Best PlacesStillwater, OK Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Stillwater, 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.
Stillwater ranks 1,469th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on short commutes by a wide margin, and state infrastructure ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Stillwater
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.
Stillwater's strengths and weaknesses
Where Stillwater ranks high
- Short commute16.8 minutes each way, better than 97% of cities
- State fiscal healthBetter than 93% of cities
- QuietBetter than 89% of cities
- Educational attainmentBetter than 84% of cities
- Cell coverageBetter than 75% of cities
Where Stillwater ranks low
- State infrastructureBetter than only 7% of cities
- Big-city accessBetter than only 9% of cities
- Household income$61,173 median, better than only 10% of cities
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 11% of cities
- Low vacancyBetter than only 12% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Stillwater
A household needs to earn about $68,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Stillwater home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $61,173; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Stillwater's effective rate of 0.79%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Stillwater
Stillwater runs younger 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 Stillwater.
Who works in Stillwater, and how
Work in Stillwater centers on education and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 79%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 11%
Life in Stillwater
Stillwater has more restaurants and bars per resident than 78% of cities and more parkland per resident than 88% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Stillwater and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Stillwater, month by month
Stillwater sees roughly 121 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 95 degrees. January highs sit near 51, with lows near 27. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 51° | 37° | 27° |
| April | 75° | 60° | 49° |
| July | 95° | 83° | 72° |
| October | 77° | 62° | 51° |
Flying in and out of Stillwater
The nearest airport, Stillwater Regional, is about 3 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Dallas-Fort Worth International, about 223 miles away.
The best schools in and around Stillwater
Schools across Stillwater average a C+, better than 33% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Richmond EsA− · 58% proficient
- Westwood EsA− · 56% proficient
- Mulhall-orlando EsB · 48% proficient
Top middle schools
- Stillwater MsC · 32% proficient
- Perkins-tryon MsD · 21% proficient
- Perry JhsD− · 17% proficient
Top high schools
- Mulhall-orlando HsB+ · 58% proficient
- Stillwater HsC+ · 40% proficient
- Perkins-tryon HsC+ · 38% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Stillwater school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Stillwater 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 Stillwater against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Stillwater suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 10% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Stillwater
Is Stillwater a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Stillwater ranks 1,469th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on short commutes, state finances, and quiet, and lowest on state infrastructure and distance from a big city. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Stillwater expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $258,842. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $61,173 median income, cost of living beats 19% of cities.
Is Stillwater safe?
Stillwater is safer than 34% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $501 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Stillwater?
July highs average about 95 degrees, and January highs near 51 with lows near 27. That works out to about 121 pleasant days a year, more than 70% of cities.
Is Stillwater good for families?
Schools beat 33% of cities, crime safety beats 34%, and childcare runs $883 a month.
Compare Stillwater with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Stillwater. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Stillwater 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.
Stillwater detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Stillwater: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Stillwater: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Stillwater: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Stillwater: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Stillwater 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.