Best Places44266, OH Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 44266, 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.
44266 ranks 14,085th 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 44266
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.
44266's strengths and weaknesses
Where 44266 ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 95% of zip codes
- Heat safetyBetter than 89% of zip codes
- Disaster safetyBetter than 87% of zip codes
- TransitBetter than 83% of zip codes
- Nice weatherabout 124 pleasant days a year, better than 78% of zip codes
Where 44266 ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,273 a month, better than only 17% of zip codes
- QuietBetter than only 18% of zip codes
- Air qualityBetter than only 21% of zip codes
- Low property taxBetter than only 21% of zip codes
- Health outlookBetter than only 31% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 44266
A household needs to earn about $51,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 44266 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $67,579, 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 44266's effective rate of 1.26%, 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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 44266
44266 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 44266.
Who works in 44266, and how
Work in 44266 centers on retail trade 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 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in 44266
44266 has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most zip codes and more parkland per resident than 75% of zip codes. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of 44266 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 44266, month by month
44266 sees roughly 124 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 35, with lows near 22. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 35° | 28° | 22° |
| April | 60° | 48° | 39° |
| July | 83° | 72° | 63° |
| October | 64° | 53° | 45° |
Flying in and out of 44266
The nearest airport, Akron-Canton Regional, is about 20 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Cleveland-Hopkins International, about 36 miles away.
The best schools in and around 44266
Schools across 44266 average a B−, better than 59% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Rootstown Elementary SchoolA · 69% proficient
- James A Garfield Elementary SchoolA · 66% proficient
- Brimfield Elementary SchoolA · 62% proficient
Top middle schools
- Field Middle SchoolA · 66% proficient
- Southeast Junior High SchoolA · 62% proficient
- Rootstown/mabel Schnee Bldg Middle SchoolA · 60% proficient
Top high schools
- Field High SchoolA− · 62% proficient
- Theodore Roosevelt High SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Rootstown/ward Davis Bldg High SchoolB+ · 58% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 44266 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
44266 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 44266 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Who 44266 suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 12% already work from home.
Common questions about living in 44266
Is 44266 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 44266 ranks 14,085th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, heat safety, and low disaster risk, 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 44266 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $184,419. The overall cost of living runs about 11% below the national average. Set against a $67,579 median income, cost of living beats 40% of zip codes.
Is 44266 safe?
44266 is safer than 47% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $308 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in 44266?
July highs average about 83 degrees, and January highs near 35 with lows near 22. That works out to about 124 pleasant days a year, more than 78% of zip codes.
Is 44266 good for families?
Schools beat 59% of zip codes, crime safety beats 47%, and childcare runs $1,273 a month.
Compare 44266 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 44266. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 44266 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.
44266 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 44266: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 44266: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 44266: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 44266: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
44266 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.