Best PlacesOakland, NE 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 11,320th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on state finances by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
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
- State fiscal healthBetter than 99% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 99% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 98% of towns
- BikingBetter than 90% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 87% of towns
Where Oakland ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 19% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 20% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 22% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than only 30% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 32% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Oakland
A household needs to earn about $48,000 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 $69,608, 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 1.20%, 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 9 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, 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 health care & social and construction. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Oakland
Oakland has more parkland per resident than 99% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Oakland and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Oakland, month by month
Oakland sees roughly 101 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 33, with lows near 15. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, August, and September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 33° | 23° | 15° |
| April | 66° | 50° | 38° |
| July | 88° | 76° | 65° |
| October | 67° | 52° | 40° |
Flying in and out of Oakland
The nearest airport, Sioux Gateway/Brig General Bud Day Field, is about 39 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Eppley Airfield, about 48 miles away.
The best schools in and around Oakland
Schools across Oakland average a B+, better than 77% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Logan View ElementaryA · 68% proficient
- West Monona ElementaryA− · 60% proficient
- Elementary School At TekamahB · 50% proficient
Top middle schools
- West Monona Middle SchA · 60% proficient
Top high schools
- West Monona High SchoolA− · 63% proficient
- West Harrison Middle School/high SchoolB+ · 58% proficient
- Oakland Craig Junior-senior HighB+ · 55% 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 11,320th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on state finances, walkability, and civic engagement, and lowest on property taxes and tree cover. 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 $172,453. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $69,608 median income, cost of living beats 53% of towns.
Is Oakland safe?
Yes, Oakland is safer than 56% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $278 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.