Best PlacesSummit County, OH Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Summit County, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. The averages hide a wide spread here, so the area matters as much as the address. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Summit County ranks 407th of 3,144 U.S. counties on the BestNeighborhood index. Paychecks stretch further here than almost anywhere else: the median household brings in $84,201, everyday costs sit below the national average, and good schools ranks near the top of the country. The main drawbacks are property taxes, childcare costs, and noise.
The best neighborhoods in Summit 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 Summit County
The parts of Summit 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.
Fairlawn, Richfield & Montrose-Ghent
Local pay stretches further, incomes run higher, and more adults hold degrees.
Stow, Hudson & Twinsburg
Crime runs lower and more residents vote.
Cuyahoga Falls, Northfield & Macedonia
Health care is easier to reach, though fewer households have young kids.
Green
Streets are more car-dependent.
Portage Lakes
Homes cost less.
Barberton, New Franklin & Norton
Health outcomes score lower.
Tallmadge
Schools score lower.
Akron
More homes sit empty and prices have run up more.
Summit County shows why a single number is not enough. Some neighborhoods score in the bottom 2% of the country and others in the top 1%. Pick the area first, then the home.
Summit County's strengths and weaknesses
Summit County ranks where it does because the parts of life that are hardest to change mostly work here. Transit is the standout, in the top 3% of counties. Cheap car insurance and biking follow.
The drawbacks are real but narrow. Property taxes, childcare costs, and noise hold the score down. The measures below break that down, and the map shows how much of it holds street by street.
Where Summit County ranks high
- TransitBetter than 97% of counties
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 95% of counties
- BikingBetter than 90% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 89% of counties
- School gradeB+, better than 87% of counties
Where Summit County ranks low
- Low property taxBetter than only 7% of counties
- Cheap childcare$1,273 a month, better than only 8% of counties
- QuietBetter than only 10% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 25% of counties
- Local economyBetter than only 26% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Summit County
A household needs to earn about $66,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Summit County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $84,201, 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 Summit County's effective rate of 1.49%, 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 Summit County
Summit 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 Summit County.
Who works in Summit County, and how
Work in Summit County centers on health care & social and manufacturing. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 81%
- Work from home 15%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Summit County
Summit County has more parkland per resident than 89% of counties and more late-night spots per resident than 84% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Summit County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Summit County growing, and who is moving in?
Summit County has lost about 1% of its population over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Cleveland, OH.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Summit County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Summit County, month by month
Summit County sees roughly 100 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 Summit County
The nearest airport, Akron-Canton Regional, is about 14 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 Summit County
Schools across Summit County average a B+, better than 87% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- East Woods Intermediate SchoolA+ · 88% proficient
- Bath Elementary SchoolA+ · 88% proficient
- Sharon Elementary SchoolA+ · 86% proficient
Top middle schools
- Hudson Middle SchoolA+ · 86% proficient
- Harmon Middle SchoolA+ · 83% proficient
- Lee Eaton Intermediate SchoolA+ · 82% proficient
Top high schools
- Revere High SchoolA+ · 84% proficient
- Highland High SchoolA+ · 83% proficient
- Aurora High SchoolA+ · 82% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Summit County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Summit 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 Summit County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Summit County suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 85% of counties, internet is fast and widely advertised, and 15% already work from home.
Retirees
The weather beats 60% of counties and health care access beats 68%.
Common questions about living in Summit County
Is Summit County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Summit County ranks 407th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on transit, cheap car insurance, and biking, and lowest on property taxes and childcare costs. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Summit County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $230,004. The overall cost of living runs about 12% below the national average. Set against a $84,201 median income, cost of living beats 85% of counties.
Is Summit County safe?
Summit County is safer than 31% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $402 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Summit County?
July highs average about 88 degrees, and January highs near 39 with lows near 22. That works out to about 100 pleasant days a year, more than 60% of counties.
What are the best neighborhoods in Summit County?
Using the default rankings, the highest-scoring areas are Fairlawn, Richfield & Montrose-Ghent, Stow, Hudson & Twinsburg, and Cuyahoga Falls, Northfield & Macedonia. The ranked list and the re-weightable map above let you re-sort them for your own priorities.
Is Summit County good for families?
Schools beat 87% of counties, crime safety beats 31%, and childcare runs $1,273 a month.
Is Summit County good for remote workers?
Cost of living against local pay beats 85% of counties, and the fastest advertised internet here beats 79% of counties. About 15% of workers already work from home.
Compare Summit County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Summit County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Summit 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.
Summit County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Summit County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Summit County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Summit County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Summit County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Summit 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.