Best PlacesOttawa County, OH Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Ottawa County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages are not the whole story, and the strongest areas score well above them. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Ottawa County ranks 524th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cheap car insurance by a wide margin, and a weak job market ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Ottawa 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 Ottawa County
The parts of Ottawa 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.
Elmore
Genoa
Fewer homes sit empty and more households have young kids.
Port Clinton & Oak Harbor
Local pay stretches less far and incomes run lower.
Lakeside-Marblehead
Tree cover is thicker, though prices have run up more.
Scores across Ottawa County run from about the 18th to the 92nd percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Ottawa County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Ottawa County ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 98% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 97% of counties
- School gradeA, better than 96% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than 95% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than 94% of counties
Where Ottawa County ranks low
- Local economyBetter than only 14% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than only 20% of counties
- Cheap childcare$959 a month, better than only 20% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than only 24% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 25% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Ottawa County
A household needs to earn about $62,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Ottawa County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $79,872, 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 Ottawa 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 10 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Ottawa County
Ottawa County runs older than the country, 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 Ottawa County.
Who works in Ottawa County, and how
Work in Ottawa County centers on manufacturing and health care & social. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 87%
- Work from home 9%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Ottawa County
Ottawa County has more restaurants and bars per resident than 83% of counties and more parkland per resident than 90% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Ottawa County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Ottawa County growing, and who is moving in?
Ottawa County has lost about 3% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Toledo, OH.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Ottawa County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Ottawa County, month by month
Ottawa County sees roughly 85 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 35, with lows near 23. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 35° | 29° | 23° |
| April | 59° | 49° | 42° |
| July | 84° | 75° | 68° |
| October | 65° | 56° | 49° |
Flying in and out of Ottawa County
The nearest airport, Eugene F Kranz Toledo Express, is about 38 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Detroit Metro Wayne County, about 49 miles away.
The best schools in and around Ottawa County
Schools across Ottawa County average an A, better than 96% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Genoa ElementaryA+ · 78% proficient
- Put-in-bay Elementary SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Lake Elementary SchoolA+ · 73% proficient
Top middle schools
- Oak Harbor Middle SchoolA+ · 79% proficient
- Danbury Middle SchoolA+ · 68% proficient
- Woodmore Middle SchoolA · 63% proficient
Top high schools
- Oak Harbor High SchoolA · 79% proficient
- Woodmore High SchoolA− · 67% proficient
- Genoa Area High SchoolA− · 67% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Ottawa County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Ottawa 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 Ottawa County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Ottawa County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 76% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 9% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Ottawa County
Is Ottawa County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Ottawa County ranks 524th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, civic engagement, and good schools, and lowest on a weak job market and empty homes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Ottawa County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $229,103. The overall cost of living runs about 8% below the national average. Set against a $79,872 median income, cost of living beats 76% of counties.
Is Ottawa County safe?
Yes, Ottawa County is safer than 73% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $258 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Ottawa County?
July highs average about 84 degrees, and January highs near 35 with lows near 23. That works out to about 85 pleasant days a year, more than 45% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Ottawa County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Elmore, Genoa, and Port Clinton & Oak Harbor. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Ottawa County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Ottawa County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Ottawa 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.
Ottawa County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Ottawa County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Ottawa County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Ottawa County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Ottawa County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Ottawa 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.