Best Places74342, OK Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 74342, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
74342 ranks 32,147th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. Health outcomes pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on state finances.
The best neighborhoods in 74342
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
74342's strengths and weaknesses
Where 74342 ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 89% of zip codes
- Tree shadeBetter than 85% of zip codes
- QuietBetter than 84% of zip codes
- Low property taxBetter than 74% of zip codes
- Local economyBetter than 58% of zip codes
Where 74342 ranks low
- Health outlookBetter than only 2% of zip codes
- School gradeD, better than only 6% of zip codes
- Internet speedBetter than only 6% of zip codes
- Low vacancyBetter than only 8% of zip codes
- Crime safetyBetter than only 8% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 74342
A household needs to earn about $36,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 74342 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $52,268, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses 74342's effective rate of 0.58%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 74342
74342 runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 74342.
Who works in 74342, and how
Work in 74342 centers on retail trade and health care & social. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 93%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in 74342
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across 74342.
What the weather is like in 74342, month by month
74342 sees roughly 72 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 48, with lows near 28. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 48° | 36° | 28° |
| April | 72° | 59° | 48° |
| July | 91° | 80° | 71° |
| October | 73° | 60° | 50° |
Flying in and out of 74342
The nearest airport, Northwest Arkansas Ntl, is about 37 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Kansas City International, about 197 miles away.
The best schools in and around 74342
Schools across 74342 average a D, better than 6% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Grove Lower EsC · 35% proficient
- Ketchum EsC− · 28% proficient
- Jay EsD+ · 25% proficient
Top middle schools
- Grove MsC+ · 37% proficient
- Kansas MsD · 23% proficient
- Ketchum MsD− · 18% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 74342 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
74342 measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare 74342 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 74342
Is 74342 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 74342 ranks 32,147th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on state finances, tree cover, and quiet, and lowest on health outcomes and the schools. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 74342 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $140,301. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $52,268 median income, cost of living beats 12% of zip codes.
Is 74342 safe?
74342 is safer than 8% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $816 per resident a year.
Compare 74342 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 74342. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 74342 represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
74342 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 74342: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 74342: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 74342: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 74342: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
74342 detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.