Best PlacesColumbiana County, OH Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Columbiana 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.
Columbiana County ranks 1,198th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It ranks low mainly on a weak job market and health outcomes. It does better on cheap car insurance, which keeps it off the bottom.
The best neighborhoods in Columbiana 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 Columbiana County
The parts of Columbiana 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.
Columbiana & Leetonia
Fewer homes sit empty, more adults hold degrees, and schools score higher.
Hanoverton
It is quieter and crime runs lower.
Lisbon & Elkton
Tree cover is thicker, though fewer residents vote.
East Palestine & New Waterford
Scores close to Lisbon & Elkton, except that health care is easier to reach here.
Wellsville
Prices have run up less, though commutes are longer.
Salem
Fewer households have young kids.
East Liverpool
Scores close to Salem, except that advertised internet is faster here.
Columbiana County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 8% of the country and others in the top 3%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Columbiana County's strengths and weaknesses
Columbiana County lands in the middle because its strengths and weaknesses roughly balance. Cheap car insurance is the standout, in the top 2% of counties. Low disaster risk and good schools follow.
The drawbacks are real but narrow. A weak job market, health outcomes, and state finances hold the score down. The detail is below, and the map is where it turns into a choice of neighborhood rather than just a place.
Where Columbiana County ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 98% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 92% of counties
- School gradeB+, better than 85% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 82% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 81% of counties
Where Columbiana County ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 16% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than only 23% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 25% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 74 pleasant days a year, better than only 28% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 32% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Columbiana County
A household needs to earn about $42,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Columbiana County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $65,296, 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 Columbiana County's effective rate of 0.98%, 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 Columbiana County
Columbiana County 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 Columbiana County.
Who works in Columbiana County, and how
Work in Columbiana 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 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Columbiana County
Columbiana County has more parkland per resident than 76% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Columbiana County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Columbiana County growing, and who is moving in?
Columbiana County has lost about 6% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Youngstown, OH.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Columbiana County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Columbiana County, month by month
Columbiana County sees roughly 74 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 38, with lows near 25. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 38° | 31° | 25° |
| April | 62° | 53° | 44° |
| July | 85° | 76° | 67° |
| October | 66° | 57° | 49° |
Flying in and out of Columbiana County
Pittsburgh International sits about 33 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 4.8 million passengers in 2025, with 104 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Columbiana County
Schools across Columbiana County average a B+, better than 85% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- West Branch Intermediate SchoolA+ · 76% proficient
- Joshua Dixon Elementary SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Crestview Elementary SchoolA · 63% proficient
Top middle schools
- South Side Middle SchoolA+ · 79% proficient
- West Branch Middle SchoolA+ · 70% proficient
- Beaver Local Middle SchoolA+ · 69% proficient
Top high schools
- Columbiana High SchoolA · 75% proficient
- West Branch High SchoolA · 68% proficient
- Salem High SchoolA− · 63% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Columbiana County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Columbiana 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 Columbiana County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Columbiana County suits
Common questions about living in Columbiana County
Is Columbiana County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Columbiana County ranks 1,198th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, low disaster risk, and good schools, and lowest on a weak job market and health outcomes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Columbiana County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $155,420. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $65,296 median income, cost of living beats 41% of counties.
Is Columbiana County safe?
Columbiana County is safer than 49% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $318 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Columbiana County?
July highs average about 85 degrees, and January highs near 38 with lows near 25. That works out to about 74 pleasant days a year, more than 28% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Columbiana County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Columbiana & Leetonia, Hanoverton, and Lisbon & Elkton. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Columbiana County good for families?
Schools beat 85% of counties, crime safety beats 49%, and childcare runs $764 a month.
Is Columbiana County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 41% of counties, though advertised internet speeds beat only 45% of counties. About 7% of workers already work from home.
Compare Columbiana County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Columbiana County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Columbiana 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.
Columbiana County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Columbiana County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Columbiana County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Columbiana County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Columbiana County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Columbiana 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.