$855 median rent · $47,865 median income · #8 cheapest rent in Arkansas
Located in
Mississippi County, Arkansas
Blytheville is the largest city in Mississippi County, Arkansas, United States. Blytheville is approximately 60 miles north of West Memphis. The population was 18,272 at the 2000 census.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$753 median rent · $44,056 median income · #2 cheapest rent in Arkansas
Located in
Boone County, Arkansas
Harrison is a city in Boone County, Arkansas, United States. It is the county seat. It named after General Marcus LaRue Harrison, a surveyor that laid out the city along Crooked Creek at Stifler Springs. According to 2012 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city was 13,163, up from 12,943 at the 2010 census.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$847 median rent · $61,149 median income · #7 cheapest rent in Arkansas
Located in
Crawford County, Arkansas
Van Buren is the second largest city in the Fort Smith, Arkansas-Oklahoma Metropolitan Statistical Area and the county seat of Crawford County, Arkansas, United States. The city is located directly northeast of Fort Smith at the Interstate 40-Interstate 540 junction. The city was incorporated in 1845 and as of the 2010 census had a population of 22,791, ranking it as the state’s 22nd largest city, behind Searcy.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$865 median rent · $41,274 median income · #10 cheapest rent in Arkansas
Located in
Baxter County, Arkansas
Mountain Home is a small city and the county seat of Baxter County, Arkansas, United States, in the southern Ozark Mountains near the northern state border with Missouri. As of the 2010 census, the city had a population of 12,448. A total of 41,307 persons lived within the city and micropolitan combined, which encompasses the majority of Baxter County.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$764 median rent · $46,250 median income · #3 cheapest rent in Arkansas
Located in
Hot Spring County, Arkansas
Malvern is a city in and the county seat of Hot Spring County, Arkansas, United States. Founded as a railroad stop at the eastern edge of the Ouachita Mountains, the community’s history and economy have been tied to available agricultural and mineral resources. The production of bricks from locally available clay has earned the city the nickname, “The Brick Capital of the World”. The city had a population of 10,318 at the time of the 2010 census, and in 2015 the estimated population was 10,928.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$882 median rent · $51,856 median income · #13 cheapest rent in Arkansas
Located in
Independence County, Arkansas
Batesville is the county seat and largest city of Independence County, Arkansas, United States, 80 miles northeast of Little Rock, the state capital. According to the 2010 Census, the population of the city was 10,248. The city serves as a regional manufacturing and distribution hub for the Ozark Mountain region and northeast Arkansas.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$925 median rent · $56,980 median income · #18 cheapest rent in Arkansas
Located in
Greene County, Arkansas
Paragould is the county seat of Greene County, and the 19th-largest city in Arkansas, in the United States. The city is located in northeastern Arkansas on the eastern edge of Crowley’s Ridge, a geologic anomaly contained within the Arkansas delta.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$768 median rent · $49,361 median income · #4 cheapest rent in Arkansas
Located in
Ouachita County, Arkansas
Camden is a city in and the county seat of Ouachita County in the south-central part of the U.S. state of Arkansas.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$905 median rent · $52,170 median income · #15 cheapest rent in Arkansas
Located in
White County, Arkansas
Searcy is the largest city and county seat of White County, Arkansas, United States. According to 2014 Census Bureau estimates, the population of the city is 23,768. It is the principal city of the Searcy, AR Micropolitan Statistical Area which encompasses all of White County. The city takes its name from Richard Searcy, a judge for the Superior Court of the Arkansas Territory. A college town, Searcy is the home of Harding University.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
$855 median rent · $42,718 median income · #8 cheapest rent in Arkansas
Located in
Jefferson County, Arkansas
Pine Bluff is the tenth-largest city in the state of Arkansas and the county seat of Jefferson County. It is the principal city of the Pine Bluff Metropolitan Statistical Area and part of the Little Rock-North Little Rock-Pine Bluff Combined Statistical Area. The population of the city was 49,083 in the 2010 Census with 2016 estmates showing a decline to 43,841.
Data | Crime | Cost of living | Movers
The receipts
Compare the top ten
Pick a metric. The bars rescale. The red line is Arkansas’s statewide median.
Arkansas statewide median: $60,773
Arkansas statewide median: $222,050
On the map
Where to retire in Arkansas
Saturday Night Science
Methodology: How We Determined The Best Places To Retire In the Natural State for 2026
To create our ranking of the best places in Arkansas to retire, we used Saturday Night Science. We analyzed Census data to find all places in the Natural State — 538 cities and towns.
We then narrowed it down to places with at least 10,000 people that weren’t townships. This left us with 36 places from across the state.
For these 36, we looked at the following criteria taken from the Census, the FBI’s Crime Report, National Weather Service, and OpenFlights:
- Low cost of living as measured by rent
- Low crime
- Things to do (Museums, Colleges, and Libraries in town)
- Nice weather
- Distance to the closest international airport
- Other retirees (High median age)
We then ranked each of these places for each criterion from one to 36, with the lowest number being the best.
Finally, we took the average rank across these criteria. The place, in this case Blytheville, with the lowest average rank, was crowned the best of the best, a place for you to start your second career.
The report has been updated for 2026. This list reflects our eleventh time ranking the best places to retire in Arkansas.
The full plate
Best Places To Retire In Arkansas
Click any column to sort. Search by city name.
| Rank | City | Retire Score | Population | Median Income | Average Home Prices | Median Rent |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Blytheville | 9.30 | 12,790 | $47,865 | $96,161 | $855 |
| 2 | Harrison | 10.00 | 13,350 | $44,056 | $230,382 | $753 |
| 3 | Van Buren | 11.80 | 23,763 | $61,149 | $204,826 | $847 |
| 4 | Mountain Home | 11.80 | 13,108 | $41,274 | $233,820 | $865 |
| 5 | Malvern | 13.60 | 10,953 | $46,250 | $142,161 | $764 |
| 6 | Batesville | 14.50 | 11,445 | $51,856 | $176,299 | $882 |
| 7 | Paragould | 14.80 | 30,215 | $56,980 | $191,096 | $925 |
| 8 | Camden | 15.80 | 10,307 | $49,361 | $105,164 | $768 |
| 9 | Searcy | 16.10 | 23,340 | $52,170 | $216,680 | $905 |
| 10 | Pine Bluff | 16.80 | 39,743 | $42,718 | $75,017 | $855 |
| 11 | Fort Smith | 17.30 | 89,805 | $54,816 | $193,977 | $884 |
| 12 | Bentonville | 17.40 | 58,249 | $112,792 | $488,112 | $1,344 |
| 13 | Siloam Springs | 17.40 | 18,699 | $72,065 | $284,971 | $1,003 |
| 14 | Maumelle | 18.10 | 19,373 | $103,333 | $307,539 | $1,047 |
| 15 | Russellville | 18.20 | 29,162 | $50,877 | $212,079 | $842 |
| 16 | Arkadelphia | 18.20 | 10,099 | $48,657 | $183,376 | $814 |
| 17 | Jonesboro | 18.70 | 80,137 | $55,424 | $222,893 | $956 |
| 18 | Rogers | 18.80 | 72,981 | $86,728 | $385,743 | $1,270 |
| 19 | West Memphis | 18.80 | 23,929 | $42,674 | $131,757 | $870 |
| 20 | Magnolia | 18.90 | 10,894 | $56,127 | $145,079 | $633 |
| 21 | Hot Springs | 19.00 | 37,920 | $47,760 | $243,826 | $914 |
| 22 | Sherwood | 19.90 | 33,070 | $81,328 | $236,102 | $1,101 |
| 23 | El Dorado | 20.40 | 17,115 | $49,244 | $133,853 | $880 |
| 24 | Centerton | 20.70 | 21,920 | $115,713 | $349,882 | $1,465 |
| 25 | Benton | 21.40 | 36,595 | $72,876 | $239,101 | $1,072 |
| 26 | Cabot | 21.40 | 26,960 | $75,000 | $247,085 | $1,110 |
| 27 | Marion | 21.40 | 13,623 | $78,330 | $238,641 | $1,148 |
| 28 | Lowell | 21.60 | 10,849 | $95,527 | $360,677 | $1,136 |
| 29 | Fayetteville | 21.90 | 99,319 | $62,695 | $377,910 | $1,065 |
| 30 | Springdale | 21.90 | 88,160 | $69,787 | $338,447 | $1,071 |
| 31 | Texarkana | 22.40 | 29,177 | $45,835 | $167,818 | $909 |
| 32 | Bryant | 22.40 | 21,504 | $83,024 | $254,713 | $993 |
| 33 | North Little Rock | 22.90 | 64,538 | $52,707 | $165,643 | $1,069 |
| 34 | Conway | 23.30 | 67,642 | $63,004 | $244,316 | $1,011 |
| 35 | Little Rock | 23.80 | 203,436 | $63,003 | $216,519 | $1,106 |
| 36 | Jacksonville | 25.30 | 29,221 | $49,666 | $168,541 | $930 |
Source: U.S. Census ACS 2020-2024, FBI UCR, OpenFlights. 36 cities with more than 10,000 residents.
Summary
Summary: Maybe You’re Not Ready To Retire In Arkansas Yet…
So there you have it, the best place to retire in Arkansas goes to Blytheville.
The best places to retire in Arkansas are Blytheville, Harrison, Van Buren, Mountain Home, Malvern, Batesville, Paragould, Camden, Searcy, and Pine Bluff.
If you’re not ready to hang up your office apparel yet, then these places might be up your alley.
