Best PlacesDorset, OH Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Dorset, 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.
Dorset ranks 16,436th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cheap car insurance by a wide margin, and health outcomes rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Dorset
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.
Dorset's strengths and weaknesses
Where Dorset ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 94% of towns
- Heat safetyBetter than 94% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 88% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 82% of towns
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 82% of towns
Where Dorset ranks low
- Health outlookBetter than only 3% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 13% of towns
- Healthcare accessBetter than only 18% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than only 20% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 21% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Dorset
A household needs to earn about $52,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Dorset home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $91,409, 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 Dorset's effective rate of 1.17%, 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 Dorset
Dorset's age mix sits close to the national median, and households here run larger than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Dorset.
Who works in Dorset, and how
Work in Dorset centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 94%
- Work from home 2%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Dorset
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Dorset.
What the weather is like in Dorset, month by month
Dorset sees roughly 90 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 37, with lows near 21. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 37° | 28° | 21° |
| April | 61° | 48° | 37° |
| July | 84° | 72° | 61° |
| October | 66° | 55° | 44° |
Flying in and out of Dorset
The nearest airport, Erie International/Tom Ridge Field, is about 38 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Cleveland-Hopkins International, about 64 miles away.
The best schools in and around Dorset
Schools across Dorset average a B+, better than 80% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Pymatuning Valley Primary Elementary SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Rock Creek Elementary SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
- Jefferson ElementaryB+ · 53% proficient
Top middle schools
- Pymatuning Valley Middle SchoolA · 59% proficient
- Jefferson Area Junior High SchoolA− · 56% proficient
Top high schools
- Jefferson Area Sr High SchoolA− · 60% proficient
- Pymatuning Valley High SchoolB− · 42% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Dorset school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Dorset 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 Dorset against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Dorset
Is Dorset a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Dorset ranks 16,436th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, heat safety, and low disaster risk, and lowest on health outcomes and education levels. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Dorset expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $187,729. The overall cost of living runs about 8% below the national average. Set against a $91,409 median income, cost of living beats 82% of towns.
Is Dorset safe?
Dorset is safer than 41% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $296 per resident a year.
Compare Dorset with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Dorset. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Dorset 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.
Dorset detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Dorset: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Dorset: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Dorset: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Dorset: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Dorset 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.