Best PlacesChampaign County, OH Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Champaign 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.
Champaign County ranks 719th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cheap car insurance by a wide margin, and a weak job market ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Champaign 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 Champaign County
The parts of Champaign 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.
North Lewisburg
More households have young kids, fewer homes sit empty, and it is quieter.
Mechanicsburg
More adults hold degrees, though prices have run up more.
St. Paris
Urbana
Biking is better, though incomes run lower.
Scores across Champaign County run from about the 26th to the 82nd percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Champaign County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Champaign County ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 98% of counties
- School gradeB+, better than 87% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 84% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 82% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than 82% of counties
Where Champaign County ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 22% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than only 24% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 25% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 26% of counties
- Short commute27.1 minutes each way, better than only 30% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Champaign County
A household needs to earn about $56,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Champaign County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $78,810, 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 Champaign County's effective rate of 1.08%, 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 Champaign County
Champaign County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Champaign County.
Who works in Champaign County, and how
Work in Champaign County centers on manufacturing 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 88%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Champaign County
Champaign County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties and more parkland per resident than 74% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Champaign County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Champaign County growing, and who is moving in?
Champaign County has held roughly flat in population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Springfield, OH.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Champaign County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Champaign County, month by month
Champaign County sees roughly 82 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 83 degrees. January highs sit near 35, with lows near 23. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 35° | 28° | 23° |
| April | 61° | 50° | 41° |
| July | 83° | 73° | 64° |
| October | 65° | 55° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Champaign County
The nearest airport, James M Cox Dayton International, is about 29 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is John Glenn Columbus International, about 46 miles away.
The best schools in and around Champaign County
Schools across Champaign County average a B+, better than 87% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Miami East ElementaryA+ · 77% proficient
- West Liberty-salem Elementary SchoolA · 71% proficient
- Dohron Wilson Elementary SchoolA · 70% proficient
Top middle schools
- Miami East Junior High SchoolA+ · 79% proficient
- Mechanicsburg Middle SchoolA+ · 74% proficient
- Triad Middle SchoolA · 61% proficient
Top high schools
- Miami East High SchoolA · 77% proficient
- Mechanicsburg High SchoolA · 70% proficient
- West Liberty-salem High SchoolA · 70% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Champaign County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Champaign 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 Champaign County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Champaign County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 82% of counties and 9% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Champaign County
Is Champaign County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Champaign County ranks 719th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, good schools, and low disaster risk, and lowest on a weak job market and air quality. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Champaign County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $208,094. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $78,810 median income, cost of living beats 82% of counties.
Is Champaign County safe?
Champaign County is safer than 33% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $338 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Champaign County?
July highs average about 83 degrees, and January highs near 35 with lows near 23. That works out to about 82 pleasant days a year, more than 42% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Champaign County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are North Lewisburg, Mechanicsburg, and St. Paris. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Champaign County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Champaign County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Champaign 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.
Champaign County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Champaign County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Champaign County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Champaign County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Champaign County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Champaign 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.