Best PlacesOokala, HI Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Ookala, 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.
Ookala ranks 46,298th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on clean air by a wide margin, and the weather ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Ookala
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.
Ookala's strengths and weaknesses
Where Ookala ranks high
- Air qualityBetter than 99% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 99% of towns
- QuietBetter than 97% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 97% of towns
- TransitBetter than 92% of towns
Where Ookala ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 45 pleasant days a year, better than only 1% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 3% of towns
- School gradeD−, better than only 3% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 4% of towns
- Short commute39.6 minutes each way, better than only 6% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Ookala
A household needs to earn about $166,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Ookala home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $66,553, 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 Ookala's effective rate of 0.24%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Ookala
Ookala runs older than the country, 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 Ookala.
Who works in Ookala, and how
Work in Ookala centers on retail trade and construction. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 93%
- Work from home 2%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Ookala
The coast is about 0 minutes away. Distance to the water changes a lot across Ookala, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Ookala, month by month
Ookala sees roughly 45 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 77 degrees. January highs sit near 71, with lows near 40. The comfortable stretch runs March through January.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 71° | 55° | 40° |
| April | 71° | 57° | 44° |
| July | 77° | 62° | 47° |
| October | 74° | 59° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Ookala
The nearest airport, Hilo International, is about 25 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Kahului, about 96 miles away.
The best schools in and around Ookala
Schools across Ookala average a D−, better than 3% of towns.
Top high schools
- Ke Kula O EhunuikaimalinoD · 14% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Ookala school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Ookala 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 Ookala against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Ookala
Is Ookala a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Ookala ranks 46,298th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on clean air, heat safety, and quiet, and lowest on the weather 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 Ookala expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $685,900. The overall cost of living runs about 47% above the national average. Set against a $66,553 median income, cost of living beats 3% of towns.
Is Ookala safe?
Ookala is safer than 18% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $514 per resident a year.
Compare Ookala with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Ookala. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Ookala 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.
Ookala detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Ookala: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Ookala: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Ookala: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Ookala: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Ookala 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.