Best PlacesColumbus Grove, OH Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Columbus Grove, 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.
Columbus Grove ranks 3,929th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cheap car insurance by a wide margin, and tree cover ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Columbus Grove
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.
Columbus Grove's strengths and weaknesses
Where Columbus Grove ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 98% of towns
- School gradeA+, better than 97% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 92% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 90% of towns
- Short commute19.9 minutes each way, better than 88% of towns
Where Columbus Grove ranks low
- Tree shadeBetter than only 16% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 29% of towns
- Local economyBetter than only 32% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 32% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 33% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Columbus Grove
A household needs to earn about $50,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Columbus Grove home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $83,643, 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 Columbus Grove's effective rate of 1.03%, 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 Columbus Grove
Columbus Grove's age mix sits close to the national median.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Columbus Grove.
Who works in Columbus Grove, and how
Work in Columbus Grove centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 86%
- Work from home 11%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Columbus Grove
Columbus Grove has more restaurants and bars per resident than 73% of towns. That concentrates in some parts of Columbus Grove and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Columbus Grove, month by month
Columbus Grove sees roughly 74 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 35, with lows near 22. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 35° | 28° | 22° |
| April | 62° | 50° | 40° |
| July | 85° | 74° | 64° |
| October | 66° | 54° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Columbus Grove
The nearest airport, Eugene F Kranz Toledo Express, is about 48 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is John Glenn Columbus International, about 89 miles away.
The best schools in and around Columbus Grove
Schools across Columbus Grove average an A+, better than 97% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Miller City Elementary SchoolA+ · 92% proficient
- Kalida Elementary SchoolA+ · 88% proficient
- Fort Jennings Elementary SchoolA+ · 87% proficient
Top middle schools
- Miller City Middle SchoolA+ · 87% proficient
- Pandora-gilboa Middle SchoolA+ · 78% proficient
- Columbus Grove Middle SchoolA+ · 76% proficient
Top high schools
- Miller City High SchoolA+ · 87% proficient
- Kalida High SchoolA+ · 86% proficient
- Columbus Grove High SchoolA · 78% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Columbus Grove school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Columbus Grove 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 Columbus Grove against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Columbus Grove
Is Columbus Grove a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Columbus Grove ranks 3,929th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, good schools, and few empty homes, and lowest on tree cover and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Columbus Grove expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $185,032. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $83,643 median income, cost of living beats 78% of towns.
Is Columbus Grove safe?
Yes, Columbus Grove is safer than 70% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $218 per resident a year.
Compare Columbus Grove with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Columbus Grove. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Columbus Grove 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.
Columbus Grove detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Columbus Grove: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Columbus Grove: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Columbus Grove: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Columbus Grove: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Columbus Grove 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.