Best PlacesStow, OH Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Stow, 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.
Stow ranks 392nd of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cheap car insurance by a wide margin, and internet speeds rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Stow
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.
Stow's strengths and weaknesses
Where Stow ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 99% of cities
- Healthcare accessBetter than 87% of cities
- Voter turnoutBetter than 87% of cities
- Heat safetyBetter than 86% of cities
- School gradeA−, better than 85% of cities
Where Stow ranks low
- Internet speedBetter than only 13% of cities
- Low property taxBetter than only 19% of cities
- WalkabilityBetter than only 29% of cities
- Cell coverageBetter than only 30% of cities
- Cheap childcare$1,273 a month, better than only 34% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Stow
A household needs to earn about $77,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Stow home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $96,084, 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 Stow's effective rate of 1.53%, 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 Stow
Stow's age mix sits close to the national median, 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 Stow.
Who works in Stow, and how
Work in Stow centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment is low, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 81%
- Work from home 17%
- Transit, walk, or bike 3%
Life in Stow
Stow has more restaurants and bars per resident than 71% of cities and more parkland per resident than 84% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Stow and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Stow, month by month
Stow sees roughly 113 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 degrees. January highs sit near 39, 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 | 39° | 30° | 22° |
| April | 65° | 52° | 40° |
| July | 88° | 76° | 64° |
| October | 69° | 57° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Stow
The nearest airport, Akron-Canton Regional, is about 18 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is Cleveland-Hopkins International, about 27 miles away.
The best schools in and around Stow
Schools across Stow average an A−, better than 85% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Woodland Elementary SchoolA+ · 80% proficient
- Highland Elementary SchoolA · 70% proficient
- Indian Trail Elementary SchoolA · 70% proficient
Top middle schools
- Hudson Middle SchoolA+ · 86% proficient
- Kimpton Middle SchoolA · 62% proficient
- Lakeview Elementary SchoolA− · 57% proficient
Top high schools
- Hudson High SchoolA+ · 81% proficient
- Woodridge High SchoolA · 68% proficient
- Theodore Roosevelt High SchoolA− · 60% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Stow school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Stow 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 Stow against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Stow suits
Retirees
The weather beats 67% of cities, health care access beats 87%, and it is quieter than 70%.
Common questions about living in Stow
Is Stow a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Stow ranks 392nd of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, health care access, and civic engagement, and lowest on internet speeds and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Stow expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $265,976. The overall cost of living runs about 10% below the national average. Set against a $96,084 median income, cost of living beats 68% of cities.
Is Stow safe?
Yes, Stow is safer than 81% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $208 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Stow?
July highs average about 88 degrees, and January highs near 39 with lows near 22. That works out to about 113 pleasant days a year, more than 67% of cities.
Is Stow good for families?
Schools beat 85% of cities, crime safety beats 81%, and childcare runs $1,273 a month.
Compare Stow with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Stow. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Stow 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.
Stow detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Stow: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Stow: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Stow: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Stow: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Stow 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.