Best PlacesWest End, Cincinnati, OH Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around West End, Cincinnati, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
West End, Cincinnati ranks 5,448th of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on transit by a wide margin, and noise is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in West End, Cincinnati
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.
West End, Cincinnati's strengths and weaknesses
Where West End, Cincinnati ranks high
- TransitBetter than 93% of neighborhoods
- WalkabilityBetter than 86% of neighborhoods
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 85% of neighborhoods
- Short commute19.9 minutes each way, better than 80% of neighborhoods
- Disaster safetyBetter than 73% of neighborhoods
Where West End, Cincinnati ranks low
- QuietBetter than only 4% of neighborhoods
- Household income$29,812 median, better than only 5% of neighborhoods
- Crime safetyBetter than only 5% of neighborhoods
- Cost of living vs incomeBetter than only 6% of neighborhoods
- Nice weatherabout 60 pleasant days a year, better than only 9% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in West End, Cincinnati
A household needs to earn about $104,000 a year to comfortably buy the median West End, Cincinnati home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That runs well above the area's median income of $29,812, 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 West End, Cincinnati's effective rate of 1.40%, 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 West End, Cincinnati
West End, Cincinnati runs younger 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 West End, Cincinnati.
Who works in West End, Cincinnati, and how
Work in West End, Cincinnati centers on hospitality & food and health care & social. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and employment has held roughly flat.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 68%
- Work from home 8%
- Transit, walk, or bike 24%
Life in West End, Cincinnati
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across West End, Cincinnati.
What the weather is like in West End, Cincinnati, month by month
West End, Cincinnati sees roughly 60 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 89 degrees. January highs sit near 44, with lows near 23. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 44° | 33° | 23° |
| April | 69° | 54° | 41° |
| July | 89° | 76° | 65° |
| October | 72° | 57° | 45° |
Flying in and out of West End, Cincinnati
Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International sits about 9 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 4.4 million passengers in 2025, with 99 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around West End, Cincinnati
Schools across West End, Cincinnati average a D, better than 14% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- Academy Of World Languages SchoolD · 18% proficient
- George Hays-jennie Porter SchoolD · 16% proficient
Top high schools
- Virtual High SchoolD · 22% proficient
- Hughes Stem High SchoolD · 21% proficient
- Robert A. Taft Information Technology High SchoolD− · 14% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every West End, Cincinnati school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
West End, Cincinnati 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 West End, Cincinnati against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in West End, Cincinnati
Is West End, Cincinnati a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, West End, Cincinnati ranks 5,448th of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on transit, walkability, and cheap car insurance, and lowest on noise and low incomes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is West End, Cincinnati expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $366,310. The overall cost of living runs about 17% below the national average. Set against a $29,812 median income, cost of living beats 6% of neighborhoods.
Is West End, Cincinnati safe?
West End, Cincinnati is safer than 5% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $891 per resident a year.
Compare West End, Cincinnati with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to West End, Cincinnati. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in West End, Cincinnati 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.
West End, Cincinnati detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for West End, Cincinnati: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in West End, Cincinnati: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of West End, Cincinnati: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in West End, Cincinnati: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
West End, Cincinnati 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.