Living in Bella Vista, AR
Small city in Arkansas
Bella Vista is a small city in Arkansas, home to about 31,000 people, with 496,000 living within 31 mi. Day to day, a car is essential. Life moves at a slow, calm pace, and homes are mostly houses with yards.
Is Bella Vista a good place to live? Pros and cons
👍 Pros
- Dog-friendly: 13 dog parks within 9 mi
- Safe: violent crime is 0.4× the US rate (FBI 2019)
- Strong public schools: test results well above the US average
- Strong healthcare: 5 top-rated (4–5★) hospitals within 31 mi
👎 Cons
- Quieter on culture: few museums and attractions nearby
- Fewer outdoor escapes: no big hills or water close by
- Fewer family amenities than most places
- Smaller job market: about 496,000 people live within 31 mi
Whether it's a good place for you depends on what you value. Take the quiz to see how Bella Vista ranks against your own priorities.
Key facts
Living in Bella Vista: common questions
What is the cost of living in Bella Vista?
A typical 3-bedroom home is worth about $358k, and a 3-bedroom rents for about $1,870 a month including utilities. Overall living costs are below the US average (index 91, where the US is 100).
What are taxes like in Bella Vista?
Arkansas collects about $902 in state income tax per resident, and homeowners here pay about 0.66% of their home's value in property tax each year.
Is Bella Vista safe?
Violent crime is well below the national rate (0.4× in FBI 2019 data).
How are the schools in Bella Vista?
Public schools in Bella Vista test well above the US average in math and reading (2018–19 state tests, put on one national scale with NAEP), with about 19 students per teacher.
What is the weather like in Bella Vista?
Bella Vista has cool winters: winter days average around 49°F and summer days around 88°F, with roughly 10″ of snow a year.
Does Bella Vista get natural disasters?
Natural disaster risk is moderate, mainly from flooding and ice storms: 11 federally declared disasters have hit the county since 2000, and FEMA expects about 0.54 deaths or injuries per 100,000 residents a year.
What is the nearest major airport to Bella Vista?
The nearest major airport is TUL, about 92 mi away.
How Bella Vista scores
Each bar compares Bella Vista with the other 1,990 places in Best Life Fit Me. A dot shows where it sits between two ends, such as major metro and small town; neither end is better. Coloured bars run from poor (red) to excellent (green).
Places like Bella Vista
These places have the most similar overall profile across all 24 aspects.
The circle is each place's all-round score out of 100: the average of its 15 quality scores, from red (poor) to green (excellent).
Nearby
See all the best places to live in Arkansas.
Is Bella Vista right for you?
Answer 27 quick questions and see how it ranks against your priorities.