Best PlacesAthens County, OH Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Athens County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages are not the whole story, and the strongest areas score well above them. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Athens County ranks 1,956th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cheap car insurance by a wide margin, and the cost of living against local pay is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Athens County
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.
The best areas in Athens County
The parts of Athens County, ranked by the BestNeighborhood standard score across every neighborhood, highest scoring first. Each note says how that part differs from the rest of the county.
Albany
Local pay stretches further, incomes run higher, and more residents vote.
The Plains
Fewer homes sit empty, though fewer households have young kids.
Athens
Biking is better and streets are more walkable.
Coolville
Tree cover is thicker and prices have run up less.
Glouster
Fewer adults hold degrees and commutes are longer.
Nelsonville
Schools score lower and crime runs higher.
Scores across Athens County run from about the 2nd to the 83rd percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Athens County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Athens County ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 97% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than 94% of counties
- TransitBetter than 92% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than 90% of counties
- BikingBetter than 89% of counties
Where Athens County ranks low
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 8% of counties
- Cheap childcare$1,273 a month, better than only 8% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 62 pleasant days a year, better than only 9% of counties
- Household income$53,195 median, better than only 13% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than only 15% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Athens County
A household needs to earn about $50,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Athens County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $53,195, 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 Athens County's effective rate of 1.18%, 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 Athens County
Athens County runs younger 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 Athens County.
Who works in Athens County, and how
Work in Athens County centers on education and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 73%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 15%
Life in Athens County
Athens County has more parkland per resident than 77% of counties and more late-night spots per resident than 94% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Athens County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Athens County growing, and who is moving in?
Athens County has lost about 2% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Columbus, OH.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Athens County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Athens County, month by month
Athens County sees roughly 62 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 43, with lows near 22. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43° | 32° | 22° |
| April | 69° | 54° | 40° |
| July | 88° | 75° | 64° |
| October | 71° | 56° | 43° |
Flying in and out of Athens County
The nearest airport, Mid-Ohio Valley Regional, is about 35 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is John Glenn Columbus International, about 62 miles away.
The best schools in and around Athens County
Schools across Athens County average a B, better than 82% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- East Elementary SchoolA · 65% proficient
- Morrison Gordon Elementary SchoolA− · 58% proficient
- Alexander Elementary SchoolB− · 43% proficient
Top middle schools
- Athens Middle SchoolA · 63% proficient
- Trimble Junior HighC · 35% proficient
- Federal Hocking Middle SchoolC · 33% proficient
Top high schools
- Athens High SchoolA− · 63% proficient
- Alexander Jr. / Sr. High SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Federal Hocking High SchoolC+ · 38% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Athens County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Athens County 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 Athens County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Athens County suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 12% already work from home.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Athens County
Is Athens County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Athens County ranks 1,956th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, walkability, and transit, and lowest on the cost of living against local pay and childcare costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Athens County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $182,332. The overall cost of living runs about 11% below the national average. Set against a $53,195 median income, cost of living beats 8% of counties.
Is Athens County safe?
Athens County is safer than 15% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $448 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Athens County?
July highs average about 88 degrees, and January highs near 43 with lows near 22. That works out to about 62 pleasant days a year, more than 9% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Athens County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Albany, The Plains, and Athens. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Athens County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Athens County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Athens County 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.
Athens County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Athens County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Athens County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Athens County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Athens County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Athens County 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.
- U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
- 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.