Best PlacesNew Albany, OH Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around New Albany, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
New Albany ranks 38th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on what local pay buys by a wide margin, and the weather ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in New Albany
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.
New Albany's strengths and weaknesses
Where New Albany ranks high
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 99% of cities
- Household income$168,307 median, better than 95% of cities
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 94% of cities
- Disaster safetyBetter than 94% of cities
- Health outlookBetter than 94% of cities
Where New Albany ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 62 pleasant days a year, better than only 11% of cities
- Low property taxBetter than only 14% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than only 27% of cities
- Air qualityBetter than only 29% of cities
- TransitBetter than only 32% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in New Albany
A household needs to earn about $167,000 a year to comfortably buy the median New Albany home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $168,307, 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 New Albany's effective rate of 1.72%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in New Albany
New Albany'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 New Albany.
Who works in New Albany, and how
Work in New Albany centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 71%
- Work from home 26%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in New Albany
New Albany has more restaurants and bars per resident than 70% of cities and more parkland per resident than 95% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of New Albany and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in New Albany, month by month
New Albany sees roughly 62 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 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° | 31° | 23° |
| April | 67° | 53° | 41° |
| July | 88° | 76° | 66° |
| October | 71° | 58° | 46° |
Flying in and out of New Albany
John Glenn Columbus International sits about 7 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 New Albany
Schools across New Albany average an A−, better than 92% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- New Albany Primary SchoolA+ · 82% proficient
- High Point Elementary SchoolA+ · 80% proficient
- Blacklick Elementary SchoolA · 71% proficient
Top middle schools
- New Albany Intermediate SchoolA+ · 85% proficient
- New Albany Middle SchoolA+ · 84% proficient
- Big Walnut Intermediate SchoolA+ · 74% proficient
Top high schools
- New Albany High SchoolA · 78% proficient
- Johnstown High SchoolA · 77% proficient
- Big Walnut High SchoolA · 72% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every New Albany school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
New Albany 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 New Albany against the other 2,097 cities.
Who New Albany suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 99% of cities and 26% already work from home.
Common questions about living in New Albany
Is New Albany a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, New Albany ranks 38th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on what local pay buys, high incomes, and cheap car insurance, 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 New Albany expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $568,106. The overall cost of living runs about 7% below the national average. Set against a $168,307 median income, cost of living beats 99% of cities.
Is New Albany safe?
Yes, New Albany is safer than 78% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $211 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in New Albany?
July highs average about 88 degrees, and January highs near 41 with lows near 23. That works out to about 62 pleasant days a year, more than 11% of cities.
Is New Albany good for families?
Schools beat 92% of cities, crime safety beats 78%, and childcare runs $1,270 a month.
Compare New Albany with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to New Albany. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in New Albany 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.
New Albany detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for New Albany: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in New Albany: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of New Albany: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in New Albany: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
New Albany 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.