Best Places44203, OH Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 44203, 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.
44203 ranks 13,070th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cheap car insurance by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in 44203
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.
44203's strengths and weaknesses
Where 44203 ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 96% of zip codes
- Internet speedBetter than 90% of zip codes
- TransitBetter than 90% of zip codes
- WalkabilityBetter than 82% of zip codes
- Cell coverageBetter than 80% of zip codes
Where 44203 ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,273 a month, better than only 18% of zip codes
- QuietBetter than only 20% of zip codes
- Low property taxBetter than only 22% of zip codes
- Health outlookBetter than only 28% of zip codes
- Air qualityBetter than only 29% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 44203
A household needs to earn about $44,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 44203 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $67,130, 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 44203's effective rate of 1.24%, 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 44203
44203 runs older 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 44203.
Who works in 44203, and how
Work in 44203 centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in 44203
44203 has more parkland per resident than 82% of zip codes. That concentrates in some parts of 44203 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 44203, month by month
44203 sees roughly 102 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 39, with lows near 22. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 39° | 30° | 22° |
| April | 65° | 52° | 40° |
| July | 88° | 76° | 64° |
| October | 69° | 57° | 46° |
Flying in and out of 44203
The nearest airport, Akron-Canton Regional, is about 12 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Cleveland-Hopkins International, about 30 miles away.
The best schools in and around 44203
Schools across 44203 average a B+, better than 79% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Sharon Elementary SchoolA+ · 86% proficient
- Arrowhead Primary Elementary SchoolA+ · 83% proficient
- Nolley Elementary SchoolA+ · 83% proficient
Top middle schools
- Northwest Middle SchoolA+ · 79% proficient
- Highland Middle SchoolA+ · 78% proficient
- Central Intermediate SchoolA+ · 77% proficient
Top high schools
- Highland High SchoolA+ · 83% proficient
- Wadsworth High SchoolA · 79% proficient
- Copley High SchoolA · 75% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 44203 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
44203 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 44203 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Who 44203 suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 11% already work from home.
Common questions about living in 44203
Is 44203 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 44203 ranks 13,070th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, fast internet, and transit, and lowest on childcare costs and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 44203 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $160,046. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $67,130 median income, cost of living beats 41% of zip codes.
Is 44203 safe?
44203 is safer than 33% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $371 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in 44203?
July highs average about 88 degrees, and January highs near 39 with lows near 22. That works out to about 102 pleasant days a year, more than 65% of zip codes.
Is 44203 good for families?
Schools beat 79% of zip codes, crime safety beats 33%, and childcare runs $1,273 a month.
Compare 44203 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 44203. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 44203 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.
44203 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 44203: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 44203: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 44203: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 44203: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
44203 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.