Best PlacesBlackwell, OK Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Blackwell, 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.
Blackwell ranks 36,914th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cell coverage by a wide margin, and summer heat is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Blackwell
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.
Blackwell's strengths and weaknesses
Where Blackwell ranks high
- Cell coverageBetter than 99% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 91% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 89% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 89% of towns
- BikingBetter than 85% of towns
Where Blackwell ranks low
- Heat safetyBetter than only 7% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 11% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 12% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 13% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Blackwell
A household needs to earn about $22,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Blackwell home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $60,111, 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 Blackwell's effective rate of 0.67%, 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 3 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Blackwell
Blackwell's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Blackwell.
Who works in Blackwell, and how
Work in Blackwell centers on retail trade and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 91%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Blackwell
Blackwell has more restaurants and bars per resident than 75% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Blackwell and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Blackwell, month by month
Blackwell sees roughly 103 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 97 degrees. January highs sit near 47, with lows near 26. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 47° | 34° | 26° |
| April | 74° | 59° | 47° |
| July | 97° | 83° | 72° |
| October | 74° | 60° | 50° |
Flying in and out of Blackwell
The nearest airport, Stillwater Regional, is about 46 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Kansas City International, about 222 miles away.
The best schools in and around Blackwell
Schools across Blackwell average a D+, better than 13% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Blackwell EsC+ · 38% proficient
- Newkirk EsC− · 28% proficient
- Tonkawa EsD+ · 22% proficient
Top middle schools
- Newkirk MsD− · 14% proficient
- Tonkawa MsF · 12% proficient
- Blackwell MsF · 11% proficient
Top high schools
- Ponca City HsC− · 27% proficient
- Tonkawa HsC− · 27% proficient
- Newkirk HsD · 23% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Blackwell school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Blackwell 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 Blackwell against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Blackwell
Is Blackwell a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Blackwell ranks 36,914th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on cell coverage, fast internet, and walkability, and lowest on summer heat and empty homes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Blackwell expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $83,935. The overall cost of living runs about 25% below the national average. Set against a $60,111 median income, cost of living beats 47% of towns.
Is Blackwell safe?
Blackwell is safer than 26% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $510 per resident a year.
Compare Blackwell with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Blackwell. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Blackwell 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.
Blackwell detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Blackwell: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Blackwell: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Blackwell: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Blackwell: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Blackwell 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.