Best PlacesWapakoneta, OH Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Wapakoneta, 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.
Wapakoneta ranks 8,245th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cheap car insurance by a wide margin, and the weather ranks lowest.
The best neighborhoods in Wapakoneta
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.
Wapakoneta's strengths and weaknesses
Where Wapakoneta ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 98% of towns
- Cell coverageBetter than 97% of towns
- School gradeA, better than 94% of towns
- WalkabilityBetter than 94% of towns
- Short commute19.6 minutes each way, better than 89% of towns
Where Wapakoneta ranks low
- Nice weatherabout 61 pleasant days a year, better than only 10% of towns
- QuietBetter than only 10% of towns
- Tree shadeBetter than only 18% of towns
- Cheap childcare$959 a month, better than only 28% of towns
- State fiscal healthBetter than only 32% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in Wapakoneta
A household needs to earn about $50,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Wapakoneta home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $76,062, 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 Wapakoneta's effective rate of 0.95%, 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 Wapakoneta
Wapakoneta'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 Wapakoneta.
Who works in Wapakoneta, and how
Work in Wapakoneta 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 89%
- Work from home 6%
- Transit, walk, or bike 4%
Life in Wapakoneta
Wapakoneta has more restaurants and bars per resident than 76% of towns and more parkland per resident than 93% of towns. Dining, parks, and nightlife concentrates in some parts of Wapakoneta and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Wapakoneta, month by month
Wapakoneta sees roughly 61 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 Wapakoneta
The nearest airport, James M Cox Dayton International, is about 46 miles away and is a small airport. The nearest major hub is John Glenn Columbus International, about 79 miles away.
The best schools in and around Wapakoneta
Schools across Wapakoneta average an A, better than 94% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Botkins Elementary SchoolA+ · 82% proficient
- New Knoxville Elementary SchoolA+ · 80% proficient
- Jackson Center Elementary SchoolA+ · 80% proficient
Top middle schools
- Spencerville Middle SchoolA+ · 71% proficient
- Wapakoneta Middle SchoolA+ · 70% proficient
- St. Marys Middle SchoolA · 67% proficient
Top high schools
- Botkins High SchoolA+ · 80% proficient
- New Knoxville High SchoolA · 73% proficient
- Jackson Center High SchoolA · 70% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Wapakoneta school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Wapakoneta 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 Wapakoneta against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in Wapakoneta
Is Wapakoneta a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Wapakoneta ranks 8,245th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, cell coverage, and good schools, and lowest on the weather and noise. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Wapakoneta expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $187,630. The overall cost of living runs about 16% below the national average. Set against a $76,062 median income, cost of living beats 64% of towns.
Is Wapakoneta safe?
Yes, Wapakoneta is safer than 70% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $218 per resident a year.
Compare Wapakoneta with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Wapakoneta. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Wapakoneta 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.
Wapakoneta detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Wapakoneta: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Wapakoneta: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Wapakoneta: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Wapakoneta: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Wapakoneta 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.