Best PlacesFairfield County, OH Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Fairfield 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.
Fairfield County ranks 193rd of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $95,825, everyday costs sit below the national average, and good schools ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are childcare costs, the weather, and property taxes.
The best neighborhoods in Fairfield 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 Fairfield County
The parts of Fairfield 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.
Pickerington
More households have young kids, local pay stretches further, and incomes run higher.
Carroll & Lithopolis
Fewer homes sit empty and it is quieter.
Baltimore
More residents vote, though biking is worse.
Amanda & Stoutsville
Fewer adults hold degrees and health outcomes score lower.
Lancaster
Prices have run up more and tree cover is thinner.
Millersport
Advertised internet is slower.
Sugar Grove & Bremen
Homes cost less and streets are more walkable.
Hamburg
Health care is harder to reach and schools score lower.
Scores across Fairfield County run from about the 19th to the 100th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Fairfield County's strengths and weaknesses
Fairfield County ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. What local pay buys, few empty homes, and cheap car insurance carry most of that.
The drawbacks are real but narrow. Childcare costs, the weather, and property taxes hold the score down. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Fairfield County ranks high
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 94% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than 93% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 93% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 93% of counties
- Household income$95,825 median, better than 90% of counties
Where Fairfield County ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,273 a month, better than only 8% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 66 pleasant days a year, better than only 14% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 24% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 24% of counties
- Short commute28.0 minutes each way, better than only 25% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Fairfield County
A household needs to earn about $80,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Fairfield County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $95,825, 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 Fairfield County's effective rate of 1.11%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Fairfield County
Fairfield 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 Fairfield County.
Who works in Fairfield County, and how
Work in Fairfield County centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 83%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Fairfield County
Fairfield County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties and more late-night spots per resident than 76% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Fairfield County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Fairfield County growing, and who is moving in?
Fairfield County has grown about 12% 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 Fairfield County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Fairfield County, month by month
Fairfield County sees roughly 66 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 41, with lows near 21. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 41° | 31° | 21° |
| April | 67° | 53° | 40° |
| July | 86° | 74° | 63° |
| October | 70° | 56° | 43° |
Flying in and out of Fairfield County
The nearest airport, Rickenbacker International, is about 14 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is John Glenn Columbus International, about 18 miles away.
The best schools in and around Fairfield County
Schools across Fairfield County average a B+, better than 86% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Walnut Elementary SchoolA+ · 83% proficient
- Toll Gate ElementaryA+ · 76% proficient
- Thornville Elementary SchoolA · 70% proficient
Top middle schools
- Toll Gate Middle SchoolA+ · 81% proficient
- Bloom-carroll Middle SchoolA+ · 68% proficient
- Watkins Intermediate SchoolA · 67% proficient
Top high schools
- Pickerington High School NorthA · 71% proficient
- Pickerington High School CentralA− · 67% proficient
- Teays Valley High SchoolA− · 64% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Fairfield County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Fairfield 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 Fairfield County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Fairfield County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 94% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 14% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Fairfield County
Is Fairfield County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Fairfield County ranks 193rd of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on what local pay buys, few empty homes, and cheap car insurance, and lowest on childcare costs and the weather. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Fairfield County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $294,235. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $95,825 median income, cost of living beats 94% of counties.
Is Fairfield County safe?
Yes, Fairfield County is safer than 86% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $228 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Fairfield County?
July highs average about 86 degrees, and January highs near 41 with lows near 21. That works out to about 66 pleasant days a year, more than 14% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Fairfield County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Pickerington, Carroll & Lithopolis, and Baltimore. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Fairfield County good for families?
Schools beat 86% of counties, crime safety beats 86%, and childcare runs $1,273 a month.
Is Fairfield County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 94% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 68% of counties. About 14% of workers already work from home.
Compare Fairfield County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Fairfield County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Fairfield 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.
Fairfield County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Fairfield County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Fairfield County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Fairfield County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Fairfield County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Fairfield 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.