Best PlacesNowata County, OK Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Nowata 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.
Nowata County ranks 2,759th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Air quality pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on a strong job market.
The best neighborhoods in Nowata 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.
Nowata County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Nowata County ranks high
- Local economyBetter than 86% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than 84% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than 68% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 52% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than 50% of counties
Where Nowata County ranks low
- Air qualityBetter than only 3% of counties
- School gradeD, better than only 5% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than only 8% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than only 9% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than only 10% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Nowata County
A household needs to earn about $40,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Nowata County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $55,846, 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 Nowata 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 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 Nowata County
Nowata 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 Nowata County.
Who works in Nowata County, and how
Work in Nowata County centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Nowata County
Nowata County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 84% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Nowata County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Nowata County growing, and who is moving in?
Nowata County has lost about 9% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Washington County, OK.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Nowata County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Nowata County, month by month
Nowata County sees roughly 89 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° | 59° | 46° |
| July | 93° | 81° | 70° |
| October | 75° | 60° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Nowata County
The nearest airport, Tulsa International, is about 42 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Kansas City International, about 181 miles away.
The best schools in and around Nowata County
Schools across Nowata County average a D, better than 5% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Oklahoma Union EsD · 18% proficient
- Nowata EsD− · 11% proficient
- South Coffeyville EsF · 10% proficient
Top middle schools
- Oklahoma Union MsD · 22% proficient
- Chelsea MsD · 20% proficient
- Nowata MsD− · 18% proficient
Top high schools
- Nowata HsC− · 27% proficient
- South Coffeyville HsD+ · 25% proficient
- Oklahoma Union HsD · 20% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Nowata County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Nowata 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 Nowata County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Nowata County
Is Nowata County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Nowata County ranks 2,759th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on a strong job market, state finances, and low property taxes, and lowest on air quality and the schools. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Nowata County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $157,007. The overall cost of living runs about 26% below the national average. Set against a $55,846 median income, cost of living beats 42% of counties.
Is Nowata County safe?
Nowata County is safer than 24% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $541 per resident a year.
Compare Nowata County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Nowata County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Nowata 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.
Nowata County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Nowata County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Nowata County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Nowata County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Nowata County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Nowata 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.