Best PlacesFranklin County, OH Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Franklin 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.
Franklin County ranks 336th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $88,366, everyday costs sit below the national average, and an educated workforce ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are noise, childcare costs, and the weather.
The best neighborhoods in Franklin 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 Franklin County
The parts of Franklin 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.
Dublin
More adults hold degrees, local pay stretches further, and incomes run higher.
Hilliard & Upper Arlington
Schools score higher and crime runs lower.
Westerville, New Albany & Gahanna
Fewer homes sit empty, though streets are more car-dependent.
Worthington
Scores close to Westerville, New Albany & Gahanna, except that transit reaches more jobs here.
Grove City & Galloway
Homes cost less, though health outcomes score lower.
Black Lick, Reynoldsburg & Whitehall
More households have young kids, though biking is worse.
Columbus
Fewer residents vote and health care is harder to reach.
Canal Winchester & Groveport
Scores close to Columbus, except that it is quieter here.
Lockbourne
Tree cover is thinner.
Franklin County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 3% of the country and others in the top 1%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Franklin County's strengths and weaknesses
Franklin County ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. Transit is the standout, in the top 2% of counties. Biking and walkability follow.
The drawbacks are real but narrow. Noise, childcare costs, and the weather hold the score down. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Franklin County ranks high
- TransitBetter than 98% of counties
- BikingBetter than 97% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than 96% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 95% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than 94% of counties
Where Franklin County ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 5% of counties
- Cheap childcare$1,273 a month, better than only 8% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 62 pleasant days a year, better than only 8% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 9% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than only 21% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Franklin County
A household needs to earn about $89,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Franklin County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is only a little above the area's median income of $88,366; the gap is small, which keeps homes within reach of local pay.
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 Franklin County's effective rate of 1.44%, 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 Franklin County
Franklin County runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Franklin County.
Who works in Franklin County, and how
Work in Franklin County centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 74%
- Work from home 19%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in Franklin County
Franklin County has more parkland per resident than 80% of counties and more late-night spots per resident than 84% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Franklin County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Franklin County growing, and who is moving in?
Franklin County has grown about 10% 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 Franklin County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Franklin County, month by month
Franklin County sees roughly 62 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 41, with lows near 23. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 41° | 31° | 23° |
| April | 67° | 53° | 41° |
| July | 88° | 76° | 66° |
| October | 71° | 58° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Franklin County
John Glenn Columbus International sits about 5 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 Franklin County
Schools across Franklin County average a B−, better than 74% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Mary Emma Bailey Elementary SchoolA+ · 90% proficient
- Emerson Elementary SchoolA+ · 89% proficient
- Barrington Road Elementary SchoolA+ · 88% proficient
Top middle schools
- Phoenix Middle SchoolA+ · 87% proficient
- Larson Middle SchoolA+ · 85% proficient
- New Albany Intermediate SchoolA+ · 85% proficient
Top high schools
- Bexley High SchoolA+ · 88% proficient
- Dublin Jerome High SchoolA+ · 87% proficient
- Grandview Heights High SchoolA+ · 80% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Franklin County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Franklin 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 Franklin County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Franklin County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 91% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 19% already work from home.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Franklin County
Is Franklin County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Franklin County ranks 336th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on transit, biking, and walkability, and lowest on noise and childcare costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Franklin County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $311,899. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $88,366 median income, cost of living beats 91% of counties.
Is Franklin County safe?
Franklin County is safer than 32% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $370 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Franklin County?
July highs average about 88 degrees, and January highs near 41 with lows near 23. That works out to about 62 pleasant days a year, more than 8% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Franklin County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Dublin, Hilliard & Upper Arlington, and Westerville, New Albany & Gahanna. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Franklin County good for families?
Schools beat 74% of counties, crime safety beats 32%, and childcare runs $1,273 a month.
Is Franklin County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 91% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 74% of counties. About 19% of workers already work from home.
Compare Franklin County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Franklin County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Franklin 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.
Franklin County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Franklin County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Franklin County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Franklin County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Franklin County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Franklin 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.