Best PlacesOakdale, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Oakdale, 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.
Oakdale ranks 1,245th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. Long commutes pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on the weather.
The best neighborhoods in Oakdale
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.
Oakdale's strengths and weaknesses
Where Oakdale ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 149 pleasant days a year, better than 82% of cities
- QuietBetter than 80% of cities
- Cell coverageBetter than 74% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than 72% of cities
- TransitBetter than 66% of cities
Where Oakdale ranks low
- Short commute34.8 minutes each way, better than only 6% of cities
- Tree shadeBetter than only 12% of cities
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 14% of cities
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 21% of cities
- Air qualityBetter than only 21% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Oakdale
A household needs to earn about $141,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Oakdale home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $96,946, 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 Oakdale's effective rate of 0.79%, 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 Oakdale
Oakdale'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 Oakdale.
Who works in Oakdale, and how
Work in Oakdale centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Oakdale
Oakdale has more restaurants and bars per resident than 68% of cities and more parkland per resident than 80% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Oakdale and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Oakdale, month by month
Oakdale sees roughly 149 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 98 degrees. January highs sit near 59, with lows near 39. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 59° | 49° | 39° |
| April | 77° | 62° | 48° |
| July | 98° | 81° | 63° |
| October | 82° | 65° | 51° |
Flying in and out of Oakdale
The nearest airport, Stockton Metro, is about 23 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Norman Y Mineta San Jose International, about 66 miles away.
The best schools in and around Oakdale
Schools across Oakdale average a C+, better than 36% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Sierra View ElementaryB · 48% proficient
- Valley Home ElementaryB− · 40% proficient
- Fair Oaks ElementaryC+ · 40% proficient
Top middle schools
- El Portal MiddleC · 35% proficient
- Oakdale Junior HighD+ · 25% proficient
- Cardozo MiddleD · 21% proficient
Top high schools
- Oakdale HighB · 50% proficient
- Escalon HighB− · 43% proficient
- Oakdale CharterB− · 42% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Oakdale school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Oakdale 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 Oakdale against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Oakdale suits
Common questions about living in Oakdale
Is Oakdale a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Oakdale ranks 1,245th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on the weather, quiet, and cell coverage, and lowest on long commutes and tree cover. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Oakdale expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $538,033. The overall cost of living runs about 7% above the national average. Set against a $96,946 median income, cost of living beats 44% of cities.
Is Oakdale safe?
Oakdale is safer than 40% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $371 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Oakdale?
July highs average about 98 degrees, and January highs near 59 with lows near 39. That works out to about 149 pleasant days a year, more than 82% of cities.
Is Oakdale good for families?
Schools beat 36% of cities, crime safety beats 40%, and childcare runs $1,136 a month.
Compare Oakdale with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Oakdale. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Oakdale 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.
Oakdale detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Oakdale: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Oakdale: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Oakdale: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Oakdale: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Oakdale 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.