Best PlacesPotsdam, OH Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Potsdam, 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.
Potsdam ranks 9,354th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cheap car insurance by a wide margin, and the weather ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Potsdam
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.
Potsdam's strengths and weaknesses
Where Potsdam ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 98% of towns
- School gradeA−, better than 87% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 83% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 81% of towns
- Voter turnoutBetter than 78% of towns
Where Potsdam ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 60 pleasant days a year, better than only 8% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 16% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 17% of towns
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 31% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 32% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Potsdam
A household needs to earn about $55,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Potsdam home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $87,956, 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 Potsdam'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 7 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Potsdam
Potsdam runs older than the country.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Potsdam.
Who works in Potsdam, and how
Work in Potsdam centers on health care & social and construction. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 93%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 1%
Life in Potsdam
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Potsdam.
What the weather is like in Potsdam, month by month
Potsdam sees roughly 60 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 87 degrees. January highs sit near 40, with lows near 22. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 40° | 30° | 22° |
| April | 67° | 53° | 41° |
| July | 87° | 76° | 66° |
| October | 70° | 57° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Potsdam
The nearest airport, James M Cox Dayton International, is about 11 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International, about 64 miles away.
The best schools in and around Potsdam
Schools across Potsdam average an A−, better than 87% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Franklin Monroe Elementary SchoolA+ · 82% proficient
- Milton-union Elementary SchoolA− · 57% proficient
Top middle schools
- Milton-union Middle SchoolA · 61% proficient
Top high schools
- Franklin Monroe High SchoolA · 70% proficient
- Milton-union High SchoolB+ · 55% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Potsdam school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Potsdam 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 Potsdam against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Potsdam
Is Potsdam a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Potsdam ranks 9,354th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, good schools, and cell coverage, 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 Potsdam expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $207,958. The overall cost of living runs about 9% below the national average. Set against a $87,956 median income, cost of living beats 71% of towns.
Is Potsdam safe?
Yes, Potsdam is safer than 63% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $232 per resident a year.
Compare Potsdam with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Potsdam. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Potsdam 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.
Potsdam detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Potsdam: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Potsdam: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Potsdam: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Potsdam: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Potsdam 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.