Best PlacesDelaware County, OH Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Delaware 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.
Delaware County ranks 5th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $148,094, everyday costs sit below the national average, and an educated workforce ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are property taxes, childcare costs, and the weather.
The best neighborhoods in Delaware 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 Delaware County
The parts of Delaware 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.
Powell & Dublin
Schools score higher, more adults hold degrees, and incomes run higher.
Galena & Sunbury
More households have young kids and crime runs lower.
Westerville
Biking is better.
Lewis Center & Columbus
Fewer residents vote and it is noisier.
Delaware
Homes cost less, though local pay stretches less far.
Scores across Delaware County run from about the 43rd to the 100th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Delaware County's strengths and weaknesses
Delaware County ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. What local pay buys is the standout, in the top 1% of counties. Health care access and high incomes follow.
The drawbacks are real but narrow. Property taxes, childcare costs, and the weather hold the score down. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Delaware County ranks high
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 99% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than 99% of counties
- Household income$148,094 median, better than 99% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than 99% of counties
- School gradeA, better than 99% of counties
Where Delaware County ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 6% of counties
- Cheap childcare$1,273 a month, better than only 8% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 69 pleasant days a year, better than only 20% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 25% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 25% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Delaware County
A household needs to earn about $133,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Delaware County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $148,094, 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 Delaware County's effective rate of 1.59%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Delaware County
Delaware County'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 Delaware County.
Who works in Delaware County, and how
Work in Delaware County centers on health care & social and professional & technical. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 72%
- Work from home 26%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Delaware County
Delaware County has more parkland per resident than 87% of counties and more late-night spots per resident than 72% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Delaware County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Delaware County growing, and who is moving in?
Delaware County has grown about 26% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Columbus, OH metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Delaware County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Delaware County, month by month
Delaware County sees roughly 69 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 36, with lows near 23. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 36° | 29° | 23° |
| April | 62° | 51° | 41° |
| July | 84° | 74° | 65° |
| October | 66° | 54° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Delaware County
John Glenn Columbus International sits about 16 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 4.4 million passengers in 2025, with 94 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Delaware County
Schools across Delaware County average an A, better than 99% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Scioto Ridge Elementary SchoolA+ · 92% proficient
- Emerson Elementary SchoolA+ · 89% proficient
- Indian Springs ElementaryA+ · 88% proficient
Top middle schools
- Hyatts Middle SchoolA+ · 88% proficient
- Olentangy Liberty Middle SchoolA+ · 86% proficient
- Willard Grizzell Middle SchoolA+ · 84% proficient
Top high schools
- Olentangy High SchoolA+ · 87% proficient
- Dublin Jerome High SchoolA+ · 87% proficient
- Olentangy Liberty High SchoolA+ · 87% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Delaware County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Delaware 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 Delaware County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Delaware County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 100% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 26% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Delaware County
Is Delaware County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Delaware County ranks 5th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on what local pay buys, health care access, and high incomes, and lowest on property taxes and childcare costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Delaware County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $458,317. The overall cost of living runs about 10% below the national average. Set against a $148,094 median income, cost of living beats 100% of counties.
Is Delaware County safe?
Yes, Delaware County is safer than 88% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $222 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Delaware County?
July highs average about 84 degrees, and January highs near 36 with lows near 23. That works out to about 69 pleasant days a year, more than 20% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Delaware County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Powell & Dublin, Galena & Sunbury, and Westerville. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Delaware County good for families?
Schools beat 99% of counties, crime safety beats 88%, and childcare runs $1,273 a month.
Is Delaware County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 100% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 70% of counties. About 26% of workers already work from home.
Compare Delaware County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Delaware County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Delaware 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.
Delaware County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Delaware County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Delaware County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Delaware County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Delaware County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Delaware 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.