Best PlacesOracle, AZ Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Oracle, 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.
Oracle ranks 33,389th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on the weather by a wide margin, and summer heat is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Oracle
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.
Oracle's strengths and weaknesses
Where Oracle ranks high
- Nice weatherabout 174 pleasant days a year, better than 97% of towns
- Local economyBetter than 96% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than 88% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 82% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 79% of towns
Where Oracle ranks low
- Heat safetyBetter than only 1% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 4% of towns
- School gradeD, better than only 8% of towns
- Short commute37.3 minutes each way, better than only 9% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than only 10% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Oracle
A household needs to earn about $93,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Oracle home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $69,135, 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 Oracle's effective rate of 0.46%, 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 Oracle
Oracle 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 Oracle.
Who works in Oracle, and how
Work in Oracle centers on education and admin & support services. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 70%
- Work from home 27%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Oracle
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Oracle.
What the weather is like in Oracle, month by month
Oracle sees roughly 174 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 103 degrees. January highs sit near 68, with lows near 38. The comfortable stretch runs February through April, October, and November.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 68° | 51° | 38° |
| April | 86° | 69° | 51° |
| July | 103° | 88° | 76° |
| October | 89° | 73° | 58° |
Flying in and out of Oracle
The nearest airport, Tucson International, is about 34 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Phoenix Sky Harbor International, about 89 miles away.
The best schools in and around Oracle
Schools across Oracle average a D, better than 8% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Coronado K-8 SchoolC+ · 36% proficient
- Red Rock Elementary SchoolD+ · 23% proficient
- Mountain Vista SchoolD+ · 23% proficient
Top middle schools
- San Manuel Jr. High SchoolF · 8% proficient
Top high schools
- Ironwood Ridge High SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
- Santa Cruz Valley Union High SchoolD− · 16% proficient
- San Manuel High SchoolF · 10% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Oracle school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Oracle 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 Oracle against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Oracle
Is Oracle a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Oracle ranks 33,389th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on the weather, a strong job market, and an educated workforce, and lowest on summer heat and air quality. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Oracle expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $371,962. The overall cost of living runs about 3% below the national average. Set against a $69,135 median income, cost of living beats 32% of towns.
Is Oracle safe?
Oracle is safer than 18% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $486 per resident a year.
Compare Oracle with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Oracle. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Oracle 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.
Oracle detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Oracle: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Oracle: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Oracle: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Oracle: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Oracle 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.