Best PlacesHarper County, OK Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Harper County, 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.
Harper County ranks 1,454th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on quiet by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Harper County
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.
Harper County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Harper County ranks high
- QuietBetter than 98% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 89% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than 84% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than 84% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 132 pleasant days a year, better than 83% of counties
Where Harper County ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 3% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 3% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than only 4% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than only 6% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than only 6% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Harper County
A household needs to earn about $28,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Harper County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $66,087, 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 Harper County's effective rate of 0.70%, 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 Harper County
Harper County's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Harper County.
Who works in Harper County, and how
Work in Harper County centers on agriculture & forestry and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 97%
- Work from home 2%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Harper County
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Harper County.
Is Harper County growing, and who is moving in?
Harper County has lost about 18% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Kenai Peninsula Borough, AK.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Harper County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Harper County, month by month
Harper County sees roughly 132 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 49, with lows near 25. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 49° | 35° | 25° |
| April | 73° | 57° | 45° |
| July | 93° | 80° | 69° |
| October | 74° | 59° | 47° |
Flying in and out of Harper County
The nearest airport, Liberal Mid-America Regional, is about 69 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Dallas-Fort Worth International, about 309 miles away.
The best schools in and around Harper County
Schools across Harper County average a C, better than 32% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Laverne EsB · 47% proficient
- Fort Supply EsB · 47% proficient
- Ashland ElemC · 32% proficient
Top middle schools
- Woodward Ms South CampusD+ · 27% proficient
Top high schools
- Freedom HsD+ · 25% proficient
- Buffalo HsD+ · 25% proficient
- Fort Supply HsD+ · 24% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Harper County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Harper County 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 Harper County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Harper County
Is Harper County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Harper County ranks 1,454th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on quiet, a stable housing market, and state finances, and lowest on tree cover and civic engagement. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Harper County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $106,909. The overall cost of living runs about 27% below the national average. Set against a $66,087 median income, cost of living beats 72% of counties.
Is Harper County safe?
Harper County is safer than 22% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $527 per resident a year.
Compare Harper County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Harper County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Harper County 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.
Harper County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Harper County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Harper County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Harper County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Harper County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Harper County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.