Best PlacesPickaway County, OH Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Pickaway 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.
Pickaway County ranks 520th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on few empty homes by a wide margin, and the weather ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Pickaway 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 Pickaway County
The parts of Pickaway 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.
Ashville & South Bloomfield
More households have young kids, fewer homes sit empty, and crime runs lower.
Orient & Commercial Point
It is quieter, though prices have run up more.
Circleville
More adults hold degrees and biking is better.
Pickaway County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 15% of the country and others in the top 8%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Pickaway County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Pickaway County ranks high
- Low vacancyBetter than 96% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 94% of counties
- School gradeA−, better than 91% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 89% of counties
- Local economyBetter than 88% of counties
Where Pickaway County ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 72 pleasant days a year, better than only 23% of counties
- Air qualityBetter than only 24% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 25% of counties
- Short commute27.9 minutes each way, better than only 26% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 28% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Pickaway County
A household needs to earn about $70,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Pickaway County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $81,406, 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 Pickaway County's effective rate of 0.95%, 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 9 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Pickaway County
Pickaway 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 Pickaway County.
Who works in Pickaway County, and how
Work in Pickaway County centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 84%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 2%
Life in Pickaway County
Pickaway County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties and more parkland per resident than 70% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Pickaway County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Pickaway County growing, and who is moving in?
Pickaway County has grown about 10% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from the rest of the Columbus, OH metro.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Pickaway County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Pickaway County, month by month
Pickaway County sees roughly 72 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 38, with lows near 24. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 38° | 30° | 24° |
| April | 64° | 53° | 43° |
| July | 86° | 75° | 66° |
| October | 68° | 56° | 47° |
Flying in and out of Pickaway County
The nearest airport, Rickenbacker International, is about 10 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is John Glenn Columbus International, about 23 miles away.
The best schools in and around Pickaway County
Schools across Pickaway County average an A−, better than 91% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Walnut Elementary SchoolA+ · 83% proficient
- Scioto Elementary SchoolA+ · 77% proficient
- South Bloomfield ElementaryA+ · 77% proficient
Top middle schools
- Miami Trace Middle SchoolA+ · 70% proficient
- Teays Valley West Middle SchoolA · 67% proficient
- Salt Creek Intermediate SchoolA · 66% proficient
Top high schools
- Teays Valley High SchoolA− · 64% proficient
- Grove City High SchoolA− · 63% proficient
- Miami Trace High SchoolA− · 63% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Pickaway County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Pickaway 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 Pickaway County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Pickaway County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 79% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 14% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Pickaway County
Is Pickaway County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Pickaway County ranks 520th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on few empty homes, cheap car insurance, and good schools, and lowest on the weather and air quality. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Pickaway County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $261,940. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $81,406 median income, cost of living beats 79% of counties.
Is Pickaway County safe?
Yes, Pickaway County is safer than 70% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $268 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Pickaway County?
July highs average about 86 degrees, and January highs near 38 with lows near 24. That works out to about 72 pleasant days a year, more than 23% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Pickaway County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Ashville & South Bloomfield, Orient & Commercial Point, and Circleville. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Pickaway County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Pickaway County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Pickaway 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.
Pickaway County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Pickaway County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Pickaway County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Pickaway County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Pickaway County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Pickaway 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.