Best PlacesMiami County, OH Best Neighborhoods

2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026

Every neighborhood in Miami 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.

See the map of best neighborhoods

Miami County ranks 306th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $83,981, everyday costs sit below the national average, and good schools ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are the weather, air quality, and state finances.

#306
of 3,144 counties
BestNeighborhood rank
Defaults weight crime safety, affordability, schools, and weather highest: the things hardest to change after a move
N/A
of 3,144 counties
Your rank
Set your priorities to see your rank

The best neighborhoods in Miami County

Map of the best neighborhoods in the Miami County area, with better matches in green and worse matches in red
Click the map to explore
National median
Worse match Better match
Colorblind friendly off
Popular priorities:

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 Miami County

The parts of Miami 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.

#1

Tipp City

Crime runs lower, local pay stretches further, and incomes run higher.

WorseBetter
87th nationally
#2

Pleasant Hill

It is quieter and more households have young kids.

WorseBetter
79th nationally
#3

Troy

Streets are more walkable, though prices have run up more.

WorseBetter
65th nationally
#4

West Milton

More residents vote, though fewer adults hold degrees.

WorseBetter
62nd nationally
#5

Covington

Homes cost less, though schools score lower.

WorseBetter
61st nationally
#6

Piqua

Biking is better, though health care is harder to reach.

WorseBetter
50th nationally

Scores across Miami County run from about the 20th to the 96th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.


Miami County's strengths and weaknesses

Top 1%Cheap car insurance
Top 10%Few empty homes
Top 10%Good schools

Miami County ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. Cheap car insurance is the standout, in the top 1% of counties. Few empty homes and good schools follow.

The drawbacks are real but narrow. The weather, air quality, and state finances hold the score down. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.

Each measure against the national median. Bars to the right beat the median; bars to the left fall short. Percentiles compare Miami County with other counties.

Where Miami County ranks high

  • Cheap car insuranceBetter than 99% of counties
  • Low vacancyBetter than 94% of counties
  • School gradeA−, better than 93% of counties
  • Internet speedBetter than 92% of counties
  • Cell coverageBetter than 91% of counties

Where Miami County ranks low

  • Nice weatherabout 64 pleasant days a year, better than only 11% of counties
  • Air qualityBetter than only 19% of counties
  • State fiscal healthBetter than only 25% of counties
  • Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 26% of counties
  • Low property taxBetter than only 28% of counties

What it costs to buy a home in Miami County

A household needs to earn about $65,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Miami County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $83,981, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.

Income to buy the median home
$65,000
a year, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate
Estimated monthly payment
$1,524
principal, interest, tax, and insurance on a $241,960 home
Median rent
$1,025
a month, across all home sizes

Where the monthly payment goes

Principal & interest$1,234
Property tax$209
Homeowners insurance$81

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 Miami County's effective rate of 1.04%, 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.

Cumulative cost of renting versus owning the median home, first 10 years. Illustrative estimate.

Who lives in Miami County

Miami County's age mix sits close to the national median.

Median age
42
older than the U.S. median of 41
Residents 65 and older
20%
versus 18% nationally
Average household
2.5
near the U.S. average of 2.6

Residents by age

Under 1822%
18 to 3420%
35 to 4919%
50 to 6420%
65 and older20%

Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Miami County.


Who works in Miami County, and how

Work in Miami County centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.

Work from home
11%
below the national average
Unemployment
3.6%
below the national average
Job growth
+1.2%
/y 2019-2023, slower than the national pace

Largest industries

Manufacturing23%
Health care & social13%
Retail trade10%
Education8%
Hospitality & food7%

How people get to work

  • Drive or carpool 85%
  • Work from home 11%
  • Transit, walk, or bike 4%

Life in Miami County

Miami County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties and more parkland per resident than 80% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Miami County and thins out in others, which the map shows.

Places to eat and drink
367
restaurants, bars, and fast food, about 33.7 per 10,000 residents, more than 20% of counties
Coffee shops
48
about 4.4 per 10,000 residents, more than 40% of counties
Parkland
901 acres
about 8.3 acres per 1,000 residents, more than 80% of counties
Open past 10pm
~49
food and drink venues open late, about 4.5 per 10,000 residents, more than 28% of counties

Is Miami County growing, and who is moving in?

Miami County has grown about 8% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Dayton, OH metro.

Population growth
+8%
over the decade, vs about 6% nationally
Population
111,950
up from 103,856
Population by year. Source: U.S. Census Population Estimates Program.

Where new residents come from

The rest of the Dayton, OH metro1,765 / yr
Shelby County, OH444 / yr
Darke County, OH267 / yr
Columbus, OH208 / yr
Cincinnati, OH192 / yr

Where people leaving Miami County go

The rest of the Dayton, OH metro1,681 / yr
Cincinnati, OH451 / yr
Columbus, OH438 / yr
Shelby County, OH330 / yr
Darke County, OH255 / yr

Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.


What the weather is like in Miami County, month by month

Miami County sees roughly 64 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 40, with lows near 22. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.

Average daily high, mean, and low in degrees Fahrenheit, NOAA station data 2016 to 2025.
Show the monthly temperatures
MonthAvg highAvgAvg low
January40°30°22°
April67°53°41°
July87°76°66°
October70°57°46°

Flying in and out of Miami County

The nearest airport, James M Cox Dayton International, is about 10 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is John Glenn Columbus International, about 71 miles away.

Nearest airport
DAY
James M Cox Dayton International, about 10 miles
Airport size
Small hub
129th-busiest in the US, 33 nonstop destinations
Average drive
14 min
from the area, with no traffic

The best schools in and around Miami County

Schools across Miami County average an A−, better than 93% of counties.

Top elementary schools

Top middle schools

Top high schools

Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Miami County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.


Miami 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 Miami County against the other 3,143 counties.


Who Miami County suits

Families

Schools beat 93% of counties and crime safety beats 86%.

See the families priority ↑

Remote workers

Cost of living against local pay beats 77% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 11% already work from home.

See the remote-work priority ↑

Retirees

Health care access beats 79%.

See the retirees priority ↑


Common questions about living in Miami County

Is Miami County a good place to live?

Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Miami County ranks 306th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, few empty homes, and good schools, and lowest on the weather and air quality. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.

Is Miami County expensive to live in?

The median home is worth $241,960. The overall cost of living runs about 9% below the national average. Set against a $83,981 median income, cost of living beats 77% of counties.

Is Miami County safe?

Yes, Miami County is safer than 86% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $232 per resident a year.

What is the weather like in Miami County?

July highs average about 87 degrees, and January highs near 40 with lows near 22. That works out to about 64 pleasant days a year, more than 11% of counties.

What are the best neighborhoods in Miami County?

Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Tipp City, Pleasant Hill, and Troy. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.

Is Miami County good for families?

Schools beat 93% of counties, crime safety beats 86%, and childcare runs $764 a month.

Is Miami County good for remote workers?

Cost of living against local pay beats 77% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 92% of counties. About 11% of workers already work from home.


Compare Miami County with other counties


Sources and methodology

Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Miami County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Miami 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.

Miami County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:

  1. Walk Grade for Miami County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
  2. Noise in Miami County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
  3. Conservative vs liberal map of Miami County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
  4. Mobile and cell coverage in Miami County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.

Miami County detail on related sites:

  1. CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
  2. ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
  3. CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.

Federal and public data:

  1. 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.
  2. U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program: population growth and net migration behind the population-change section.
  3. NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
  4. FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
  5. Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
  6. FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
  7. U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
  8. FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
  9. CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
  10. National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
  11. FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
  12. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
  13. Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.