Best PlacesVan Wert County, OH Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in Van Wert 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.
Van Wert County ranks 796th 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 Van Wert 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.
Van Wert County's strengths and weaknesses
Where Van Wert County ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 99% of counties
- School gradeA−, better than 93% of counties
- Cell coverageBetter than 89% of counties
- Short commute19.7 minutes each way, better than 80% of counties
- Disaster safetyBetter than 80% of counties
Where Van Wert County ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 58 pleasant days a year, better than only 4% of counties
- Tree shadeBetter than only 18% of counties
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 25% of counties
- Low property taxBetter than only 36% of counties
- Local economyBetter than only 38% of counties
What it costs to buy a home in Van Wert County
A household needs to earn about $40,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Van Wert County home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $68,249, 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 Van Wert County's effective rate of 0.92%, 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 Van Wert County
Van Wert 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 Van Wert County.
Who works in Van Wert County, and how
Work in Van Wert 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 91%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Van Wert County
Van Wert County has fewer places to eat and drink per resident than most counties and more parkland per resident than 66% of counties. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Van Wert County and thins out in others, which the map shows.
Is Van Wert County growing, and who is moving in?
Van Wert County has grown about 2% over the last decade. The largest inbound stream comes from Lima, OH.
Where new residents come from
Where people leaving Van Wert County go
Move counts are the latest county-to-county migration flows, each county grouped into its metro.
What the weather is like in Van Wert County, month by month
Van Wert County sees roughly 58 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 86 degrees. January highs sit near 37, with lows near 20. The comfortable stretch runs May through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 37° | 29° | 20° |
| April | 64° | 51° | 39° |
| July | 86° | 75° | 64° |
| October | 69° | 56° | 45° |
Flying in and out of Van Wert County
The nearest airport, Fort Wayne International, is about 34 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is John Glenn Columbus International, about 106 miles away.
The best schools in and around Van Wert County
Schools across Van Wert County average an A−, better than 93% of counties.
Top elementary schools
- Crestview Elementary SchoolA+ · 88% proficient
- Parkway Elementary SchoolA+ · 83% proficient
- Franklin Elementary SchoolA+ · 80% proficient
Top middle schools
- Jefferson Middle SchoolA+ · 79% proficient
- Parkway Middle SchoolA+ · 75% proficient
- Crestview Middle SchoolA+ · 74% proficient
Top high schools
- Lincolnview Jr/sr High SchoolA · 79% proficient
- Jefferson High SchoolA · 70% proficient
- Wayne Trace High SchoolA · 69% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Van Wert County school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Van Wert 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 Van Wert County against the other 3,143 counties.
Who Van Wert County suits
Common questions about living in Van Wert County
Is Van Wert County a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Van Wert County ranks 796th of 3,144 counties. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, good schools, and cell coverage, and lowest on the weather and tree cover. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Van Wert County expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $151,549. The overall cost of living runs about 14% below the national average. Set against a $68,249 median income, cost of living beats 49% of counties.
Is Van Wert County safe?
Van Wert County is safer than 54% of counties. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $289 per resident a year.
What is the weather like in Van Wert County?
July highs average about 86 degrees, and January highs near 37 with lows near 20. That works out to about 58 pleasant days a year, more than 4% of counties.
Is Van Wert County good for families?
Schools beat 93% of counties, crime safety beats 54%, and childcare runs $764 a month.
Compare Van Wert County with other counties
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Van Wert County. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Van Wert 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.
Van Wert County detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Van Wert County: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Van Wert County: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Van Wert County: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Van Wert County: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Van Wert 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.