Best PlacesOak Harbor, WA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Oak Harbor, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The coast is close, and the measures below put a number on how close. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Oak Harbor ranks 867th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on quiet by a wide margin, and cell coverage ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Oak Harbor
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.
Oak Harbor's strengths and weaknesses
Where Oak Harbor ranks high
- QuietBetter than 99% of cities
- Air qualityBetter than 99% of cities
- Heat safetyBetter than 99% of cities
- Short commute18.8 minutes each way, better than 91% of cities
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 83% of cities
Where Oak Harbor ranks low
- Cell coverageBetter than only 6% of cities
- State infrastructureBetter than only 9% of cities
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 11% of cities
- Cheap childcare$1,516 a month, better than only 13% of cities
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 18% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Oak Harbor
A household needs to earn about $127,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Oak Harbor home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $85,880, so buying stretches a typical household.
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 Oak Harbor's effective rate of 0.69%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Oak Harbor
Oak Harbor runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Oak Harbor.
Who works in Oak Harbor, and how
Work in Oak Harbor centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Oak Harbor
Oak Harbor has more restaurants and bars per resident than 66% of cities and more parkland per resident than 84% of cities. The coast is about 3 minutes away. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Oak Harbor and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Oak Harbor, month by month
Oak Harbor sees roughly 112 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 69 degrees. January highs sit near 50, with lows near 36. The comfortable stretch runs June through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 50° | 43° | 36° |
| April | 58° | 50° | 42° |
| July | 69° | 60° | 53° |
| October | 61° | 52° | 44° |
Flying in and out of Oak Harbor
The nearest airport, Friday Harbor, is about 23 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Seattle-Tacoma International, about 61 miles away.
Oak Harbor 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 Oak Harbor against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Oak Harbor suits
Families
Schools land around the 48th percentile and crime safety beats 60%.
Common questions about living in Oak Harbor
Is Oak Harbor a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Oak Harbor ranks 867th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on quiet, clean air, and heat safety, and lowest on cell coverage and state infrastructure. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Oak Harbor expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $495,004. The overall cost of living runs about 4% above the national average. Set against a $85,880 median income, cost of living beats 32% of cities.
Is Oak Harbor safe?
Yes, Oak Harbor is safer than 60% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $413 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Oak Harbor?
July highs average about 69 degrees, and January highs near 50 with lows near 36. That works out to about 112 pleasant days a year, more than 66% of cities.
Is Oak Harbor good for families?
Schools beat 48% of cities, crime safety beats 60%, and childcare runs $1,516 a month.
Compare Oak Harbor with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Oak Harbor. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Oak Harbor 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.
Oak Harbor detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Oak Harbor: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Oak Harbor: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Oak Harbor: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Oak Harbor: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Oak Harbor 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.