Best PlacesOklahoma Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Oklahoma, 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.
Oklahoma ranks 44th of 50 U.S. states on the BestNeighborhood index. It ranks low mainly on the schools and civic engagement. It does better on state finances, which keeps it off the bottom.
The best neighborhoods in Oklahoma
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 Oklahoma
The counties of Oklahoma, grouped by direction and ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood in each. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the state.
Canadian County
Local pay stretches further, incomes run higher, and fewer homes sit empty.
Oklahoma County
Heat risk is lower and biking is better.
Muskogee County, Cherokee County & Sequoyah County
Tree cover is thicker and crime runs lower.
Tulsa County
It is noisier.
Payne County, Kay County & Osage County
Fewer households have young kids and big-city amenities are further off.
Carter County, Bryan County & Pontotoc County
Scores close to Payne County, Kay County & Osage County, except that disaster risk is higher here.
Garfield County, Texas County & Woodward County
Prices have run up less and homes cost less.
Comanche County, Stephens County & Grady County
Pittsburg County, Le Flore County & McCurtain County
Fewer adults hold degrees and health outcomes score lower.
Oklahoma shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 1% of the country and others in the top 1%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Oklahoma's strengths and weaknesses
Oklahoma ranks near the bottom because several of the basics fall short at once. State finances, cell coverage, and short commutes carry most of that.
The weak spots are broad rather than narrow: the schools, civic engagement, and summer heat all drag on the score. Those are area averages, and the map below shows which parts run well above them.
Where Oklahoma ranks high
- State fiscal healthBetter than 87% of states
- Cell coverageBetter than 79% of states
- Short commute22.4 minutes each way, better than 77% of states
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 75% of states
- Internet speedBetter than 73% of states
Where Oklahoma ranks low
- School gradeD+, better than only 1% of states
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 8% of states
- Heat safetyBetter than only 11% of states
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 12% of states
- Air qualityBetter than only 13% of states
What it costs to buy a home in Oklahoma
A household needs to earn about $54,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Oklahoma home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $72,576, 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 Oklahoma's effective rate of 0.78%, 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 Oklahoma
Oklahoma runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Oklahoma.
Who works in Oklahoma, and how
Work in Oklahoma centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Oklahoma
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Oklahoma.
What the weather is like in Oklahoma, month by month
Oklahoma sees roughly 91 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 95 degrees. January highs sit near 52, with lows near 29. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 52° | 39° | 29° |
| April | 74° | 61° | 50° |
| July | 95° | 84° | 74° |
| October | 77° | 64° | 53° |
The best schools in and around Oklahoma
Schools across Oklahoma average a D+, better than 1% of states.
Top elementary schools
- Clegern EsA+ · 75% proficient
- Sadler Arts AcademyA+ · 73% proficient
- Chisholm EsA · 68% proficient
Top middle schools
- Killian MiddleA · 60% proficient
- Chisholm MsA · 59% proficient
- Bethany MsB+ · 50% proficient
Top high schools
- Canadian H SA · 73% proficient
- Hebron H SA · 67% proficient
- Denison H SA− · 59% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Oklahoma school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Oklahoma 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 Oklahoma against the other 49 states.
Who Oklahoma suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 9% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Oklahoma
Is Oklahoma a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Oklahoma ranks 44th of 50 states. It scores highest on state finances, cell coverage, and short commutes, and lowest on the schools and civic engagement. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Oklahoma expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $205,525. The overall cost of living runs about 20% below the national average. Set against a $72,576 median income, cost of living beats 35% of states.
Is Oklahoma safe?
Oklahoma is safer than 41% of states. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $488 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Oklahoma?
July highs average about 95 degrees, and January highs near 52 with lows near 29. That works out to about 91 pleasant days a year, more than 55% of states.
What are the best areas in Oklahoma?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Canadian County, Oklahoma County, and Muskogee County, Cherokee County & Sequoyah County. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Oklahoma good for families?
Schools beat 1% of states, crime safety beats 41%, and childcare runs $931 a month.
Is Oklahoma good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 35% of states, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 73% of states. About 9% of workers already work from home.
Compare Oklahoma with other states
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Oklahoma. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Oklahoma 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.
Oklahoma detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Oklahoma: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Oklahoma: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Oklahoma: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Oklahoma: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Oklahoma 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.
- 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.