Best PlacesLicking County, OH Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Licking 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.
Licking County ranks 280th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $93,994, everyday costs sit below the national average, and good schools ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are the weather, childcare costs, and property taxes.
The best neighborhoods in Licking 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 Licking County
The parts of Licking 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.
Johnstown, Alexandria & Concord
It is quieter, incomes run higher, and fewer homes sit empty.
Pataskala & Reynoldsburg
More households have young kids and local pay stretches further.
Utica
Scores close to Pataskala & Reynoldsburg, except that homes cost less here.
Newark
Biking is better and streets are more walkable.
St. Louisville
Tree cover is thicker, though fewer adults hold degrees.
Hebron & Buckeye Lake
Prices have run up more and schools score lower.
Licking County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 7% of the country and others in the top 1%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Licking County's strengths and weaknesses
Licking County ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. Cheap car insurance, low disaster risk, and what local pay buys carry most of that.
The drawbacks are real but narrow. The weather, childcare costs, 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 Licking County ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 95% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 93% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 93% of counties
- School gradeA−, better than 89% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than 89% of counties
Where Licking County ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 62 pleasant days a year, better than only 9% of counties
- Cheap childcare$959 a month, better than only 20% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 21% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 25% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 28% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Licking County
A household needs to earn about $77,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Licking County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $93,994, 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 Licking County's effective rate of 1.16%, 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 Licking County
Licking 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 Licking County.
Who works in Licking County, and how
Work in Licking 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 80%
- Work from home 16%
- Transit, walk, or bike 5%
Life in Licking County
Licking County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties and more parkland per resident than 73% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Licking County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Licking County growing, and who is moving in?
Licking County has grown about 9% 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 Licking County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Licking County, month by month
Licking County sees roughly 62 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 41, with lows near 22. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 41° | 31° | 22° |
| April | 67° | 53° | 40° |
| July | 88° | 75° | 63° |
| October | 71° | 56° | 43° |
Flying in and out of Licking County
John Glenn Columbus International sits about 20 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 Licking County
Schools across Licking County average an A−, better than 89% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- New Albany Primary SchoolA+ · 82% proficient
- Centerburg Elementary SchoolA+ · 81% proficient
- Granville Elementary SchoolA+ · 80% proficient
Top middle schools
- Granville Middle SchoolA+ · 88% proficient
- Granville Intermediate SchoolA+ · 86% proficient
- New Albany Intermediate SchoolA+ · 85% proficient
Top high schools
- Granville High SchoolA+ · 87% proficient
- New Albany High SchoolA · 78% proficient
- Johnstown High SchoolA · 77% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Licking County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Licking 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 Licking County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Licking County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 93% of counties and 16% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Licking County
Is Licking County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Licking County ranks 280th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, low disaster risk, and what local pay buys, and lowest on the weather and childcare costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Licking County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $280,466. The overall cost of living runs about 13% below the national average. Set against a $93,994 median income, cost of living beats 93% of counties.
Is Licking County safe?
Yes, Licking County is safer than 80% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $246 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Licking County?
July highs average about 88 degrees, and January highs near 41 with lows near 22. That works out to about 62 pleasant days a year, more than 9% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Licking County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Johnstown, Alexandria & Concord, Pataskala & Reynoldsburg, and Utica. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Licking County good for families?
Schools beat 89% of counties, crime safety beats 80%, and childcare runs $959 a month.
Is Licking County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 93% of counties, though advertised internet speeds beat only 41% of counties. About 16% of workers already work from home.
Compare Licking County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Licking County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Licking 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.
Licking County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Licking County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Licking County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Licking County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Licking County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Licking 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.