Best PlacesKettering, OH Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Kettering, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Kettering ranks 669th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cheap car insurance by a wide margin, and the weather ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Kettering
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.
Kettering's strengths and weaknesses
Where Kettering ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 98% of cities
- School gradeA−, better than 90% of cities
- Disaster safetyBetter than 89% of cities
- Short commute20.2 minutes each way, better than 86% of cities
- Housing crash safetyBetter than 83% of cities
Where Kettering ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 58 pleasant days a year, better than only 5% of cities
- Low property taxBetter than only 15% of cities
- Air qualityBetter than only 28% of cities
- Big-city accessBetter than only 31% of cities
- Household income$77,752 median, better than only 33% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Kettering
A household needs to earn about $63,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Kettering home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $77,752, 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 Kettering's effective rate of 1.67%, 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 Kettering
Kettering'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 Kettering.
Who works in Kettering, and how
Work in Kettering centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 82%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Kettering
Kettering has more restaurants and bars per resident than 68% of cities and more parkland per resident than 92% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Kettering and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Kettering, month by month
Kettering sees roughly 58 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 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° | 32° | 23° |
| April | 67° | 54° | 42° |
| July | 87° | 76° | 66° |
| October | 70° | 58° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Kettering
The nearest airport, James M Cox Dayton International, is about 15 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International, about 53 miles away.
The best schools in and around Kettering
Schools across Kettering average an A−, better than 90% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Harman Elementary SchoolA+ · 90% proficient
- Smith Elementary SchoolA+ · 84% proficient
- Indian Riffle Elementary SchoolA+ · 80% proficient
Top middle schools
- Oakwood Junior High SchoolA+ · 89% proficient
- Springboro Junior High SchoolA+ · 82% proficient
- Bellbrook Middle SchoolA+ · 82% proficient
Top high schools
- Oakwood High SchoolA+ · 88% proficient
- Dayton Regional Stem SchoolA+ · 82% proficient
- Springboro High SchoolA · 79% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Kettering school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Kettering 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 Kettering against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Kettering suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 12% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Kettering
Is Kettering a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Kettering ranks 669th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, good schools, and low disaster risk, and lowest on the weather and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Kettering expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $216,747. The overall cost of living runs about 10% below the national average. Set against a $77,752 median income, cost of living beats 43% of cities.
Is Kettering safe?
Yes, Kettering is safer than 58% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $267 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Kettering?
July highs average about 87 degrees, and January highs near 41 with lows near 23. That works out to about 58 pleasant days a year, more than 5% of cities.
Is Kettering good for families?
Schools beat 90% of cities, crime safety beats 58%, and childcare runs $1,273 a month.
Compare Kettering with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Kettering. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Kettering 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.
Kettering detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Kettering: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Kettering: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Kettering: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Kettering: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Kettering 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.