Best PlacesOakton, VA Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in the Oakton area, 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.
Oakton ranks 4th of 2098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores best on low crime and lowest on cell coverage.
The best neighborhoods in Oakton
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.
Oakton's strengths and weaknesses
Where Oakton ranks high
- Crime safetyBetter than 100% of cities
- Educational attainmentBetter than 100% of cities
- Household income$208,277 median, better than 99% of cities
- Tree shadeBetter than 98% of cities
- Health outlookBetter than 98% of cities
Where Oakton ranks low
- Cell coverageBetter than only 4% of cities
- Nice weatherabout 62 pleasant days a year, better than only 11% of cities
- Cheap childcare$1,512 a month, better than only 14% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than only 14% of cities
- QuietBetter than only 15% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Oakton
A household needs to earn about $257,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Oakton home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $208,277, so buying stretches a typical household.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment and a 6.8% 30-year fixed rate. The rate updates weekly from Freddie Mac; property tax uses Oakton's effective rate against the median home value.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first ten 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 Oakton
Oakton runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Oakton.
Who works in Oakton, and how
Work in Oakton centers on professional & technical and public administration. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 56%
- Work from home 36%
- Transit, walk, or bike 9%
Life in Oakton
Oakton has more parkland per resident than 84% of cities. The coast is about 24 minutes away. The map and measures below show how they vary by area.
What the weather is like in Oakton, month by month
Oakton sees roughly 62 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 91 degrees. January highs sit near 47, with lows near 25. Spring and fall carry most of the comfortable stretch.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 47° | 36° | 25° |
| April | 71° | 57° | 44° |
| July | 91° | 79° | 67° |
| October | 73° | 60° | 47° |
Flying in and out of Oakton
Washington Dulles International sits about 9 miles away. It is a large hub and boarded 13.9 million passengers in 2025, with 200 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Oakton
Schools across Oakton average an A+, better than 97% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Archer ElementaryA+ · 86% proficient
- Navy ElementaryA+ · 85% proficient
- Flint Hill ElementaryA+ · 81% proficient
Top middle schools
- Thoreau MiddleA+ · 82% proficient
- Franklin MiddleA+ · 78% proficient
- Johnson MiddleA+ · 72% proficient
Top high schools
- Oakton HighA+ · 81% proficient
- Madison HighA+ · 80% proficient
- Fairfax HighA− · 64% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Oakton school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Oakton 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 Oakton against the other 2097 cities.
Who Oakton suits
Families
Schools beat 97% of the country and crime runs low. Compare neighborhoods on the map for the best fit.
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 97% of cities and 36% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Oakton
Is Oakton a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Oakton ranks 4th of 2098 cities. It scores highest on low crime, an educated workforce, and high incomes, and lowest on cell coverage and the weather. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Oakton expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $943,614. The overall cost of living runs about 33% above the national average. Set against a $208,277 median income, cost of living beats 97% of cities.
Is Oakton safe?
Yes, Oakton is safer than 100% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $121 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Oakton?
July highs average about 91 degrees, and January highs near 47 with lows near 25. The area gets its pleasant stretches in spring and fall.
Is Oakton good for families?
Schools beat 97% of cities, and safety is best away from the urban core. Home prices are usually the catch in the strongest school areas.
Compare Oakton with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Oakton. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Oakton 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.
Oakton detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Oakton: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Oakton: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Oakton: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Oakton: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Oakton 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.