Best PlacesOaklevel, AL Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Oaklevel, 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.
Oaklevel ranks 43,740th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low property taxes by a wide margin, and internet speeds rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Oaklevel
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.
Oaklevel's strengths and weaknesses
Where Oaklevel ranks high
- Low property taxBetter than 99% of towns
- QuietBetter than 97% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than 94% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 89% of towns
- Cheap childcare$549 a month, better than 87% of towns
Where Oaklevel ranks low
- Internet speedBetter than only 1% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than only 1% of towns
- Short commute40.8 minutes each way, better than only 4% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 11% of towns
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 11% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Oaklevel
A household needs to earn about $51,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Oaklevel home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $61,635, 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 Oaklevel's effective rate of 0.17%, 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 Oaklevel
Oaklevel runs younger than the country, though it still carries a larger-than-average share of residents over 65, 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 Oaklevel.
Who works in Oaklevel, and how
Work in Oaklevel centers on manufacturing and construction. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 95%
- Work from home 4%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Oaklevel
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Oaklevel.
What the weather is like in Oaklevel, month by month
Oaklevel sees roughly 95 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 53, with lows near 34. The comfortable stretch runs April through June, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 53° | 42° | 34° |
| April | 73° | 60° | 49° |
| July | 88° | 77° | 69° |
| October | 74° | 62° | 52° |
Flying in and out of Oaklevel
Hartsfield/Jackson Atlanta International sits about 62 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 51.5 million passengers in 2025, with 278 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Oaklevel
Schools across Oaklevel average a C+, better than 45% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Piedmont Elementary SchoolB+ · 50% proficient
- Fruithurst Elementary SchoolC+ · 39% proficient
Top middle schools
- Piedmont Middle SchoolB · 44% proficient
- Cleburne County Middle SchoolC · 35% proficient
Top high schools
- Cleburne County High SchoolC · 33% proficient
- Piedmont High SchoolD · 23% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Oaklevel school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Oaklevel 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 Oaklevel against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Oaklevel
Is Oaklevel a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Oaklevel ranks 43,740th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on low property taxes, quiet, and tree cover, and lowest on internet speeds and cell coverage. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Oaklevel expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $214,900. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $61,635 median income, cost of living beats 27% of towns.
Is Oaklevel safe?
Oaklevel is safer than 35% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $322 per resident a year.
Compare Oaklevel with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Oaklevel. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Oaklevel 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.
Oaklevel detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Oaklevel: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Oaklevel: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Oaklevel: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Oaklevel: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Oaklevel 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.