59 | Bentonville | 54,513 | $438,707 | 3.7% | 2.7% |
| 60 | North Little Rock | 64,454 | $148,544 | 0.0% | -0.8% |
| 61 | Conway | 65,159 | $233,335 | 2.2% | 4.1% |
| 62 | Rogers | 69,961 | $333,982 | 2.4% | 6.2% |
| 63 | Jonesboro | 78,379 | $211,729 | 1.1% | 2.1% |
| 64 | Springdale | 86,705 | $300,208 | 1.0% | 4.5% |
| 65 | Fayetteville | 95,022 | $342,122 | 3.2% | 2.8% |
| 66 | Fort Smith | 89,315 | $172,064 | 0.2% | 1.7% |
| 67 | Little Rock | 202,218 | $201,487 | 0.2% | -0.4% |