Best Places45121, OH Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 45121, 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.
45121 ranks 19,509th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cheap car insurance by a wide margin, and health outcomes rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in 45121
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.
45121's strengths and weaknesses
Where 45121 ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 94% of zip codes
- School gradeA−, better than 88% of zip codes
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 80% of zip codes
- Disaster safetyBetter than 77% of zip codes
- QuietBetter than 69% of zip codes
Where 45121 ranks low
- Health outlookBetter than only 7% of zip codes
- Short commute34.4 minutes each way, better than only 12% of zip codes
- Internet speedBetter than only 17% of zip codes
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 18% of zip codes
- Household income$58,046 median, better than only 21% of zip codes
What it costs to buy a home in 45121
A household needs to earn about $42,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 45121 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $58,046, 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 45121's effective rate of 0.91%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in 45121
45121 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 45121.
Who works in 45121, and how
Work in 45121 centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in 45121
45121 has more parkland per resident than 86% of zip codes. That concentrates in some parts of 45121 and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in 45121, month by month
45121 sees roughly 80 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 41, with lows near 27. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 41° | 33° | 27° |
| April | 66° | 55° | 46° |
| July | 86° | 76° | 67° |
| October | 69° | 58° | 49° |
Flying in and out of 45121
Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International sits about 43 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 4.4 million passengers in 2025, with 99 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around 45121
Schools across 45121 average an A−, better than 88% of zip codes.
Top elementary schools
- Sardinia Elementary SchoolA · 65% proficient
- Felicity-franklin Local Elementary SchoolA · 63% proficient
- Georgetown Elementary SchoolA · 62% proficient
Top middle schools
- Mt Orab Middle SchoolA · 63% proficient
- Eastern MsA− · 57% proficient
- Felicity-franklin Local Middle SchoolA− · 55% proficient
Top high schools
- Georgetown Jr/sr High SchoolA− · 66% proficient
- Eastern High SchoolB+ · 57% proficient
- Western Brown High SchoolB · 49% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 45121 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
45121 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 45121 against the other 33,109 zip codes.
Common questions about living in 45121
Is 45121 a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 45121 ranks 19,509th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, good schools, and low taxes, and lowest on health outcomes and long commutes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is 45121 expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $157,204. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $58,046 median income, cost of living beats 27% of zip codes.
Is 45121 safe?
45121 is safer than 54% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $272 per resident a year.
Compare 45121 with other zip codes
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 45121. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 45121 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.
45121 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for 45121: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in 45121: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of 45121: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in 45121: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
45121 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.