Best PlacesDelaware, OH Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Delaware, 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.
Delaware ranks 261st of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cheap car insurance by a wide margin, and transit ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Delaware
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.
Delaware's strengths and weaknesses
Where Delaware ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 95% of cities
- Heat safetyBetter than 91% of cities
- School gradeA−, better than 89% of cities
- Local economyBetter than 88% of cities
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 86% of cities
Where Delaware ranks low
- TransitBetter than only 13% of cities
- Low property taxBetter than only 21% of cities
- Cheap childcare$1,273 a month, better than only 34% of cities
- BikingBetter than only 39% of cities
- Big-city accessBetter than only 40% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Delaware
A household needs to earn about $104,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Delaware home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $114,807, 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's effective rate of 1.47%, 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
Delaware'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.
Who works in Delaware, and how
Work in Delaware centers on health care & social and education. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 76%
- Work from home 19%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Delaware
Delaware has more restaurants and bars per resident than 67% of cities and more parkland per resident than 89% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Delaware and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Delaware, month by month
Delaware sees roughly 80 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
John Glenn Columbus International sits about 22 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
Schools across Delaware average an A−, better than 89% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Walnut Creek ElementaryA+ · 85% proficient
- Cheshire ElementaryA+ · 83% proficient
- Wyandot Run Elementary SchoolA+ · 83% proficient
Top middle schools
- Olentangy Liberty Middle SchoolA+ · 86% proficient
- Willard Grizzell Middle SchoolA+ · 84% proficient
- Olentangy Shanahan Middle SchoolA+ · 83% 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 school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Delaware 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 against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Delaware suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 86% of cities, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 19% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Delaware
Is Delaware a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Delaware ranks 261st of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, heat safety, and good schools, and lowest on transit and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Delaware expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $365,151. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $114,807 median income, cost of living beats 86% of cities.
Is Delaware safe?
Yes, Delaware is safer than 80% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $211 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Delaware?
July highs average about 84 degrees, and January highs near 36 with lows near 23. That works out to about 80 pleasant days a year, more than 43% of cities.
Is Delaware good for families?
Schools beat 89% of cities, crime safety beats 80%, and childcare runs $1,273 a month.
Compare Delaware with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Delaware. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Delaware 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 detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Delaware: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Delaware: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Delaware: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Delaware: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Delaware 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.