Best PlacesOberlin, KS Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Oberlin, 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.
Oberlin ranks 30,469th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on walkability by a wide margin, and distance from a big city ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Oberlin
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.
Oberlin's strengths and weaknesses
Where Oberlin ranks high
- WalkabilityBetter than 99% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 97% of towns
- Cheap childcare$467 a month, better than 96% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than 95% of towns
- Short commute16.8 minutes each way, better than 95% of towns
Where Oberlin ranks low
- Big-city accessBetter than only 3% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 7% of towns
- School gradeD, better than only 9% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 10% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 12% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Oberlin
A household needs to earn about $27,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Oberlin home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $53,494, 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 Oberlin's effective rate of 1.51%, 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 4 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Oberlin
Oberlin 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 Oberlin.
Who works in Oberlin, and how
Work in Oberlin centers on agriculture & forestry and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 75%
- Work from home 17%
- Transit, walk, or bike 8%
Life in Oberlin
Oberlin has more parkland per resident than 99% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Oberlin and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Oberlin, month by month
Oberlin sees roughly 124 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 41, with lows near 18. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, August, and September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 41° | 28° | 18° |
| April | 69° | 51° | 37° |
| July | 93° | 77° | 65° |
| October | 70° | 52° | 39° |
Flying in and out of Oberlin
The nearest airport, North Platte Regional/Lee Bird Field, is about 90 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Denver International, about 220 miles away.
The best schools in and around Oberlin
Schools across Oberlin average a D, better than 9% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Rawlins County ElementaryB · 45% proficient
- Oberlin ElemC− · 29% proficient
Top high schools
- Rawlins County Jr/sr High SchoolD · 19% proficient
- Decatur Community Jr/sr HighD− · 17% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Oberlin school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Oberlin 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 Oberlin against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Oberlin
Is Oberlin a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Oberlin ranks 30,469th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on walkability, cell coverage, and affordable childcare, and lowest on distance from a big city and tree cover. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Oberlin expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $93,986. The overall cost of living runs about 24% below the national average. Set against a $53,494 median income, cost of living beats 36% of towns.
Is Oberlin safe?
Oberlin is safer than 13% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $536 per resident a year.
Compare Oberlin with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Oberlin. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Oberlin 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.
Oberlin detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Oberlin: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Oberlin: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Oberlin: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Oberlin: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Oberlin 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.