Best Placesoakwood, Dayton, OH Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around oakwood, Dayton, 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.
oakwood, Dayton ranks 80th of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on good schools by a wide margin, and property taxes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in oakwood, Dayton
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.
oakwood, Dayton's strengths and weaknesses
Where oakwood, Dayton ranks high
- School gradeA+, better than 99% of neighborhoods
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 99% of neighborhoods
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 99% of neighborhoods
- Educational attainmentBetter than 98% of neighborhoods
- Healthcare accessBetter than 98% of neighborhoods
Where oakwood, Dayton ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 2% of neighborhoods
- Nice weatherabout 58 pleasant days a year, better than only 5% of neighborhoods
- Big-city accessBetter than only 22% of neighborhoods
- WalkabilityBetter than only 27% of neighborhoods
- Air qualityBetter than only 34% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in oakwood, Dayton
A household needs to earn about $117,000 a year to comfortably buy the median oakwood, Dayton home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $164,620, 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 oakwood, Dayton's effective rate of 2.23%, 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 oakwood, Dayton
oakwood, Dayton'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 oakwood, Dayton.
Who works in oakwood, Dayton, and how
Work in oakwood, Dayton centers on health care & social and professional & technical. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 79%
- Work from home 17%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in oakwood, Dayton
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across oakwood, Dayton.
What the weather is like in oakwood, Dayton, month by month
oakwood, Dayton sees roughly 58 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 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° | 32° | 23° |
| April | 67° | 54° | 42° |
| July | 87° | 76° | 66° |
| October | 70° | 58° | 46° |
Flying in and out of oakwood, Dayton
The nearest airport, James M Cox Dayton International, is about 13 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International, about 53 miles away.
The best schools in and around oakwood, Dayton
Schools across oakwood, Dayton average an A+, better than 99% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- Harman Elementary SchoolA+ · 90% proficient
- Smith Elementary SchoolA+ · 84% proficient
- Cleveland Elementary SchoolD− · 14% proficient
Top middle schools
- Oakwood Junior High SchoolA+ · 89% proficient
Top high schools
- Oakwood High SchoolA+ · 88% proficient
- Stivers School For The ArtsB+ · 54% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every oakwood, Dayton school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
oakwood, Dayton 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 oakwood, Dayton against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in oakwood, Dayton
Is oakwood, Dayton a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, oakwood, Dayton ranks 80th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on good schools, what local pay buys, and cheap car insurance, and lowest on property taxes and the weather. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is oakwood, Dayton expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $376,039. The overall cost of living runs about 4% below the national average. Set against a $164,620 median income, cost of living beats 99% of neighborhoods.
Is oakwood, Dayton safe?
Yes, oakwood, Dayton is safer than 73% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $299 per resident a year.
Compare oakwood, Dayton with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to oakwood, Dayton. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in oakwood, Dayton 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.
oakwood, Dayton detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for oakwood, Dayton: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in oakwood, Dayton: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of oakwood, Dayton: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in oakwood, Dayton: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
oakwood, Dayton 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.