Best PlacesStephens County, OK Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Stephens County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Stephens County ranks 1,858th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on fast internet by a wide margin, and air quality ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Stephens County
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.
Stephens County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Stephens County ranks high
- Internet speedBetter than 96% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than 89% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than 84% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than 70% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 112 pleasant days a year, better than 69% of counties
Where Stephens County ranks low
- Air qualityBetter than only 3% of counties
- Heat safetyBetter than only 6% of counties
- State infrastructureBetter than only 9% of counties
- School gradeD+, better than only 16% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than only 20% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Stephens County
A household needs to earn about $36,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Stephens County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $65,742, 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 Stephens County's effective rate of 0.67%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Stephens County
Stephens County's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Stephens County.
Who works in Stephens County, and how
Work in Stephens County 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 91%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Stephens County
Stephens County has more parkland per resident than 84% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Stephens County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Stephens County growing, and who is moving in?
Stephens County has lost about 1% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Oklahoma City, OK.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Stephens County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Stephens County, month by month
Stephens County sees roughly 112 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 96 degrees. January highs sit near 54, with lows near 30. The comfortable stretch runs March through May and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 54° | 40° | 30° |
| April | 75° | 61° | 51° |
| July | 96° | 83° | 72° |
| October | 79° | 65° | 54° |
Flying in and out of Stephens County
The nearest airport, Lawton-Fort Sill Regional, is about 27 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Dallas-Fort Worth International, about 124 miles away.
The best schools in and around Stephens County
Schools across Stephens County average a D+, better than 16% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Marlow EsB · 48% proficient
- Plato EsB− · 42% proficient
- Velma-alma EsB− · 42% proficient
Top middle schools
- Marlow MsC · 31% proficient
- Duncan MsD+ · 26% proficient
- Walters MsD · 23% proficient
Top high schools
- Marlow HsC · 33% proficient
- Ringling HsC− · 27% proficient
- Fox HsD+ · 25% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Stephens County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Stephens County 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 Stephens County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Stephens County suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 6% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Stephens County
Is Stephens County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Stephens County ranks 1,858th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on fast internet, cell coverage, and state finances, and lowest on air quality and summer heat. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Stephens County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $140,586. The overall cost of living runs about 21% below the national average. Set against a $65,742 median income, cost of living beats 62% of counties.
Is Stephens County safe?
Stephens County is safer than 50% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $432 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Stephens County?
July highs average about 96 degrees, and January highs near 54 with lows near 30. That works out to about 112 pleasant days a year, more than 69% of counties.
Is Stephens County good for families?
Schools beat 16% of counties, crime safety beats 50%, and childcare runs $910 a month.
Compare Stephens County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Stephens County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Stephens County 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.
Stephens County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Stephens County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Stephens County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Stephens County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Stephens County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Stephens County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.