Little Rock’s neighborhoods conjure up too many stereotypes to count. You’ve got hipster areas, preppy places, neighborhoods where college kids thrive, and of course, ghettos.
It seems as if there’s a neighborhood for everyone in Little Rock.
And while the city consistently ranks as one of the best places to live in Arkansas thanks in part to tons of entertainment and jobs, it’s not all rainbows and sunshine in Little Rock. Some neighborhoods aren’t as safe as others.
So the question arises, which Little Rock neighborhoods are the most dangerous and which are the safest?
Today, we’ll use Saturday Night Science to determine which Little Rock hoods need a little tender loving care. We examined 27 of Little Rock’s neighborhoods to find out the most dangerous places to live.
$31,969 median income
$33,180 median income
$32,768 median income
$35,436 median income
$38,607 median income
$36,465 median income
$34,319 median income
$30,444 median income
$38,423 median income
$35,028 median income
The receipts
Compare the top ten
Pick a metric. The bars rescale. The red line is Arkansas’s statewide median.
Arkansas statewide median: $222,050
Arkansas statewide median: $60,773
Saturday Night Science
Methodology: How we determined the most dangerous Little Rock neighborhoods in 2026
To figure out how bad a place is to live in, we only needed to know what kinds of things people like and then decide what places have the least amount of those things. We plugged the following criteria into Saturday Night Science to get the worst neighborhoods in Little Rock:
- High crime (Estimated)
- High unemployment (Less jobs)
- Low median income (Less pay)
- Low population density (No things to do)
- Low home values (No one’s willing to pay to live here)
Then, we ranked each neighborhood in Little Rock, Arkansas for each of these criteria from worst to best.
Next, we averaged the individual rankings for each criterion into a “Worst Score.”
The neighborhood with the lowest “Worst Score” ranks as the most dangerous neighborhood of Little Rock.
The article is an opinion based on facts and is meant as infotainment. We updated this article for 2026. Skip to the end to see the list of all 27 neighborhoods ranked from worst to best.
The full plate
Most dangerous neighborhoods to live in Little Rock for 2026
Click any column to sort. Search by neighborhood name.
| Rank | Neighborhood | Population | Home Value | Median Income |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | South End | 2,787 | $69,925 | $31,969 |
| 2 | Wakefield | 3,017 | $74,850 | $33,180 |
| 3 | East Of I-30 | 1,801 | $94,080 | $32,768 |
| 4 | 65th Street West | 3,738 | $79,650 | $35,436 |
| 5 | Big Dickinson Lake | 750 | $78,300 | $38,607 |
| 6 | Stephens | 4,723 | $101,391 | $36,465 |
| 7 | Central High | 1,859 | $109,300 | $34,319 |
| 8 | Oak Forest | 8,070 | $83,662 | $30,444 |
| 9 | Chicot West | 8,651 | $95,686 | $38,423 |
| 10 | Upper Baseline | 11,175 | $77,567 | $35,028 |
| 11 | Boyle Park | 4,661 | $117,640 | $40,050 |
| 13 | Briarwood | 2,140 | $140,250 | $48,726 |
| 13 | Downtown | 6,391 | $137,400 | $30,291 |
| 13 | West Markham | 2,565 | $139,540 | $49,271 |
| 15 | Cloverdale Watson | 6,314 | $94,467 | $41,717 |
| 16 | South Geyer Springs | 1,711 | $122,250 | $50,150 |
| 17 | John Barrow | 12,336 | $111,127 | $40,153 |
| 18 | Westwood-Pecan Lake | 4,995 | $146,400 | $45,068 |
| 19 | Walnut Valley | 7,214 | $175,340 | $50,886 |
| 20 | Otter Creek Crystal | 7,130 | $190,440 | $51,613 |
| 21 | Capital View-Stiff | 3,043 | $150,520 | $40,185 |
| 22 | Reservoir | 7,104 | $184,325 | $78,665 |
| 23 | Rock Creek | 13,859 | $246,800 | $79,200 |
| 23 | River Mountain | 13,802 | $284,525 | $96,832 |
| 25 | Hillcrest | 5,671 | $286,780 | $73,968 |
| 26 | Midtown | 9,054 | $210,583 | $67,187 |
| 27 | Heights | 5,151 | $370,000 | $81,906 |
Source: U.S. Census ACS 2020-2024. All 27 Little Rock neighborhoods.
Summary
Summary: The worst neighborhoods around Little Rock
Well, there you have it — the worst of the neighborhoods in Little Rock with South End landing at the bottom of the pack.
The worst neighborhoods in Little Rock are South End, Wakefield, East Of I-30, 65th Street West, Big Dickinson Lake, Stephens, Central High, Oak Forest, Chicot West, and Upper Baseline.
As mentioned earlier, the neighborhoods in Little Rock aren’t all bad. Heights takes the cake as the best place to live in Little Rock.
We ranked the neighborhoods from worst to best in the chart below. Not sold on Arkansas? Take the two-minute Find Your Place quiz and see which state actually fits you.
Questions and answers
Worst Neighborhoods In Little Rock FAQs
What is the most dangerous neighborhood in Little Rock?
South End ranks as the worst neighborhood in Little Rock for 2026, according to Saturday Night Science. Wakefield and East Of I-30 are next on the list.
What are the worst neighborhoods in Little Rock?
The worst-ranked neighborhoods in Little Rock are South End, Wakefield, East Of I-30, 65th Street West, Big Dickinson Lake, Stephens, Central High, Oak Forest, Chicot West, and Upper Baseline. We scored all 27 neighborhoods in the city.
Why does South End rank as the worst?
South End posts the roughest combined numbers in Little Rock: a median household income of $31,969 and a median home value of $69,925, with crime, unemployment, and density folded into the score.
Are these neighborhoods dangerous everywhere?
No. The scores are neighborhood-wide averages, and conditions change block by block and hour by hour. Plenty of people live in these neighborhoods without incident; the numbers just say the odds run tougher.
How do you rank the worst neighborhoods?
Each neighborhood is scored on crime, unemployment, income, density, and home values, using Census tract and FBI data. The worst combined score tops the list.
