Safest Counties in Arkansas: 12 Ranked (2026)
The 12 Arkansas counties where police report enough to the FBI to build a reliable rate, ranked by violent crime, with home prices, asking rents and incomes where available.
Arkansas has 75 counties. Twelve of them clear the reporting bar this page uses, and the gap between the quietest, Crawford at 239 violent offenses per 100,000, and the busiest, Pulaski at 1,178, is 4.9 to one. Beside each rate sits what homes there closed at over the last 12 months, from 27,507 closing records Resideline tracked across all 12 counties.
The crime rates here are built from the 1,773,457 residents those police agencies actually report on, over the months they reported. 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.
We do not treat missing or conflicting crime data as zero. A county appears here only when its reporting clears our reliability threshold, and we set aside results that conflict materially with the state's own records. Whether a county is ranked depends on its crime reporting alone; whether it shows a price depends on whether Resideline tracked enough closings there.
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 | $62,606 |
| 2 | Saline | 305 | 1,212 | $245,000 | $1,575 | $80,628 |
| 3 | Benton | 365 | 1,059 | $383,232 | $1,795 | $92,077 |
| 4 | Pope | 380 | 1,004 | $205,000 | $1,000 | $61,509 |
| 5 | Faulkner | 393 | 1,444 | $264,900 | $1,350 | $72,916 |
| 6 | Lonoke | 410 | 1,272 | $219,900 | $1,350 | $75,131 |
| 7 | Craighead | 489 | 2,129 | $224,990 | $1,300 | $58,784 |
| 8 | White | 494 | 1,416 | $205,000 | $1,265 | $57,435 |
| 9 | Garland | 522 | 2,132 | $280,000 | $1,400 | $59,915 |
| 10 | Sebastian | 621 | 2,511 | $215,000 | $1,050 | $62,153 |
| 11 | Jefferson | 1,077 | 2,742 | $135,600 | $850 | $51,205 |
| 12 | Pulaski | 1,178 | 3,440 | $239,379 | $1,200 | $66,706 |
A closer look at each 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, though still below the Arkansas statewide rate of 626 per 100,000 in the same data. At $245,000, its median closed price is unremarkable against the rest of this list. Prices sit close to local earning power, at 3.0 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, though still below the Arkansas statewide rate of 626 per 100,000 in the same data. 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 4.2 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, though still below the Arkansas statewide rate of 626 per 100,000 in the same data. 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, though still below the Arkansas statewide rate of 626 per 100,000 in the same data. Homes there closed at a median of $264,900, about 115 percent of the median across this list. Households there earn a median of $72,916, about 117 percent of the median for these counties. 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, though still below the Arkansas statewide rate of 626 per 100,000 in the same data. 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, though still below the Arkansas statewide rate of 626 per 100,000 in the same data. Homes there closed at a median of $224,990, close to the middle of this list. The gap between local wages and local prices is wide: 3.8 times household income, in the top quarter of these counties. 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, though still below the Arkansas statewide rate of 626 per 100,000 in the same data. 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, though still below the Arkansas statewide rate of 626 per 100,000 in the same data. Buyers there paid a median of $280,000, some 122 percent of the level across the counties measured. Buying there takes 4.7 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, though still below the Arkansas statewide rate of 626 per 100,000 in the same data. 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, and above the Arkansas statewide rate of 626 per 100,000 in the same data. Buyers there paid a median of $135,600, some 59 percent of the level across the counties measured. A typical home costs 2.6 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, and above the Arkansas statewide rate of 626 per 100,000 in the same data. Homes there closed at a median of $239,379, close to the middle 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. The same safe places also earn 17 percent more, so income explains part of the raw gap. This state-level comparison does not isolate density, housing mix or other factors that may explain the remainder.
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.
Where safety and affordability overlap in Arkansas
Two of the 4 safest counties on this list also cost no more than the list's median once prices are set against local incomes: Saline (305 violent per 100,000, a home at 3.0 times median household income); Pope (380 violent per 100,000, a home at 3.3 times median household income). Against what households there earn, those are the counties where a low crime rate is not being charged for.
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.
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 9, 2026, from closings and rental listings Resideline tracks over the previous 12 months; a price is shown where at least 100 closings were tracked and a rent where at least 50 listings were. 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 over the months each agency reported, and violent crime means murder, rape, robbery and aggravated assault. Household income is the Census SAIPE 2024 estimate of the county's median household income; population is the Census 2024 estimate. 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.
Sources and related pages
- •Crime: FBI Crime Data Explorer, agency-level offense counts for 2025, aggregated by county over the months each agency reported.
- •Income: Census SAIPE 2024, county median household income.
- •Population: Census county population estimates, vintage 2024.
- •Prices and rents: Resideline's tracked closings and rental listings, 12 months to September 2026.
- •Related: Safest counties by state; Does crime actually lower home prices?; Arkansas housing market; Safest counties in Louisiana; Safest counties in Missouri; Safest counties in Mississippi; Safest counties in Oklahoma; Safest counties in Tennessee; Safest counties in Texas.
Frequently Asked Questions
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 the resulting rate falls inside the sanity bounds we apply. Whether Resideline has enough sales there decides only whether a price is shown. 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 17 percent higher. Across 688 US counties we found that once income and other county characteristics are controlled for, 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.
About the author
Jeffrey Batista
Jeffrey Batista is the founder of Resideline, a real estate technology company building institutional grade valuation and investment analysis tools for real estate investors.
A software engineer with more than 10 years of experience, Jeffrey has worked across full stack development, infrastructure, data engineering, machine learning, and large scale systems. He left his engineering career to build Resideline full time.
Jeffrey is also a real estate investor with nearly a decade of hands on experience buying, renovating, managing, and analyzing residential properties. His experience on both sides of the industry, as an engineer and an investor, led him to build Resideline after seeing how fragmented and outdated many of the tools available to individual investors were.
Today, he leads the development of Resideline's proprietary data infrastructure, automated valuation models, rental analytics, and investment underwriting technology.
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