Best PlacesNiles, OH Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Niles, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Niles ranks 29,464th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on fast internet by a wide margin, and childcare costs are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Niles
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.
Niles' strengths and weaknesses
Where Niles ranks high
- Internet speedBetter than 99% of towns
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 98% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 94% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 91% of towns
- BikingBetter than 91% of towns
Where Niles ranks low
- Cheap childcare$1,273 a month, better than only 11% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 15% of towns
- Low property taxBetter than only 15% of towns
- Housing crash safetyBetter than only 15% of towns
- Household income$53,409 median, better than only 17% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Niles
A household needs to earn about $37,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Niles home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $53,409, 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 Niles' effective rate of 1.32%, 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 5 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Niles
Niles's age mix sits close to the national median, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Niles.
Who works in Niles, and how
Work in Niles centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 92%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Niles
Niles has more restaurants and bars per resident than 88% of towns and more parkland per resident than 93% of towns. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Niles and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Niles, month by month
Niles sees roughly 69 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 38, with lows near 21. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 38° | 29° | 21° |
| April | 64° | 50° | 37° |
| July | 86° | 73° | 61° |
| October | 67° | 55° | 44° |
Flying in and out of Niles
The nearest airport, Akron-Canton Regional, is about 41 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Pittsburgh International, about 55 miles away.
The best schools in and around Niles
Schools across Niles average a B, better than 71% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Seaborn Elementary SchoolA+ · 76% proficient
- Roosevelt Elementary SchoolA · 64% proficient
- E J Blott Elementary SchoolC · 35% proficient
Top middle schools
- Howland Middle SchoolA · 63% proficient
- Mathews Junior High SchoolA− · 57% proficient
- Niles Intermediate SchoolA− · 56% proficient
Top high schools
- Howland High SchoolA− · 64% proficient
- Mcdonald High SchoolA− · 63% proficient
- Mathews High SchoolA− · 63% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Niles school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Niles 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 Niles against the other 50,332 towns.
Who Niles suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 6% already work from home.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Niles
Is Niles a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Niles ranks 29,464th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on fast internet, cheap car insurance, and walkability, and lowest on childcare costs and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Niles expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $131,888. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $53,409 median income, cost of living beats 21% of towns.
Is Niles safe?
Niles is safer than 24% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $379 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Niles?
July highs average about 86 degrees, and January highs near 38 with lows near 21. That works out to about 69 pleasant days a year, more than 24% of towns.
Is Niles good for families?
Schools beat 71% of towns, crime safety beats 24%, and childcare runs $1,273 a month.
Compare Niles with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Niles. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Niles 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.
Niles detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Niles: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Niles: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Niles: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Niles: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Niles 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.