Best PlacesPaulding County, OH Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Paulding County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. This page is for people who live here or already know they want to. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Paulding County ranks 945th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cheap car insurance by a wide margin, and the weather ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Paulding 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.
Paulding County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Paulding County ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 99% of counties
- School gradeA−, better than 92% of counties
- Healthcare accessBetter than 70% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 69% of counties
- Big-city accessBetter than 69% of counties
Where Paulding County ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 65 pleasant days a year, better than only 13% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 22% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 25% of counties
- WalkabilityBetter than only 31% of counties
- BikingBetter than only 32% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Paulding County
A household needs to earn about $38,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Paulding County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $69,421, 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 Paulding County's effective rate of 0.93%, 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 6 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Paulding County
Paulding County'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 Paulding County.
Who works in Paulding County, and how
Work in Paulding 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 92%
- Work from home 4%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Paulding County
Paulding County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties and more parkland per resident than 76% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Paulding County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Paulding County growing, and who is moving in?
Paulding County has lost about 1% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Defiance County, OH.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Paulding County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Paulding County, month by month
Paulding County sees roughly 65 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 36, with lows near 20. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 36° | 28° | 20° |
| April | 63° | 50° | 38° |
| July | 87° | 75° | 63° |
| October | 68° | 55° | 44° |
Flying in and out of Paulding County
The nearest airport, Fort Wayne International, is about 33 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Detroit Metro Wayne County, about 98 miles away.
The best schools in and around Paulding County
Schools across Paulding County average an A−, better than 92% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Ottoville Elementary SchoolA+ · 93% proficient
- Oakwood Elementary SchoolA+ · 82% proficient
- Grover Hill Elementary SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
Top middle schools
- Antwerp Local Middle SchoolA+ · 68% proficient
- Paulding Middle SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
- Defiance Middle SchoolB+ · 48% proficient
Top high schools
- Ottoville High SchoolA+ · 88% proficient
- Wayne Trace High SchoolA · 69% proficient
- Antwerp Local High SchoolA− · 62% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Paulding County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Paulding 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 Paulding County against the other 3,143 counties.
Common questions about living in Paulding County
Is Paulding County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Paulding County ranks 945th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, good schools, and health care access, and lowest on the weather and tree cover. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Paulding County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $141,377. The overall cost of living runs about 18% below the national average. Set against a $69,421 median income, cost of living beats 65% of counties.
Is Paulding County safe?
Yes, Paulding County is safer than 65% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $279 per resident a year.
Compare Paulding County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Paulding County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Paulding 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.
Paulding County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Paulding County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Paulding County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Paulding County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Paulding County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Paulding 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.