Best PlacesPreble County, OH Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Preble 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.
Preble County ranks 1,016th 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 Preble 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 Preble County
The parts of Preble 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.
Lewisburg
Fewer homes sit empty, prices have run up less, and local pay stretches further.
West Alexandria
It is quieter, though fewer households have young kids.
Eaton
Advertised internet is faster, though incomes run lower.
New Paris
Crime runs higher and fewer residents vote.
Camden
Tree cover is thicker, though commutes are longer.
Scores across Preble County run from about the 19th to the 81st percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Preble County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Preble County ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 98% of counties
- School gradeA−, better than 90% of counties
- Low vacancyBetter than 81% of counties
- Voter turnoutBetter than 81% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than 81% of counties
Where Preble County ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 70 pleasant days a year, better 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
- Low property taxBetter than only 30% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Preble County
A household needs to earn about $49,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Preble County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $69,635, 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 Preble County's effective rate of 1.01%, 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 Preble County
Preble 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 Preble County.
Who works in Preble County, and how
Work in Preble 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 89%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Preble County
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across Preble County.
Is Preble County growing, and who is moving in?
Preble County has lost about 2% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Cincinnati, OH.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Preble County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Preble County, month by month
Preble County sees roughly 70 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 40, with lows near 24. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 40° | 31° | 24° |
| April | 67° | 53° | 42° |
| July | 86° | 75° | 66° |
| October | 69° | 57° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Preble County
The nearest airport, James M Cox Dayton International, is about 24 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International, about 48 miles away.
The best schools in and around Preble County
Schools across Preble County average an A−, better than 90% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- National Trail Elementary SchoolA+ · 73% proficient
- Brookville Elementary SchoolA+ · 73% proficient
- William Bruce Elementary SchoolA · 70% proficient
Top middle schools
- Brookville Intermediate SchoolA+ · 80% proficient
- Eaton Middle SchoolA+ · 70% proficient
- Valley View Junior High SchoolA · 64% proficient
Top high schools
- Brookville High SchoolA · 70% proficient
- Talawanda High SchoolA · 68% proficient
- Valley View High SchoolA− · 67% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Preble County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Preble 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 Preble County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Preble County suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 8% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Preble County
Is Preble County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Preble County ranks 1,016th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, good schools, and few empty homes, and lowest on the weather and childcare costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Preble County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $181,000. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $69,635 median income, cost of living beats 52% of counties.
Is Preble County safe?
Yes, Preble County is safer than 62% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $278 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Preble County?
July highs average about 86 degrees, and January highs near 40 with lows near 24. That works out to about 70 pleasant days a year, more than 20% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Preble County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Lewisburg, West Alexandria, and Eaton. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Preble County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Preble County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Preble 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.
Preble County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Preble County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Preble County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Preble County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Preble County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Preble 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.