Best PlacesMuskingum County, OH Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Muskingum County, 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.
Muskingum County ranks 1,411th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cheap car insurance by a wide margin, and the weather ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Muskingum 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 Muskingum County
The parts of Muskingum 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.
New Concord
It is quieter, prices have run up less, and crime runs lower.
Nashport & Frazeysburg
Fewer homes sit empty and local pay stretches further.
Dresden
More households have young kids, though tree cover is thinner.
Roseville
Fewer adults hold degrees.
Zanesville
Streets are more walkable, though schools score lower.
Scores across Muskingum County run from about the 3rd to the 86th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Muskingum County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Muskingum County ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 96% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 89% of counties
- School gradeB, better than 79% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 76% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 74% of counties
Where Muskingum County ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 65 pleasant days a year, better than only 12% of counties
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 18% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than only 23% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 25% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than only 30% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Muskingum County
A household needs to earn about $48,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Muskingum County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $65,859, 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 Muskingum County's effective rate of 0.90%, 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 Muskingum County
Muskingum 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 Muskingum County.
Who works in Muskingum County, and how
Work in Muskingum 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 90%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Muskingum County
Muskingum County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties and more parkland per resident than 72% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Muskingum County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Muskingum County growing, and who is moving in?
Muskingum County has grown about 1% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Columbus, OH.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Muskingum County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Muskingum County, month by month
Muskingum County sees roughly 65 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 41, with lows near 23. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 41° | 31° | 23° |
| April | 67° | 53° | 41° |
| July | 87° | 75° | 64° |
| October | 70° | 56° | 44° |
Flying in and out of Muskingum County
John Glenn Columbus International sits about 48 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 Muskingum County
Schools across Muskingum County average a B, better than 79% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Nashport Elementary SchoolA+ · 80% proficient
- Larry Miller Intermediate Elementary SchoolA+ · 74% proficient
- Frazeysburg Elementary SchoolA+ · 73% proficient
Top middle schools
- East Muskingum Middle SchoolA · 63% proficient
- Tri-valley Middle SchoolA · 61% proficient
- Licking Valley Middle SchoolA− · 53% proficient
Top high schools
- John Glenn High SchoolA− · 62% proficient
- Tri-valley High SchoolB+ · 58% proficient
- Licking Valley High SchoolB+ · 57% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Muskingum County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Muskingum 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 Muskingum County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Muskingum County suits
Common questions about living in Muskingum County
Is Muskingum County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Muskingum County ranks 1,411th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, low disaster risk, and good schools, and lowest on the weather and an overheated housing market. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Muskingum County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $180,056. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $65,859 median income, cost of living beats 43% of counties.
Is Muskingum County safe?
Muskingum County is safer than 42% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $323 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Muskingum County?
July highs average about 87 degrees, and January highs near 41 with lows near 23. That works out to about 65 pleasant days a year, more than 12% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Muskingum County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are New Concord, Nashport & Frazeysburg, and Dresden. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Muskingum County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Muskingum County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Muskingum 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.
Muskingum County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Muskingum County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Muskingum County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Muskingum County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Muskingum County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Muskingum 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.