Best PlacesDearborn County, IN Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Dearborn County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages hide a wide spread here, so the area matters as much as the address. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Dearborn County ranks 712th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on few empty homes by a wide margin, and the weather ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Dearborn 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 Dearborn County
The parts of Dearborn 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.
Lawrenceburg & West Harrison
It is quieter, incomes run higher, and local pay stretches further.
Guilford
More households have young kids and crime runs lower.
Sunman
Fewer homes sit empty, though streets are more car-dependent.
Greendale
Commutes are shorter, though tree cover is thinner.
Dillsboro
Fewer residents vote and schools score lower.
Moores Hill
Aurora
Homes cost less, though fewer adults hold degrees.
Dearborn County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 11% of the country and others in the top 9%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Dearborn County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Dearborn County ranks high
- Low vacancyBetter than 98% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than 89% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 88% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 88% of counties
- Crime safetyBetter than 87% of counties
Where Dearborn County ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 52 pleasant days a year, better than only 1% of counties
- Short commute29.8 minutes each way, better than only 17% of counties
- Cheap childcare$1,001 a month, better than only 17% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 19% of counties
- BikingBetter than only 28% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Dearborn County
A household needs to earn about $65,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Dearborn County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $87,929, 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 Dearborn County's effective rate of 0.73%, 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Dearborn County
Dearborn County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Dearborn County.
Who works in Dearborn County, and how
Work in Dearborn County centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 88%
- Work from home 10%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Dearborn County
Dearborn County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 71% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Dearborn County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Dearborn County growing, and who is moving in?
Dearborn County has grown about 4% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Cincinnati, OH metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Dearborn County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Dearborn County, month by month
Dearborn County sees roughly 52 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 43, with lows near 23. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 43° | 32° | 23° |
| April | 68° | 55° | 43° |
| July | 88° | 77° | 67° |
| October | 71° | 59° | 47° |
Flying in and out of Dearborn County
Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International sits about 15 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 4.4 million passengers in 2025, with 99 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Dearborn County
Schools across Dearborn County average a B−, better than 68% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Harrison Elementary SchoolA · 71% proficient
- Bright Elementary SchoolB+ · 51% proficient
- North Dearborn Elementary SchoolB · 50% proficient
Top middle schools
- Harrison Middle SchoolA · 62% proficient
- Taylor Middle SchoolA · 61% proficient
- East Central Middle SchoolB · 44% proficient
Top high schools
- East Central High SchoolA− · 59% proficient
- William Henry Harrison High SchoolB+ · 56% proficient
- Taylor High SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Dearborn County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Dearborn 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 Dearborn County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Dearborn County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 88% of counties and 10% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Dearborn County
Is Dearborn County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Dearborn County ranks 712th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on few empty homes, health care access, and what local pay buys, and lowest on the weather and long commutes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Dearborn County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $249,619. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $87,929 median income, cost of living beats 88% of counties.
Is Dearborn County safe?
Yes, Dearborn County is safer than 87% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $223 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Dearborn County?
July highs average about 88 degrees, and January highs near 43 with lows near 23. That works out to about 52 pleasant days a year, more than 1% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Dearborn County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Lawrenceburg & West Harrison, Guilford, and Sunman. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Dearborn County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Dearborn County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Dearborn 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.
Dearborn County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Dearborn County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Dearborn County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Dearborn County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Dearborn County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Dearborn 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.