Best PlacesKaw City, OK Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Kaw City, 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.
Kaw City ranks 35,855th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. Civic engagement pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on state finances.
The best neighborhoods in Kaw City
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.
Kaw City's strengths and weaknesses
Where Kaw City ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 89% of towns
- QuietBetter than 88% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 113 pleasant days a year, better than 76% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 71% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 70% of towns
Where Kaw City ranks low
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 6% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 11% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 11% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 12% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Kaw City
A household needs to earn about $42,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Kaw City home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $73,199, 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 Kaw City's effective rate of 0.68%, 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 Kaw City
Kaw City runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Kaw City.
Who works in Kaw City, and how
Work in Kaw City centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 93%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Kaw City
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Kaw City.
What the weather is like in Kaw City, month by month
Kaw City sees roughly 113 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 94 degrees. January highs sit near 49, with lows near 26. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 49° | 36° | 26° |
| April | 74° | 60° | 48° |
| July | 94° | 83° | 72° |
| October | 76° | 62° | 51° |
Flying in and out of Kaw City
The nearest airport, Stillwater Regional, is about 44 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Kansas City International, about 210 miles away.
The best schools in and around Kaw City
Schools across Kaw City average a D+, better than 14% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Kildare Public SchoolC+ · 37% proficient
- E. M. Trout EsC · 32% proficient
- Newkirk EsC− · 28% proficient
Top middle schools
- Ponca City West MsD · 19% proficient
- Newkirk MsD− · 14% proficient
- Shidler MsF · 12% proficient
Top high schools
- Ponca City HsC− · 27% proficient
- Shidler HsD+ · 25% proficient
- Newkirk HsD · 23% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Kaw City school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Kaw City 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 Kaw City against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Kaw City
Is Kaw City a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Kaw City ranks 35,855th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, quiet, and the weather, and lowest on civic engagement and empty homes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Kaw City expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $163,753. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $73,199 median income, cost of living beats 67% of towns.
Is Kaw City safe?
Kaw City is safer than 22% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $516 per resident a year.
Compare Kaw City with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Kaw City. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Kaw City 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.
Kaw City detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Kaw City: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Kaw City: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Kaw City: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Kaw City: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Kaw City 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.