Best PlacesAthens, OH Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Athens, 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.
Athens ranks 1,702nd of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cheap car insurance by a wide margin, and low incomes rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Athens
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.
Athens' strengths and weaknesses
Where Athens ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 98% of cities
- Short commute17.8 minutes each way, better than 94% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than 92% of cities
- School gradeA−, better than 87% of cities
- Heat safetyBetter than 86% of cities
Where Athens ranks low
- Household income$44,404 median, better than only 1% of cities
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 1% of cities
- Crime safetyBetter than only 6% of cities
- Local economyBetter than only 7% of cities
- Nice weatherabout 62 pleasant days a year, better than only 11% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Athens
A household needs to earn about $60,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Athens home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $44,404, so buying stretches a typical household.
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' effective rate of 1.28%, 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 Athens
Athens 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.
Who works in Athens, and how
Work in Athens centers on education and hospitality & food. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 59%
- Work from home 16%
- Transit, walk, or bike 25%
Life in Athens
Athens has more restaurants and bars per resident than 84% of cities and more parkland per resident than 92% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Athens and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Athens, month by month
Athens 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
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 63 miles away.
The best schools in and around Athens
Schools across Athens average an A−, better than 87% of cities.
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
- Federal Hocking Middle SchoolC · 33% proficient
- Nelsonville-york Junior High SchoolC− · 28% 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 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Athens 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 against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Athens suits
Common questions about living in Athens
Is Athens a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Athens ranks 1,702nd of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, short commutes, and walkability, and lowest on low incomes and the cost of living against local pay. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Athens expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $215,313. The overall cost of living runs about 11% below the national average. Set against a $44,404 median income, cost of living beats 1% of cities.
Is Athens safe?
Athens is safer than 6% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $488 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Athens?
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 11% of cities.
Is Athens good for families?
Schools beat 87% of cities, crime safety beats 6%, and childcare runs $1,273 a month.
Compare Athens with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Athens. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Athens 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 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Athens: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Athens: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Athens: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Athens: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Athens 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.