Best PlacesOak Valley, TX Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Oak Valley, 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 Valley ranks 38,327th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low taxes by a wide margin, and thin health care access ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Oak Valley
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 Valley's strengths and weaknesses
Where Oak Valley ranks high
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 92% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 138 pleasant days a year, better than 88% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 87% of towns
- Short commute21.4 minutes each way, better than 82% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than 82% of towns
Where Oak Valley ranks low
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 10% of towns
- Crime safetyBetter than only 13% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 14% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 14% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Oak Valley
A household needs to earn about $49,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Oak Valley home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $52,991, 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 Valley's effective rate of 1.21%, 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 Valley
Oak Valley's age mix sits close to the national median, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Oak Valley.
Who works in Oak Valley, and how
Work in Oak Valley centers on hospitality & food and construction. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 90%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Oak Valley
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Oak Valley.
What the weather is like in Oak Valley, month by month
Oak Valley sees roughly 138 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 96 degrees. January highs sit near 60, with lows near 39. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 60° | 48° | 39° |
| April | 78° | 67° | 57° |
| July | 96° | 85° | 76° |
| October | 82° | 69° | 59° |
Flying in and out of Oak Valley
The nearest airport, Waco Regional, is about 51 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Dallas Love Field, about 59 miles away.
The best schools in and around Oak Valley
Schools across Oak Valley average a B−, better than 57% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Sam Houston ElB · 45% proficient
Top middle schools
- Collins IntC · 34% proficient
Top high schools
- Corsicana H SB− · 44% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Oak Valley school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Oak Valley 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 Valley against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Oak Valley
Is Oak Valley a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Oak Valley ranks 38,327th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low taxes, the weather, and a strong job market, and lowest on thin health care access and summer heat. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Oak Valley expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $178,400. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $52,991 median income, cost of living beats 14% of towns.
Is Oak Valley safe?
Oak Valley is safer than 13% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $595 per resident a year.
Compare Oak Valley with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Oak Valley. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Oak Valley 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 Valley detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Oak Valley: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Oak Valley: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Oak Valley: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Oak Valley: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Oak Valley 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.