Best Places43203, OH Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 43203, 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.
43203 ranks 26,140th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on biking by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 43203
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.
43203's strengths and weaknesses
Where 43203 ranks high
- BikingBetter than 98% of zip codes
- WalkabilityBetter than 96% of zip codes
- TransitBetter than 96% of zip codes
- Disaster safetyBetter than 93% of zip codes
- Cell coverageBetter than 88% of zip codes
Where 43203 ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 2% of zip codes
- Nice weatherabout 58 pleasant days a year, better than only 5% of zip codes
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 5% of zip codes
- Household income$46,793 median, better than only 8% of zip codes
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 10% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 43203
A household needs to earn about $82,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 43203 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $46,793, so buying stretches a typical household.
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 43203's effective rate of 0.98%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 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 43203
43203 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 43203.
Who works in 43203, and how
Work in 43203 centers on retail trade and professional & technical. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 65%
- Work from home 24%
- Transit, walk, or bike 10%
Life in 43203
43203 has more parkland per resident than 94% of zip codes. That concentrates in some parts of 43203 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 43203, month by month
43203 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 43203
John Glenn Columbus International sits about 4 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 43203
Schools across 43203 average a C−, better than 22% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Ecole Kenwood French ImmersionB · 48% proficient
- United Preparatory Academy EastD− · 16% proficient
- Eastgate Elementary SchoolF · 10% proficient
Top middle schools
- Columbus City Preparatory School For GirlsC− · 30% proficient
- Valor Academy Inc.D− · 14% proficient
- Champion Middle SchoolF · 10% proficient
Top high schools
- Columbus North International School (7-12)D · 18% proficient
- The Academy For Urban ScholarsF · 3% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 43203 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
43203 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 43203 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 43203
Is 43203 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 43203 ranks 26,140th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on biking, walkability, and transit, and lowest on noise and the weather. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 43203 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $306,494. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $46,793 median income, cost of living beats 12% of zip codes.
Is 43203 safe?
43203 is safer than 10% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $536 per resident a year.
Compare 43203 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 43203. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 43203 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.
43203 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 43203: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 43203: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 43203: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 43203: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
43203 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.