Best PlacesBernice, OK Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Bernice, 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.
Bernice ranks 41,753rd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a strong job market by a wide margin, and air quality ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Bernice
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.
Bernice's strengths and weaknesses
Where Bernice ranks high
- Local economyBetter than 95% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 89% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 82% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 75% of towns
- QuietBetter than 74% of towns
Where Bernice ranks low
- Air qualityBetter than only 9% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 11% of towns
- Household income$49,780 median, better than only 12% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 12% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Bernice
A household needs to earn about $38,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Bernice home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $49,780, 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 Bernice's effective rate of 0.55%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Bernice
Bernice runs older than the country, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Bernice.
Who works in Bernice, and how
Work in Bernice centers on manufacturing and hospitality & food. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Bernice
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Bernice.
What the weather is like in Bernice, month by month
Bernice 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 Bernice
The nearest airport, Northwest Arkansas Ntl, is about 41 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Kansas City International, about 185 miles away.
The best schools in and around Bernice
Schools across Bernice average a D+, better than 15% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Cleora Public SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Grove Lower EsC · 35% proficient
- Afton EsD · 18% proficient
Top middle schools
- Grove MsC+ · 37% proficient
Top high schools
- Grove HsD · 20% proficient
- Ketchum HsF · 11% proficient
- Afton HsF · 9% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Bernice school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Bernice 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 Bernice against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Bernice
Is Bernice a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Bernice ranks 41,753rd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a strong job market, state finances, and cell coverage, and lowest on air quality and empty homes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Bernice expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $151,061. The overall cost of living runs about 11% below the national average. Set against a $49,780 median income, cost of living beats 12% of towns.
Is Bernice safe?
Bernice is safer than 26% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $494 per resident a year.
Compare Bernice with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Bernice. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Bernice 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.
Bernice detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Bernice: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Bernice: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Bernice: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Bernice: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Bernice 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.