Best Places43081, OH Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 43081, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
43081 ranks 2,654th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cheap car insurance by a wide margin, and the weather ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in 43081
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.
43081's strengths and weaknesses
Where 43081 ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 93% of zip codes
- Disaster safetyBetter than 92% of zip codes
- Educational attainmentBetter than 91% of zip codes
- Health outlookBetter than 90% of zip codes
- BikingBetter than 90% of zip codes
Where 43081 ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 58 pleasant days a year, better than only 6% of zip codes
- Low property taxBetter than only 7% of zip codes
- QuietBetter than only 13% of zip codes
- Cheap childcare$1,273 a month, better than only 17% of zip codes
- Air qualityBetter than only 31% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 43081
A household needs to earn about $97,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 43081 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $100,541, 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 43081's effective rate of 1.72%, 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 43081
43081 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 43081.
Who works in 43081, and how
Work in 43081 centers on health care & social and professional & technical. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 69%
- Work from home 27%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in 43081
43081 has more parkland per resident than 97% of zip codes. That concentrates in some parts of 43081 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 43081, month by month
43081 sees roughly 58 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 41, with lows near 23. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 41° | 31° | 23° |
| April | 67° | 53° | 41° |
| July | 88° | 76° | 66° |
| October | 71° | 58° | 46° |
Flying in and out of 43081
John Glenn Columbus International sits about 8 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 4.4 million passengers in 2025, with 94 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around 43081
Schools across 43081 average an A−, better than 85% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Emerson Elementary SchoolA+ · 89% proficient
- Alcott Elementary SchoolA+ · 83% proficient
- Olentangy Meadows Elementary SchoolA+ · 82% proficient
Top middle schools
- Phoenix Middle SchoolA+ · 87% proficient
- New Albany Intermediate SchoolA+ · 85% proficient
- New Albany Middle SchoolA+ · 84% proficient
Top high schools
- New Albany High SchoolA · 78% proficient
- Orange High SchoolA · 78% proficient
- Worthington Kilbourne High SchoolA · 73% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 43081 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
43081 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 43081 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Who 43081 suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 89% of zip codes, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 27% already work from home.
Common questions about living in 43081
Is 43081 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 43081 ranks 2,654th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, low disaster risk, and an educated workforce, and lowest on the weather and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 43081 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $329,113. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $100,541 median income, cost of living beats 89% of zip codes.
Is 43081 safe?
Yes, 43081 is safer than 56% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $273 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in 43081?
July highs average about 88 degrees, and January highs near 41 with lows near 23. That works out to about 58 pleasant days a year, more than 6% of zip codes.
Is 43081 good for families?
Schools beat 85% of zip codes, crime safety beats 56%, and childcare runs $1,273 a month.
Compare 43081 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 43081. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 43081 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.
43081 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 43081: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 43081: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 43081: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 43081: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
43081 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.