Best PlacesMcAlester, OK Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around McAlester, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
McAlester ranks 35,745th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on fast internet by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in McAlester
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.
McAlester's strengths and weaknesses
Where McAlester ranks high
- Internet speedBetter than 98% of towns
- Short commute17.8 minutes each way, better than 94% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 89% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 89% of towns
- BikingBetter than 83% of towns
Where McAlester ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 8% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 9% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 10% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 11% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 15% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in McAlester
A household needs to earn about $40,000 a year to comfortably buy the median McAlester home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $59,780, 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 McAlester's effective rate of 0.62%, 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 McAlester
McAlester runs younger 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 McAlester.
Who works in McAlester, and how
Work in McAlester centers on public administration and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 90%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in McAlester
McAlester has more restaurants and bars per resident than 82% of towns and more parkland per resident than 89% of towns. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of McAlester and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in McAlester, month by month
McAlester sees roughly 100 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 94 degrees. January highs sit near 53, with lows near 31. The comfortable stretch runs March through May and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 53° | 41° | 31° |
| April | 75° | 62° | 52° |
| July | 94° | 82° | 73° |
| October | 77° | 64° | 53° |
Flying in and out of McAlester
The nearest airport, Fort Smith Regional, is about 84 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Dallas Love Field, about 157 miles away.
The best schools in and around McAlester
Schools across McAlester average a C, better than 40% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Will Rogers EsB · 48% proficient
- Emerson EsB · 45% proficient
- Frink-chambers Public SchoolC+ · 39% proficient
Top middle schools
- Parker Intermediate CtrC+ · 36% proficient
- Puterbaugh MsC+ · 36% proficient
- Hartshorne MsF · 6% proficient
Top high schools
- Mcalester HsC− · 28% proficient
- Indianola HsD+ · 24% proficient
- Savanna HsD · 21% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every McAlester school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
McAlester 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 McAlester against the other 50,332 towns.
Who McAlester suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 8% already work from home.
Common questions about living in McAlester
Is McAlester a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, McAlester ranks 35,745th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on fast internet, short commutes, and walkability, and lowest on noise and summer heat. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is McAlester expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $155,129. The overall cost of living runs about 20% below the national average. Set against a $59,780 median income, cost of living beats 34% of towns.
Is McAlester safe?
McAlester is safer than 28% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $515 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in McAlester?
July highs average about 94 degrees, and January highs near 53 with lows near 31. That works out to about 100 pleasant days a year, more than 68% of towns.
Is McAlester good for families?
Schools beat 40% of towns, crime safety beats 28%, and childcare runs $901 a month.
Compare McAlester with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to McAlester. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in McAlester 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.
McAlester detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for McAlester: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in McAlester: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of McAlester: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in McAlester: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
McAlester 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.