Best PlacesOildale, CA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Oildale, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages are not the whole story, and the strongest areas score well above them. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Oildale ranks 2,032nd of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. Tree cover pulls hardest against it, while it scores best on the weather.
The best neighborhoods in Oildale
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.
The best areas in Oildale
The parts of Oildale, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first.
Highland Knolls & Parkview Estates-Oildale
North Country Meadows
Mobile Town
Scores across Oildale run from about the 2nd to the 63rd percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Oildale's strengths and weaknesses
Where Oildale ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 176 pleasant days a year, better than 88% of cities
- TransitBetter than 87% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than 82% of cities
- Cell coverageBetter than 74% of cities
- Short commute23.1 minutes each way, better than 70% of cities
Where Oildale ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 1% of cities
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 1% of cities
- Air qualityBetter than only 2% of cities
- Household income$56,381 median, better than only 4% of cities
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 5% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Oildale
A household needs to earn about $65,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Oildale home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $56,381, so buying stretches a typical household.
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 Oildale's effective rate of 0.96%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Oildale
Oildale runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Oildale.
Who works in Oildale, and how
Work in Oildale centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Oildale
Oildale has more parkland per resident than 81% of cities. That concentrates in some parts of Oildale and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Oildale, month by month
Oildale sees roughly 176 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 102 degrees. January highs sit near 63, with lows near 40. The comfortable stretch runs March through May, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 63° | 51° | 40° |
| April | 80° | 65° | 51° |
| July | 102° | 88° | 73° |
| October | 84° | 69° | 55° |
Flying in and out of Oildale
The nearest airport, Meadows Field, is about 2 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Bob Hope, about 93 miles away.
The best schools in and around Oildale
Schools across Oildale average a C, better than 42% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Sequoia ElementaryD · 16% proficient
- San Lauren ElementaryD− · 14% proficient
- Browning Road Steam AcademyF · 9% proficient
Top middle schools
- Richland Junior HighD− · 18% proficient
- Mcfarland Junior HighD− · 14% proficient
- Beardsley Junior HighF · 11% proficient
Top high schools
- Centennial HighA+ · 95% proficient
- Shafter HighA · 75% proficient
- Highland HighA · 75% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Oildale school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Oildale 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 Oildale against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Oildale suits
Common questions about living in Oildale
Is Oildale a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Oildale ranks 2,032nd of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on the weather, transit, and walkability, and lowest on tree cover and the cost of living against local pay. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Oildale expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $241,948. The overall cost of living runs about 4% above the national average. Set against a $56,381 median income, cost of living beats 1% of cities.
Is Oildale safe?
Oildale is safer than 6% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $582 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Oildale?
July highs average about 102 degrees, and January highs near 63 with lows near 40. That works out to about 176 pleasant days a year, more than 88% of cities.
What are the best neighborhoods in Oildale?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Highland Knolls & Parkview Estates-Oildale, North Country Meadows, and Mobile Town. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Oildale with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Oildale. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Oildale 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.
Oildale detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Oildale: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Oildale: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Oildale: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Oildale: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Oildale 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.