Best Places45324, OH Best Neighborhoods

2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026

Every neighborhood inside ZIP code 45324, 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.

See the map of best neighborhoods

45324 ranks 12,517th of 33,110 U.S. zip codes on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cheap car insurance by a wide margin, and the weather ranks lowest.

#12,517
of 33,110 zip codes
BestNeighborhood rank
Defaults weight crime safety, affordability, schools, and weather highest: the things hardest to change after a move
N/A
of 33,110 zip codes
Your rank
Set your priorities to see your rank

The best neighborhoods in 45324

Map of the best neighborhoods in the 45324 area, with better matches in green and worse matches in red
Click the map to explore
National median
Worse match Better match
Colorblind friendly off
Popular priorities:

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.

45324's strengths and weaknesses

Top 5%Cheap car insurance
Each measure against the national median. Bars to the right beat the median; bars to the left fall short. Percentiles compare 45324 with other zip codes.

Where 45324 ranks high

  • Cheap car insuranceBetter than 97% of zip codes
  • Cell coverageBetter than 89% of zip codes
  • Disaster safetyBetter than 81% of zip codes
  • Short commute21.2 minutes each way, better than 80% of zip codes
  • WalkabilityBetter than 77% of zip codes

Where 45324 ranks low

  • Nice weatherabout 58 pleasant days a year, better than only 5% of zip codes
  • Low property taxBetter than only 16% of zip codes
  • QuietBetter than only 17% of zip codes
  • Cheap childcare$1,259 a month, better than only 19% of zip codes
  • Air qualityBetter than only 20% of zip codes

What it costs to buy a home in 45324

A household needs to earn about $54,000 a year to comfortably buy the median 45324 home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $72,011, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.

Income to buy the median home
$54,000
a year, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate
Estimated monthly payment
$1,266
principal, interest, tax, and insurance on a $192,047 home
Median rent
$1,040
a month, across all home sizes

Where the monthly payment goes

Principal & interest$979
Property tax$223
Homeowners insurance$64

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 45324's effective rate of 1.39%, 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.

Cumulative cost of renting versus owning the median home, first 10 years. Illustrative estimate.

Who lives in 45324

45324's age mix sits close to the national median, and households here run smaller than average.

Median age
39
younger than the U.S. median of 41
Residents 65 and older
18%
versus 18% nationally
Average household
2.2
below the U.S. average of 2.6

Residents by age

Under 1818%
18 to 3428%
35 to 4919%
50 to 6417%
65 and older18%

Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for 45324.


Who works in 45324, and how

Work in 45324 centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.

Work from home
10%
below the national average
Unemployment
3.8%
below the national average
Job growth
−3.6%
/y 2019-2023, slower than the national pace

Largest industries

Health care & social16%
Retail trade12%
Manufacturing10%
Public administration10%
Education9%

How people get to work

  • Drive or carpool 85%
  • Work from home 10%
  • Transit, walk, or bike 5%

Life in 45324

45324 has more parkland per resident than 93% of zip codes and more late-night spots per resident than 70% of zip codes. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of 45324 and thins out in others, which the map shows.

Places to eat and drink
145
restaurants, bars, and fast food, about 36.1 per 10,000 residents, more than 53% of zip codes
Coffee shops
14
about 3.5 per 10,000 residents, more than 57% of zip codes
Parkland
542 acres
about 13.5 acres per 1,000 residents, more than 93% of zip codes
Open past 10pm
~43
food and drink venues open late, about 10.6 per 10,000 residents, more than 70% of zip codes
Living on campus
1,154
students living in college or university housing

What the weather is like in 45324, month by month

45324 sees roughly 58 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 40, with lows near 22. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.

Average daily high, mean, and low in degrees Fahrenheit, NOAA station data 2016 to 2025.
Show the monthly temperatures
MonthAvg highAvgAvg low
January40°31°22°
April67°53°40°
July87°76°65°
October70°57°45°

Flying in and out of 45324

The nearest airport, James M Cox Dayton International, is about 13 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is John Glenn Columbus International, about 61 miles away.

Nearest airport
DAY
James M Cox Dayton International, about 13 miles
Airport size
Small hub
129th-busiest in the US, 33 nonstop destinations
Average drive
18 min
from the area, with no traffic

The best schools in and around 45324

Schools across 45324 average a B, better than 70% of zip codes.

Top elementary schools

Top middle schools

Top high schools

Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every 45324 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.


45324 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 45324 against the other 33,109 zip codes.


Who 45324 suits

Families

Schools beat 70% of zip codes and crime safety beats 55%.

See the families priority ↑

Remote workers

Internet is fast and widely advertised and 10% already work from home.

See the remote-work priority ↑

Retirees

Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.

See the retirees priority ↑


Common questions about living in 45324

Is 45324 a good place to live?

Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, 45324 ranks 12,517th of 33,110 zip codes. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, cell coverage, and low disaster risk, and lowest on the weather and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.

Is 45324 expensive to live in?

The median home is worth $192,047. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $72,011 median income, cost of living beats 50% of zip codes.

Is 45324 safe?

Yes, 45324 is safer than 55% of zip codes. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $281 per resident a year.

What is the weather like in 45324?

July highs average about 87 degrees, and January highs near 40 with lows near 22. That works out to about 58 pleasant days a year, more than 5% of zip codes.

Is 45324 good for families?

Schools beat 70% of zip codes, crime safety beats 55%, and childcare runs $1,259 a month.


Compare 45324 with other zip codes


Sources and methodology

Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to 45324. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in 45324 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.

45324 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:

  1. Walk Grade for 45324: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
  2. Noise in 45324: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
  3. Conservative vs liberal map of 45324: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
  4. Mobile and cell coverage in 45324: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.

45324 detail on related sites:

  1. CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
  2. ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
  3. CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.

Federal and public data:

  1. 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.
  2. NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
  3. FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
  4. Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
  5. FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
  6. U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
  7. FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
  8. CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
  9. National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
  10. FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
  11. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
  12. Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.