Best PlacesLe Flore County, OK Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Le Flore County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages are not the whole story, and the strongest areas score well above them. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Le Flore County ranks 2,742nd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Civic engagement pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on state finances.
The best neighborhoods in Le Flore 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.
The best areas in Le Flore County
The parts of Le Flore County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Poteau
More households have young kids, fewer homes sit empty, and streets are more walkable.
Pocola & Spiro
Crime runs lower, though heat risk is higher.
Heavener
Local pay stretches less far and incomes run lower.
Scores across Le Flore County run from about the 4th to the 39th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Le Flore County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Le Flore County ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 84% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than 78% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than 69% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than 68% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than 55% of counties
Where Le Flore County ranks low
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 6% of counties
- School gradeD, better than only 7% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than only 9% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than only 10% of counties
- Household income$53,006 median, better than only 13% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Le Flore County
A household needs to earn about $36,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Le Flore County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $53,006, 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 Le Flore County's effective rate of 0.59%, 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 Le Flore County
Le Flore County'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 Le Flore County.
Who works in Le Flore County, and how
Work in Le Flore County centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 92%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Le Flore County
Le Flore County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 85% of counties and less parkland per resident than most counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Le Flore County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Le Flore County growing, and who is moving in?
Le Flore County has lost about 1% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Fort Smith, AR.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Le Flore County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Le Flore County, month by month
Le Flore County sees roughly 84 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 52, with lows near 30. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 52° | 38° | 30° |
| April | 74° | 61° | 51° |
| July | 93° | 81° | 72° |
| October | 77° | 62° | 51° |
Flying in and out of Le Flore County
The nearest airport, Fort Smith Regional, is about 24 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Dallas Love Field, about 199 miles away.
The best schools in and around Le Flore County
Schools across Le Flore County average a D, better than 7% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Holly Harshman Elem. SchoolB− · 41% proficient
- Poteau Upper EsB− · 41% proficient
- Monroe Public SchoolC · 32% proficient
Top middle schools
- Mena Middle SchoolB · 43% proficient
- 7th And 8th Grade Academic CtrC− · 29% proficient
- Spiro MsD+ · 25% proficient
Top high schools
- Mena High SchoolC− · 30% proficient
- Smithville HsD+ · 25% proficient
- Bokoshe HsD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Le Flore County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Le Flore 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 Le Flore County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Le Flore County suits
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Le Flore County
Is Le Flore County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Le Flore County ranks 2,742nd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on state finances, tree cover, and clean air, and lowest on civic engagement and the schools. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Le Flore County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $142,090. The overall cost of living runs about 21% below the national average. Set against a $53,006 median income, cost of living beats 17% of counties.
Is Le Flore County safe?
Le Flore County is safer than 54% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $439 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Le Flore County?
July highs average about 93 degrees, and January highs near 52 with lows near 30. That works out to about 84 pleasant days a year, more than 44% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Le Flore County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Poteau, Pocola & Spiro, and Heavener. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Le Flore County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Le Flore County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Le Flore 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.
Le Flore County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Le Flore County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Le Flore County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Le Flore County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Le Flore County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Le Flore 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.