Best PlacesJefferson County, OH Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Jefferson County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages are not the whole story, and the strongest areas score well above them. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Jefferson County ranks 1,434th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cheap car insurance by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Jefferson 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 Jefferson County
The parts of Jefferson 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.
Steubenville & Wintersville
Fewer homes sit empty, local pay stretches further, and more residents vote.
Richmond
It is quieter and tree cover is thicker.
Toronto
Streets are more walkable.
Dillonvale
Schools score lower and commutes are longer.
Rayland
Incomes run lower and fewer adults hold degrees.
Mingo Junction
Disaster risk is higher and fewer households have young kids.
Scores across Jefferson County run from about the 8th to the 90th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Jefferson County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Jefferson County ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 98% of counties
- School gradeB+, better than 89% of counties
- TransitBetter than 88% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 80% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 79% of counties
Where Jefferson County ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,273 a month, better than only 8% of counties
- Local economyBetter than only 19% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 21% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than only 23% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 25% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Jefferson County
A household needs to earn about $35,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Jefferson County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $60,408, 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 Jefferson 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 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 Jefferson County
Jefferson County runs older than the country, 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 Jefferson County.
Who works in Jefferson County, and how
Work in Jefferson 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 86%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Jefferson County
Jefferson County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 78% of counties and more parkland per resident than 75% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Jefferson County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Jefferson County growing, and who is moving in?
Jefferson County has lost about 6% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Weirton, WV metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Jefferson County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Jefferson County, month by month
Jefferson County sees roughly 74 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 40, with lows near 23. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 40° | 31° | 23° |
| April | 66° | 53° | 41° |
| July | 86° | 74° | 64° |
| October | 69° | 57° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Jefferson County
Pittsburgh International sits about 26 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 4.8 million passengers in 2025, with 104 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Jefferson County
Schools across Jefferson County average a B+, better than 89% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Wells AcademyA+ · 98% proficient
- Mckinley Stem AcademyA+ · 95% proficient
- Pugliese Elementary WestA+ · 90% proficient
Top middle schools
- Harding Middle SchoolA · 66% proficient
- Edison Jr. High SchoolA− · 58% proficient
- Indian Creek Middle School Grades 5 & 6A− · 55% proficient
Top high schools
- Steubenville High SchoolA− · 63% proficient
- Toronto Jr. / Sr. High SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
- Indian Creek High SchoolB+ · 53% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Jefferson County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Jefferson 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 Jefferson County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Jefferson County suits
Common questions about living in Jefferson County
Is Jefferson County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Jefferson County ranks 1,434th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, good schools, and transit, and lowest on childcare costs and a weak job market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Jefferson County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $131,723. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $60,408 median income, cost of living beats 30% of counties.
Is Jefferson County safe?
Jefferson County is safer than 36% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $338 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Jefferson County?
July highs average about 86 degrees, and January highs near 40 with lows near 23. That works out to about 74 pleasant days a year, more than 28% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Jefferson County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Steubenville & Wintersville, Richmond, and Toronto. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Jefferson County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Jefferson County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Jefferson 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.
Jefferson County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Jefferson County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Jefferson County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Jefferson County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Jefferson County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Jefferson 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.