Best Places44026, OH Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 44026, 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.
44026 ranks 1,419th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on good schools by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 44026
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.
44026's strengths and weaknesses
Where 44026 ranks high
- School gradeA+, better than 97% of zip codes
- Voter turnoutBetter than 97% of zip codes
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 96% of zip codes
- Disaster safetyBetter than 96% of zip codes
- Healthcare accessBetter than 94% of zip codes
Where 44026 ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,273 a month, better than only 17% of zip codes
- Low property taxBetter than only 19% of zip codes
- Air qualityBetter than only 25% of zip codes
- Local economyBetter than only 33% of zip codes
- TransitBetter than only 35% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 44026
A household needs to earn about $98,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 44026 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $117,094, 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 44026's effective rate of 1.31%, 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 44026
44026 runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 44026.
Who works in 44026, and how
Work in 44026 centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 78%
- Work from home 20%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in 44026
44026 has more restaurants and bars per resident than 66% of zip codes. That concentrates in some parts of 44026 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 44026, month by month
44026 sees roughly 89 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 82 degrees. January highs sit near 36, with lows near 24. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 36° | 30° | 24° |
| April | 59° | 50° | 41° |
| July | 82° | 75° | 66° |
| October | 64° | 57° | 49° |
Flying in and out of 44026
Cleveland-Hopkins International sits about 28 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 4.9 million passengers in 2025, with 72 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around 44026
Schools across 44026 average an A+, better than 97% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Robert C Lindsey Elementary SchoolA+ · 88% proficient
- Kirtland Elementary SchoolA+ · 83% proficient
- Munson Elementary SchoolA+ · 78% proficient
Top middle schools
- Chardon Middle SchoolA+ · 85% proficient
- West Geauga Middle SchoolA+ · 81% proficient
- Kirtland Middle SchoolA+ · 69% proficient
Top high schools
- Kirtland High SchoolA+ · 82% proficient
- West Geauga High SchoolA+ · 80% proficient
- Chardon High SchoolA · 73% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 44026 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
44026 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 44026 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 44026
Is 44026 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 44026 ranks 1,419th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on good schools, civic engagement, and cheap car insurance, and lowest on childcare costs and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 44026 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $349,630. The overall cost of living runs about 9% below the national average. Set against a $117,094 median income, cost of living beats 94% of zip codes.
Is 44026 safe?
Yes, 44026 is safer than 64% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $254 per resident a year.
Compare 44026 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 44026. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 44026 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.
44026 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 44026: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 44026: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 44026: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 44026: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
44026 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.