Best PlacesOak Level, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Oak Level, 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.
Oak Level ranks 8,777th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on tree cover by a wide margin, and internet speeds rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Oak Level
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 Level's strengths and weaknesses
Where Oak Level ranks high
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- School gradeA, better than 93% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 90% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 89% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 87% of towns
Where Oak Level ranks low
- Internet speedBetter than only 12% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 16% of towns
- Short commute32.0 minutes each way, better than only 24% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 28% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 33% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Oak Level
A household needs to earn about $67,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Oak Level home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $89,180, 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 Oak Level's effective rate of 0.71%, 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 Oak Level
Oak Level runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Oak Level.
Who works in Oak Level, and how
Work in Oak Level centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 92%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Oak Level
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Oak Level.
What the weather is like in Oak Level, month by month
Oak Level sees roughly 76 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 49, with lows near 25. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 49° | 36° | 25° |
| April | 73° | 57° | 42° |
| July | 89° | 76° | 65° |
| October | 73° | 58° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Oak Level
The nearest airport, Roanoke/Blacksburg Regional (Woodrum Field), is about 34 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Raleigh-Durham International, about 91 miles away.
The best schools in and around Oak Level
Schools across Oak Level average an A, better than 93% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Henry ElementaryA− · 62% proficient
- Stanleytown ElementaryB− · 40% proficient
Top middle schools
- Benjamin Franklin MiddleA · 67% proficient
- Fieldale-collinsville MiddleA− · 53% proficient
Top high schools
- Franklin County HighA · 76% proficient
- Bassett HighA− · 60% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Oak Level school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Oak Level 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 Level against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Oak Level
Is Oak Level a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Oak Level ranks 8,777th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on tree cover, good schools, and what local pay buys, and lowest on internet speeds and state finances. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Oak Level expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $258,525. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $89,180 median income, cost of living beats 90% of towns.
Is Oak Level safe?
Oak Level is safer than 38% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $341 per resident a year.
Compare Oak Level with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Oak Level. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Oak Level 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 Level detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Oak Level: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Oak Level: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Oak Level: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Oak Level: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Oak Level 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.