Best PlacesLorain County, OH Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Lorain 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.
Lorain County ranks 551st of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $84,728, everyday costs sit below the national average, and good schools ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are childcare costs, property taxes, and noise.
The best neighborhoods in Lorain 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 Lorain County
The parts of Lorain 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.
Avon Lake & Avon
Local pay stretches further, more adults hold degrees, and incomes run higher.
Amherst
Schools score higher, though fewer households have young kids.
Grafton & Columbia Station
Crime runs lower and fewer homes sit empty.
North Ridgeville
Prices have run up less.
Oberlin & Wellington
It is quieter and advertised internet is faster.
Lagrange
Biking is worse and streets are more car-dependent.
Elyria
Homes cost less, though fewer residents vote.
Lorain
Health care is harder to reach and health outcomes score lower.
Lorain County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 2% of the country and others in the top 1%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Lorain County's strengths and weaknesses
Lorain 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 few empty homes carry most of that.
The drawbacks are real but narrow. Childcare costs, property taxes, and noise hold the score down. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Lorain County ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 96% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 94% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than 88% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 85% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 85% of counties
Where Lorain County ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,273 a month, better than only 8% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 13% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 14% of counties
- Nice weatherabout 71 pleasant days a year, better than only 22% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 25% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Lorain County
A household needs to earn about $66,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Lorain County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $84,728, 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 Lorain County's effective rate of 1.35%, 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 Lorain County
Lorain County runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Lorain County.
Who works in Lorain County, and how
Work in Lorain County centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 85%
- Work from home 12%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Lorain County
Lorain County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties and more parkland per resident than 77% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Lorain County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Lorain County growing, and who is moving in?
Lorain County has grown about 6% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Cleveland, OH metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Lorain County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Lorain County, month by month
Lorain County sees roughly 71 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 37, with lows near 21. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 37° | 28° | 21° |
| April | 62° | 49° | 38° |
| July | 85° | 74° | 63° |
| October | 68° | 56° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Lorain County
Cleveland-Hopkins International sits about 13 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 4.9 million passengers in 2025, with 72 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Lorain County
Schools across Lorain County average a B, better than 81% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Avon Heritage Elementary SchoolA+ · 85% proficient
- Kinsner Elementary SchoolA+ · 84% proficient
- Eastview Elementary SchoolA+ · 83% proficient
Top middle schools
- Learwood Middle SchoolA+ · 84% proficient
- Troy Intermediate Elementary SchoolA+ · 83% proficient
- Avon Middle SchoolA+ · 81% proficient
Top high schools
- Avon Lake High SchoolA+ · 80% proficient
- Avon High SchoolA · 78% proficient
- Strongsville High SchoolA · 75% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Lorain County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Lorain 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 Lorain County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Lorain County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 85% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 12% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Lorain County
Is Lorain County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Lorain County ranks 551st of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, low disaster risk, and few empty homes, and lowest on childcare costs and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Lorain County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $233,190. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $84,728 median income, cost of living beats 85% of counties.
Is Lorain County safe?
Yes, Lorain County is safer than 60% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $298 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Lorain County?
July highs average about 85 degrees, and January highs near 37 with lows near 21. That works out to about 71 pleasant days a year, more than 22% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Lorain County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Avon Lake & Avon, Amherst, and Grafton & Columbia Station. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Lorain County good for families?
Schools beat 81% of counties, crime safety beats 60%, and childcare runs $1,273 a month.
Is Lorain County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 85% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 64% of counties. About 12% of workers already work from home.
Compare Lorain County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Lorain County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Lorain 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.
Lorain County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Lorain County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Lorain County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Lorain County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Lorain County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Lorain 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.