What is the safest county in Arkansas?

Of the 12 Arkansas counties measured here, Crawford County records the lowest violent crime rate at 239 offenses per 100,000 residents, against 245 for the median comparable US county. Homes there closed at a median of $235,000 over the last 12 months.

Is this every county in Arkansas?

No. It covers 12 of the state's 75 counties, the ones where police agencies report at least 90 percent of the population to the FBI, the area has at least 50,000 residents and 250 tracked closings, and the resulting rate falls inside the sanity bounds we apply. The larger places that miss those bars are listed on the page with the reason.

Does a lower crime rate mean higher home prices?

Less than most people assume. Comparing the safest third of these counties with the highest-crime third, the median closed price is 6 percent higher and household income 27 percent higher. Across 688 US counties we found that once income and density are held constant, a county's crime rate stops predicting its home prices. At the scale of a block, the research says violent crime does lower nearby values.

Is this crime rate for my neighborhood?

No. The FBI publishes these figures for whole counties, so every part of a county carries the same number here, from its densest district to its farmland. It is useful for narrowing a search and not a substitute for looking at a specific address.

Are these rents asking rents or lease rents?

They are the median asking rent on rental listings in the county over the last 12 months. That is what landlords advertised, a guide to the market rather than a lease figure.

Safest Counties in Arkansas: 12 Ranked (2026)

Safety rankings usually stop at the crime rate. This one puts the price next to it, because for anyone actually moving, the two questions are one question.

Twelve counties clear the bar. The crime rates here are built from the 1,773,457 residents those police agencies actually report on. Each figure is a single county-wide figure, so treat this as a way to narrow a search rather than a verdict on any street.

The ranking

#	County	Violent per 100k	Property per 100k	Median closed price	Median asking rent	Median income
1	Crawford	239	1,315	$235,000	$975	$63,905
2	Saline	305	1,212	$245,000	$1,575	$77,844
3	Benton	365	1,059	$383,232	$1,795	$92,632
4	Pope	380	1,004	$205,000	$1,000	$59,016
5	Faulkner	393	1,444	$264,900	$1,350	$68,543
6	Lonoke	410	1,272	$219,900	$1,350	$74,687
7	Craighead	489	2,129	$224,990	$1,300	$60,204
8	White	494	1,416	$205,000	$1,265	$56,178
9	Garland	522	2,132	$280,000	$1,400	$53,849
10	Sebastian	621	2,511	$215,000	$1,050	$58,112
11	Jefferson	1,077	2,742	$135,600	$850	$49,581
12	Pulaski	1,178	3,440	$239,379	$1,200	$61,344

The median values across these 12 counties are 449 violent and 1,430 property offenses per 100,000, a closed price of $229,995 and a household income of $60,774. The median asking rent across the 12 is $1,282 a month.

County by county

1. Crawford County

At 239 violent offenses per 100,000, Crawford sits in the lowest quarter of the places on this list. That is close to the median comparable US county, which records 245. The median closed price, $235,000, sits near the center of the counties measured. Its property rate, 1,315 per 100,000, sits in the middle of these counties. The median rental listing asks $975 a month. For prices at street level, see Van Buren, the market with the most tracked closings in this county's ZIP codes.

2. Saline County

Saline records 305 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, which places it in the lowest quarter of the Arkansas counties measured here. That is 1.2 times the median comparable US county, which records 245, high by any standard. At $245,000, its median closed price is unremarkable against the rest of this list. Prices sit close to local earning power, at 3.1 times the median household income. At $1,575 a month in asking rent, the gross return here is in the top quarter of the counties measured. Property crime is low too, at 1,212 per 100,000, the bottom quarter of this list and 1.0 times the median comparable US county. Resideline publishes a separate page for Benton, the market with the most tracked closings in this county's ZIP codes.

3. Benton County

Police in Benton reported 365 violent offenses per 100,000 people, putting it in the lowest quarter of this list. That is 1.5 times the median comparable US county, which records 245, high by any standard. A median closing price of $383,232 puts it at roughly 167 percent of the middle figure for this list. That combination, among the safest counties here and among the most expensive, is what most buyers are picturing when they pay a premium for a quiet address. Buying there takes 4.1 times the median household income, a heavier lift than most of this list. Its property rate is also among the lowest here, 1,059 per 100,000, or 0.9 times the median comparable US county. For prices at street level, see Bentonville, the market with the most tracked closings in this county's ZIP codes.

4. Pope County

Pope's violent crime rate is 380 per 100,000 residents, the middle range among the Arkansas counties Resideline can measure. That is 1.5 times the median comparable US county, which records 245, high by any standard. The median closed price, $205,000, sits near the center of the counties measured. Its property rate is among the lowest here, 1,004 per 100,000, or 0.8 times the median comparable US county. Asking rents run about $1,000 a month. Resideline publishes a separate page for Russellville, the market with the most tracked closings in this county's ZIP codes.

5. Faulkner County

Faulkner records 393 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, which places it in the middle range of the Arkansas counties measured here. That is 1.6 times the median comparable US county, which records 245, high by any standard. Homes there closed at a median of $264,900, about 115 percent of the median across this list. Its property rate, 1,444 per 100,000, sits in the middle of these counties. The median rental listing asks $1,350 a month. For prices at street level, see Conway, the market with the most tracked closings in this county's ZIP codes.

6. Lonoke County

Police in Lonoke reported 410 violent offenses per 100,000 people, putting it in the middle range of this list. That is 1.7 times the median comparable US county, which records 245, high by any standard. At $219,900, its median closed price is unremarkable against the rest of this list. A typical home costs 2.9 years of the median household's income, the low end of this list. Its property rate, 1,272 per 100,000, sits in the middle of these counties. Asking rents run about $1,350 a month. Resideline publishes a separate page for Cabot, the market with the most tracked closings in this county's ZIP codes.

7. Craighead County

At 489 violent offenses per 100,000, Craighead sits in the middle range of the places on this list. That is 2.0 times the median comparable US county, which records 245, high by any standard. Homes there closed at a median of $224,990, close to the middle of this list. Property offenses run at 2,129 per 100,000, in the middle of this list. Asking rents run about $1,300 a month. For prices at street level, see Jonesboro, the market with the most tracked closings in this county's ZIP codes.

8. White County

White records 494 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, which places it in the middle range of the Arkansas counties measured here. That is 2.0 times the median comparable US county, which records 245, high by any standard. The median closed price, $205,000, sits near the center of the counties measured. At $1,265 a month in asking rent, the gross return here is in the top quarter of the counties measured. Its property rate, 1,416 per 100,000, sits in the middle of these counties. Resideline publishes a separate page for Searcy, the market with the most tracked closings in this county's ZIP codes.

9. Garland County

Police in Garland reported 522 violent offenses per 100,000 people, putting it in the middle range of this list. That is 2.1 times the median comparable US county, which records 245, high by any standard. Buyers there paid a median of $280,000, some 122 percent of the level across the counties measured. Buying there takes 5.2 times the median household income, a heavier lift than most of this list. Its property rate, 2,132 per 100,000, sits in the middle of these counties. Asking rents run about $1,400 a month. For prices at street level, see Hot Springs National Park, the market with the most tracked closings in this county's ZIP codes.

10. Sebastian County

Sebastian records 621 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, which places it in the highest quarter of the Arkansas counties measured here. That is 2.5 times the median comparable US county, which records 245, high by any standard. The median closed price, $215,000, sits near the center of the counties measured. Theft and burglary are the larger problem: 2,511 property offenses per 100,000, 2.1 times the median comparable US county. Asking rents run about $1,050 a month. Resideline publishes a separate page for Fort Smith, the market with the most tracked closings in this county's ZIP codes.

11. Jefferson County

At 1,077 violent offenses per 100,000, Jefferson sits in the highest quarter of the places on this list. That is 4.4 times the median comparable US county, which records 245, high by any standard. Buyers there paid a median of $135,600, some 59 percent of the level across the counties measured. A typical home costs 2.7 years of the median household's income, the low end of this list. Its property rate of 2,742 per 100,000 is in the top quarter here, and 2.3 times the median comparable US county. At $850 a month in asking rent, the gross return here is in the top quarter of the counties measured.

12. Pulaski County

Pulaski's violent crime rate is 1,178 per 100,000 residents, the highest quarter among the Arkansas counties Resideline can measure. That is 4.8 times the median comparable US county, which records 245, high by any standard. Homes there closed at a median of $239,379, close to the middle of this list. Buying there takes 3.9 times the median household income, a heavier lift than most of this list. Its property rate of 3,440 per 100,000 is in the top quarter here, and 2.9 times the median comparable US county. The median rental listing asks $1,200 a month. For prices at street level, see North Little Rock, the market with the most tracked closings in this county's ZIP codes.

Does safety set the price in Arkansas?

Somewhat, and less than you would expect. The safest third of these counties runs 6 percent above the highest-crime third on price. But the same safe places also earn 27 percent more, so most of that gap is the income gap wearing a different label.

It is the same pattern our national study found across 688 counties, where crime stopped predicting prices once income was accounted for. The method is set out in our study, Does Crime Actually Lower Home Prices?.

That is a county-level result. Within a county, research at the scale of a block or a neighborhood finds that violent crime does lower the value of the homes nearest to it, so use these figures to compare counties, not streets.

The counties we cannot rank

Larger Arkansas places are missing from the table above. Every one with more than 150,000 residents is listed here with the reason.

•Washington, with about 266,000 residents, reports 73 percent of its population through the FBI program, below the 90 percent we require.

Reporting to the FBI is voluntary and incomplete. Where a place's agencies cover only part of its population, the rate is built on the part that reported, so it describes those communities rather than the whole area. We publish at 90 percent coverage or better, which is a line we chose rather than a point where the data becomes reliable.

How to read this list

These figures describe whole areas. A quiet town and a rough district an hour apart carry the same number here, so the ranking is a starting point for a search rather than a description of any particular street.

Prices and rents are as of September 8, 2026, from closings and rental listings Resideline tracks over the previous 12 months. Rent figures are the median asking rent on listings, not lease figures. Crime is the 2025 FBI Crime Data Explorer release, measured for the whole county, and violent crime means murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault. Household income is the Census SAIPE 2023 estimate of the county's median household income. Where this page compares a rate with the median comparable US county, that figure (245 violent and 1188 property offenses per 100,000) is the median across the 874 US counties with at least 50,000 residents whose agencies reported on 90 percent or more of them for the year.