Best PlacesOakland Acres, IA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Oakland Acres, 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.
Oakland Acres ranks 10,092nd of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and the weather ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Oakland Acres
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.
Oakland Acres' strengths and weaknesses
Where Oakland Acres ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 94% of towns
- School gradeA, better than 92% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 89% of towns
- BikingBetter than 86% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 84% of towns
Where Oakland Acres ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 58 pleasant days a year, better than only 6% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 12% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 20% of towns
- Big-city accessBetter than only 34% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 42% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Oakland Acres
A household needs to earn about $61,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Oakland Acres home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $75,705, 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 Oakland Acres' effective rate of 1.19%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Oakland Acres
Oakland Acres runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Oakland Acres.
Who works in Oakland Acres, and how
Work in Oakland Acres centers on education and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Oakland Acres
Oakland Acres has more parkland per resident than 99% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Oakland Acres and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Oakland Acres, month by month
Oakland Acres sees roughly 58 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 31, with lows near 16. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 31° | 23° | 16° |
| April | 63° | 50° | 40° |
| July | 85° | 75° | 66° |
| October | 65° | 54° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Oakland Acres
The nearest airport, Des Moines International, is about 48 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 164 miles away.
The best schools in and around Oakland Acres
Schools across Oakland Acres average an A, better than 92% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Lynnville-sully Elementary SchoolA · 68% proficient
Top middle schools
- Lynnville-sully Middle SchoolA+ · 77% proficient
- Grinnell Community Middle SchoolA+ · 71% proficient
Top high schools
- Grinnell Community Senior High SchoolA · 78% proficient
- Lynnville-sully High SchoolA · 72% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Oakland Acres school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Oakland Acres 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 Oakland Acres against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Oakland Acres
Is Oakland Acres a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Oakland Acres ranks 10,092nd of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, good schools, and civic engagement, and lowest on the weather and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Oakland Acres expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $222,691. The overall cost of living runs about 21% below the national average. Set against a $75,705 median income, cost of living beats 73% of towns.
Is Oakland Acres safe?
Yes, Oakland Acres is safer than 79% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $212 per resident a year.
Compare Oakland Acres with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Oakland Acres. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Oakland Acres 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.
Oakland Acres detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Oakland Acres: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Oakland Acres: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Oakland Acres: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Oakland Acres: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Oakland Acres 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.