Best PlacesOakland, KY Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Oakland, 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 ranks 26,089th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores best on affordable childcare, and the schools rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Oakland
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's strengths and weaknesses
Where Oakland ranks high
- Cheap childcare$570 a month, better than 82% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 81% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 76% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 68% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 67% of towns
Where Oakland ranks low
- School gradeD+, better than only 16% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 65 pleasant days a year, better than only 16% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than only 16% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 26% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 38% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Oakland
A household needs to earn about $59,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Oakland home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $75,785, 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's effective rate of 0.58%, 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
Oakland runs older than the country, though fewer residents are over 65 than the national share, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Oakland.
Who works in Oakland, and how
Work in Oakland centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 13%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Oakland
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Oakland.
What the weather is like in Oakland, month by month
Oakland sees roughly 65 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 90 degrees. January highs sit near 48, with lows near 31. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 48° | 38° | 31° |
| April | 72° | 60° | 49° |
| July | 90° | 80° | 72° |
| October | 74° | 62° | 51° |
Flying in and out of Oakland
Nashville International sits about 65 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 12.6 million passengers in 2025, with 158 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Oakland
Schools across Oakland average a D+, better than 16% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- North Warren ElementaryD+ · 24% proficient
- Oakland ElementaryF · 9% proficient
Top middle schools
- Warren East Middle SchoolD+ · 26% proficient
Top high schools
- Warren East High SchoolC− · 26% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Oakland school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Oakland 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 against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Oakland
Is Oakland a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Oakland ranks 26,089th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on affordable childcare, a strong job market, and few empty homes, and lowest on the schools and the weather. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Oakland expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $233,797. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $75,785 median income, cost of living beats 64% of towns.
Is Oakland safe?
Yes, Oakland is safer than 59% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $255 per resident a year.
Compare Oakland with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Oakland. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Oakland 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 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Oakland: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Oakland: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Oakland: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Oakland: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Oakland 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.