Best PlacesScioto County, OH Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Scioto County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages are not the whole story, and the strongest areas score well above them. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Scioto County ranks 2,130th 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 Scioto 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 Scioto County
The parts of Scioto 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.
Minford
More households have young kids, it is quieter, and incomes run higher.
Wheelersburg & Franklin Furnace
Fewer homes sit empty, though tree cover is thinner.
Lucasville
Local pay stretches further and crime runs lower.
McDermott
Commutes are longer and streets are more car-dependent.
West Portsmouth
Prices have run up less, though fewer adults hold degrees.
Portsmouth
Schools score lower and heat risk is higher.
Scores across Scioto County run from about the 3rd to the 84th percentile nationally. The map is where that becomes a choice of area.
Scioto County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Scioto County ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 94% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 86% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than 78% of counties
- Internet speedBetter than 76% of counties
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than 76% of counties
Where Scioto County ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 58 pleasant days a year, better than only 4% of counties
- Health outlookBetter than only 12% of counties
- Household income$54,821 median, better than only 16% of counties
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 24% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 24% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Scioto County
A household needs to earn about $39,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Scioto County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $54,821, 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 Scioto County's effective rate of 1.11%, 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 Scioto County
Scioto 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 Scioto County.
Who works in Scioto County, and how
Work in Scioto County centers on health care & social and retail trade. Unemployment sits above the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 7%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Scioto County
Scioto County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties and less parkland per resident than most counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Scioto County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Scioto County growing, and who is moving in?
Scioto County has lost about 7% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Columbus, OH.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Scioto County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Scioto County, month by month
Scioto County sees roughly 58 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 46, with lows near 25. The comfortable stretch runs April through June and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 46° | 34° | 25° |
| April | 70° | 55° | 42° |
| July | 89° | 76° | 67° |
| October | 73° | 58° | 47° |
Flying in and out of Scioto County
The nearest airport, Tri-State/Milton J Ferguson Field, is about 35 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is John Glenn Columbus International, about 84 miles away.
The best schools in and around Scioto County
Schools across Scioto County average a B−, better than 68% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Bloom-vernon Elementary SchoolA+ · 72% proficient
- Wheelersburg Elementary SchoolA · 65% proficient
- Eastern Intermediate Elementary SchoolA− · 58% proficient
Top middle schools
- Wheelersburg Middle SchoolA · 60% proficient
- Valley Middle SchoolA− · 56% proficient
- Eastern Middle SchoolB+ · 52% proficient
Top high schools
- Wheelersburg High SchoolA− · 65% proficient
- South Webster Jr/sr High SchoolA− · 63% proficient
- Valley High SchoolB · 48% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Scioto County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Scioto 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 Scioto County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Scioto County suits
Remote workers
Internet is fast and widely advertised and 7% already work from home.
Retirees
Set weather, quiet, and health care weights on the map to test the fit.
Common questions about living in Scioto County
Is Scioto County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Scioto County ranks 2,130th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, low disaster risk, and tree cover, and lowest on the weather and health outcomes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Scioto County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $143,216. The overall cost of living runs about 21% below the national average. Set against a $54,821 median income, cost of living beats 24% of counties.
Is Scioto County safe?
Scioto County is safer than 40% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $338 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Scioto County?
July highs average about 89 degrees, and January highs near 46 with lows near 25. That works out to about 58 pleasant days a year, more than 4% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Scioto County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Minford, Wheelersburg & Franklin Furnace, and Lucasville. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Compare Scioto County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Scioto County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Scioto 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.
Scioto County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Scioto County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Scioto County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Scioto County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Scioto County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Scioto 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.