Best PlacesDunkirk, OH Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Dunkirk, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Dunkirk ranks 27,919th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cheap car insurance by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Dunkirk
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.
Dunkirk's strengths and weaknesses
Where Dunkirk ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 96% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 88% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 86% of towns
- School gradeA−, better than 85% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 84% of towns
Where Dunkirk ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 10% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 15% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 65 pleasant days a year, better than only 17% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 24% of towns
- Household income$58,420 median, better than only 24% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Dunkirk
A household needs to earn about $35,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Dunkirk home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $58,420, 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 Dunkirk's effective rate of 1.12%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Dunkirk
Dunkirk's age mix sits close to the national median, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Dunkirk.
Who works in Dunkirk, and how
Work in Dunkirk centers on manufacturing and professional & technical. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 90%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Dunkirk
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Dunkirk.
What the weather is like in Dunkirk, month by month
Dunkirk sees roughly 65 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 38, with lows near 21. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 38° | 29° | 21° |
| April | 65° | 51° | 39° |
| July | 88° | 76° | 64° |
| October | 70° | 57° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Dunkirk
The nearest airport, Eugene F Kranz Toledo Express, is about 56 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is John Glenn Columbus International, about 68 miles away.
The best schools in and around Dunkirk
Schools across Dunkirk average an A−, better than 85% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Hardin Northern Elementary SchoolA · 63% proficient
Top high schools
- Hardin Northern High SchoolB+ · 57% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Dunkirk school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Dunkirk 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 Dunkirk against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Dunkirk
Is Dunkirk a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Dunkirk ranks 27,919th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, cell coverage, and walkability, and lowest on noise and tree cover. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Dunkirk expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $127,440. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $58,420 median income, cost of living beats 26% of towns.
Is Dunkirk safe?
Dunkirk is safer than 48% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $272 per resident a year.
Compare Dunkirk with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Dunkirk. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Dunkirk 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.
Dunkirk detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Dunkirk: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Dunkirk: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Dunkirk: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Dunkirk: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Dunkirk 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.