Best PlacesOxford, OH Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Oxford, 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.
Oxford ranks 1,487th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cheap car insurance by a wide margin, and empty homes are the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Oxford
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.
Oxford's strengths and weaknesses
Where Oxford ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 98% of cities
- Short commute18.4 minutes each way, better than 92% of cities
- QuietBetter than 91% of cities
- School gradeA−, better than 88% of cities
- Heat safetyBetter than 88% of cities
Where Oxford ranks low
- Low vacancyBetter than only 3% of cities
- Household income$53,775 median, better than only 3% of cities
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 4% of cities
- Local economyBetter than only 5% of cities
- Internet speedBetter than only 6% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Oxford
A household needs to earn about $69,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Oxford home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $53,775, so buying stretches a typical household.
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 Oxford's effective rate of 1.10%, 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 Oxford
Oxford runs younger than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Oxford.
Who works in Oxford, and how
Work in Oxford centers on education and hospitality & food. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 58%
- Work from home 16%
- Transit, walk, or bike 25%
Life in Oxford
Oxford has more restaurants and bars per resident than 72% of cities and more parkland per resident than 84% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Oxford and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Oxford, month by month
Oxford sees roughly 61 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 43, 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 | 43° | 32° | 23° |
| April | 69° | 54° | 41° |
| July | 89° | 76° | 64° |
| October | 72° | 57° | 43° |
Flying in and out of Oxford
Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International sits about 32 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 4.4 million passengers in 2025, with 99 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Oxford
Schools across Oxford average an A−, better than 88% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Kramer Elementary SchoolA · 67% proficient
- Bogan ElementaryA · 65% proficient
- Maude Marshall Elementary SchoolB− · 42% proficient
Top middle schools
- Talawanda Middle SchoolA− · 57% proficient
- Wilson Middle SchoolB+ · 51% proficient
Top high schools
- Talawanda High SchoolA · 68% proficient
- Hamilton High SchoolB · 48% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Oxford school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Oxford 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 Oxford against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Oxford suits
Common questions about living in Oxford
Is Oxford a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Oxford ranks 1,487th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, short commutes, and quiet, and lowest on empty homes and low incomes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Oxford expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $255,333. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $53,775 median income, cost of living beats 4% of cities.
Is Oxford safe?
Oxford is safer than 30% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $346 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Oxford?
July highs average about 89 degrees, and January highs near 43 with lows near 23. That works out to about 61 pleasant days a year, more than 9% of cities.
Is Oxford good for families?
Schools beat 88% of cities, crime safety beats 30%, and childcare runs $1,273 a month.
Compare Oxford with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Oxford. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Oxford 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.
Oxford detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Oxford: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Oxford: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Oxford: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Oxford: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Oxford 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.