Best PlacesUpper Arlington, OH Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Upper Arlington, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Local pay runs high here, and housing takes the biggest bite out of it. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Upper Arlington ranks 12th of 2,098 U.S. cities on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on an educated workforce by a wide margin, and the weather ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Upper Arlington
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.
Upper Arlington's strengths and weaknesses
Where Upper Arlington ranks high
- Educational attainmentBetter than 99% of cities
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than 99% of cities
- Healthcare accessBetter than 97% of cities
- School gradeA, better than 96% of cities
- Voter turnoutBetter than 96% of cities
Where Upper Arlington ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 56 pleasant days a year, better than only 2% of cities
- Low property taxBetter than only 15% of cities
- Air qualityBetter than only 31% of cities
- Cheap childcare$1,273 a month, better than only 34% of cities
- Low income/sales/gas taxBetter than only 40% of cities
What it costs to buy a home in Upper Arlington
A household needs to earn about $178,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Upper Arlington home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $158,732, so buying stretches a typical household.
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 Upper Arlington's effective rate of 1.66%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices and rents, renting stays cheaper than buying across the first 10 years here, so the case for buying rests on staying much longer or on prices rising faster than assumed. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Upper Arlington
Upper Arlington'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 Upper Arlington.
Who works in Upper Arlington, and how
Work in Upper Arlington centers on health care & social and professional & technical. Unemployment is low, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 71%
- Work from home 26%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Upper Arlington
Upper Arlington has more restaurants and bars per resident than 76% of cities and more parkland per resident than 90% of cities. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Upper Arlington and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Upper Arlington, month by month
Upper Arlington sees roughly 56 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 88 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° | 31° | 22° |
| April | 66° | 53° | 41° |
| July | 88° | 76° | 65° |
| October | 70° | 57° | 46° |
Flying in and out of Upper Arlington
John Glenn Columbus International sits about 9 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 4.4 million passengers in 2025, with 94 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Upper Arlington
Schools across Upper Arlington average an A, better than 96% of cities.
Top elementary schools
- Barrington Road Elementary SchoolA+ · 88% proficient
- Windermere Elementary SchoolA+ · 85% proficient
- Greensview Elementary SchoolA+ · 83% proficient
Top middle schools
- Larson Middle SchoolA+ · 85% proficient
- Hastings Middle SchoolA+ · 77% proficient
- Jones Middle SchoolA+ · 77% proficient
Top high schools
- Grandview Heights High SchoolA+ · 80% proficient
- Upper Arlington High SchoolA · 78% proficient
- Dublin Coffman High SchoolA · 71% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Upper Arlington school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Upper Arlington 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 Upper Arlington against the other 2,097 cities.
Who Upper Arlington suits
Remote workers
Cost of living against local pay beats 99% of cities and 26% already work from home.
Common questions about living in Upper Arlington
Is Upper Arlington a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Upper Arlington ranks 12th of 2,098 cities. It scores highest on an educated workforce, what local pay buys, and health care access, and lowest on the weather and property taxes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Upper Arlington expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $608,056. The overall cost of living runs about 6% below the national average. Set against a $158,732 median income, cost of living beats 99% of cities.
Is Upper Arlington safe?
Upper Arlington is safer than 42% of cities. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $298 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Upper Arlington?
July highs average about 88 degrees, and January highs near 40 with lows near 22. That works out to about 56 pleasant days a year, more than 2% of cities.
Is Upper Arlington good for families?
Schools beat 96% of cities, crime safety beats 42%, and childcare runs $1,273 a month.
Compare Upper Arlington with other cities
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Upper Arlington. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Upper Arlington 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.
Upper Arlington detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Upper Arlington: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Upper Arlington: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Upper Arlington: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Upper Arlington: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Upper Arlington 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.