Best Places43204, OH Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 43204, 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.
43204 ranks 17,780th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on biking by a wide margin, and crime is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 43204
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.
43204's strengths and weaknesses
Where 43204 ranks high
- BikingBetter than 93% of zip codes
- Disaster safetyBetter than 93% of zip codes
- WalkabilityBetter than 92% of zip codes
- TransitBetter than 92% of zip codes
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 87% of zip codes
Where 43204 ranks low
- Crime safetyBetter than only 13% of zip codes
- Voter turnoutBetter than only 14% of zip codes
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 16% of zip codes
- Air qualityBetter than only 17% of zip codes
- Cheap childcare$1,273 a month, better than only 17% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 43204
A household needs to earn about $60,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 43204 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $63,396, 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 43204's effective rate of 1.30%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 43204
43204 runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 43204.
Who works in 43204, and how
Work in 43204 centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 78%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 7%
Life in 43204
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across 43204.
What the weather is like in 43204, month by month
43204 sees roughly 73 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 37, with lows near 23. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 37° | 30° | 23° |
| April | 63° | 52° | 42° |
| July | 84° | 75° | 66° |
| October | 67° | 56° | 46° |
Flying in and out of 43204
John Glenn Columbus International sits about 10 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 43204
Schools across 43204 average a C, better than 36% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Barrington Road Elementary SchoolA+ · 88% proficient
- Beacon Elementary SchoolA− · 56% proficient
- Ridgewood Elementary SchoolB+ · 54% proficient
Top middle schools
- Jones Middle SchoolA+ · 77% proficient
- Hilliard Tharp Sixth Grade Elementary SchoolA+ · 76% proficient
- Hayes Intermediate SchoolA · 65% proficient
Top high schools
- Upper Arlington High SchoolA · 78% proficient
- Hilliard Davidson High SchoolA− · 62% proficient
- Westland High SchoolC+ · 39% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 43204 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
43204 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 43204 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Who 43204 suits
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in 43204
Is 43204 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 43204 ranks 17,780th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on biking, low disaster risk, and walkability, and lowest on crime and civic engagement. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 43204 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $215,145. The overall cost of living runs about 19% below the national average. Set against a $63,396 median income, cost of living beats 43% of zip codes.
Is 43204 safe?
43204 is safer than 13% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $528 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in 43204?
July highs average about 84 degrees, and January highs near 37 with lows near 23. That works out to about 73 pleasant days a year, more than 32% of zip codes.
Is 43204 good for families?
Schools beat 36% of zip codes, crime safety beats 13%, and childcare runs $1,273 a month.
Compare 43204 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 43204. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 43204 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.
43204 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 43204: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 43204: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 43204: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 43204: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
43204 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.