Best PlacesFayette County, OH Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Fayette County, 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.
Fayette County ranks 1,199th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cheap car insurance by a wide margin, and the weather ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Fayette 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.
Fayette County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Fayette County ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 96% of counties
- School gradeA−, better than 91% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than 88% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 82% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 81% of counties
Where Fayette County ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 63 pleasant days a year, better than only 9% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 18% of counties
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 20% of counties
- Cheap childcare$959 a month, better than only 20% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than only 21% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Fayette County
A household needs to earn about $48,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Fayette County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $65,033, 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 Fayette County's effective rate of 0.92%, 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 8 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Fayette County
Fayette 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 Fayette County.
Who works in Fayette County, and how
Work in Fayette County centers on manufacturing and health care & social. 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 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Fayette County
Fayette County has more parkland per resident than 74% of counties. That concentrates in some parts of Fayette County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Fayette County growing, and who is moving in?
Fayette County has held roughly flat in population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Columbus, OH.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Fayette County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Fayette County, month by month
Fayette County sees roughly 63 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 40, with lows near 22. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 40° | 31° | 22° |
| April | 66° | 53° | 41° |
| July | 87° | 75° | 64° |
| October | 70° | 57° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Fayette County
The nearest airport, Rickenbacker International, is about 33 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is John Glenn Columbus International, about 43 miles away.
The best schools in and around Fayette County
Schools across Fayette County average an A−, better than 91% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Greeneview Elementary SchoolA · 69% proficient
- Miami Trace Elementary SchoolA · 66% proficient
- Greenfield Elementary SchoolA · 65% proficient
Top middle schools
- Miami Trace Middle SchoolA+ · 70% proficient
- Madison-plains Intermediate SchoolA · 62% proficient
- Greeneview Middle SchoolA · 59% proficient
Top high schools
- Madison-plains High SchoolA− · 63% proficient
- Miami Trace High SchoolA− · 63% proficient
- Mcclain High SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Fayette County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Fayette 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 Fayette County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Fayette County suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 6% already work from home.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Fayette County
Is Fayette County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Fayette County ranks 1,199th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, good schools, and cell coverage, and lowest on the weather and tree cover. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Fayette County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $182,095. The overall cost of living runs about 19% below the national average. Set against a $65,033 median income, cost of living beats 51% of counties.
Is Fayette County safe?
Fayette County is safer than 49% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $311 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Fayette County?
July highs average about 87 degrees, and January highs near 40 with lows near 22. That works out to about 63 pleasant days a year, more than 9% of counties.
Is Fayette County good for families?
Schools beat 91% of counties, crime safety beats 49%, and childcare runs $959 a month.
Compare Fayette County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Fayette County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Fayette 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.
Fayette County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Fayette County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Fayette County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Fayette County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Fayette County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Fayette 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.