Best PlacesWatova, OK Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Watova, 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.
Watova ranks 29,567th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on a strong job market by a wide margin, and the schools rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Watova
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.
Watova's strengths and weaknesses
Where Watova ranks high
- Local economyBetter than 95% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than 89% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than 87% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 77% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 75% of towns
Where Watova ranks low
- School gradeD, better than only 8% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 9% of towns
- State infrastructureBetter than only 11% of towns
- BikingBetter than only 12% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 14% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Watova
A household needs to earn about $70,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Watova home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $73,095, 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 Watova's effective rate of 0.41%, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Watova
Watova runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Watova.
Who works in Watova, and how
Work in Watova centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Watova
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Watova.
What the weather is like in Watova, month by month
Watova sees roughly 86 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 93 degrees. January highs sit near 49, with lows near 25. The comfortable stretch runs April, May, September, and October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 49° | 35° | 25° |
| April | 73° | 59° | 46° |
| July | 93° | 81° | 70° |
| October | 75° | 60° | 48° |
Flying in and out of Watova
The nearest airport, Tulsa International, is about 32 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Kansas City International, about 192 miles away.
The best schools in and around Watova
Schools across Watova average a D, better than 8% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Oologah-talala Upper EsC · 31% proficient
- Nowata EsD− · 11% proficient
Top middle schools
- Oologah-talala MsD · 22% proficient
- Nowata MsD− · 18% proficient
Top high schools
- Oologah-talala HsC · 32% proficient
- Nowata HsC− · 27% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Watova school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Watova 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 Watova against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Watova
Is Watova a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Watova ranks 29,567th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on a strong job market, state finances, and low property taxes, and lowest on the schools and air quality. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Watova expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $284,428. The overall cost of living runs about 23% below the national average. Set against a $73,095 median income, cost of living beats 77% of towns.
Is Watova safe?
Watova is safer than 29% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $459 per resident a year.
Compare Watova with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Watova. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Watova 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.
Watova detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Watova: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Watova: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Watova: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Watova: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Watova 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.