Best PlacesWest Salem, OH Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around West Salem, 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.
West Salem ranks 15,385th of 50,333 U.S. towns on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on cheap car insurance by a wide margin, and education levels rank lowest.
The best neighborhoods in West Salem
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 Salem's strengths and weaknesses
Where West Salem ranks high
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 95% of towns
- School gradeA−, better than 90% of towns
- Low vacancyBetter than 89% of towns
- Internet speedBetter than 87% of towns
- Disaster safetyBetter than 81% of towns
Where West Salem ranks low
- Educational attainmentBetter than only 26% of towns
- Health outlookBetter than only 28% of towns
- Air qualityBetter than only 29% of towns
- Nice weatherabout 72 pleasant days a year, better than only 31% of towns
- Short commute30.5 minutes each way, better than only 31% of towns
What it costs to buy a home in West Salem
A household needs to earn about $52,000 a year to comfortably buy the median West Salem home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $71,973, 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 West Salem's effective rate of 0.93%, 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 West Salem
West Salem'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 West Salem.
Who works in West Salem, and how
Work in West Salem centers on manufacturing and retail trade. Unemployment is close to the national rate, and jobs are growing.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 89%
- Work from home 5%
- Transit, walk, or bike 6%
Life in West Salem
The map and measures below break down dining, culture, and green space by neighborhood across West Salem.
What the weather is like in West Salem, month by month
West Salem sees roughly 72 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 85 degrees. January highs sit near 37, with lows near 19. The comfortable stretch runs May through September.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 37° | 28° | 19° |
| April | 63° | 49° | 37° |
| July | 85° | 73° | 61° |
| October | 67° | 54° | 43° |
Flying in and out of West Salem
Cleveland-Hopkins International sits about 34 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 4.9 million passengers in 2025, with 72 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around West Salem
Schools across West Salem average an A−, better than 90% of towns.
Top elementary schools
- Norwayne Elementary SchoolA+ · 77% proficient
- Northwestern Elementary SchoolA+ · 77% proficient
- Mapleton Elementary SchoolA · 72% proficient
Top middle schools
- Norwayne Middle SchoolA+ · 77% proficient
- Ashland Middle SchoolA+ · 68% proficient
- Cloverleaf Middle SchoolA · 64% proficient
Top high schools
- Ashland High SchoolA− · 65% proficient
- Northwestern High SchoolA− · 63% proficient
- Cloverleaf High SchoolA− · 62% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every West Salem school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
West Salem 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 Salem against the other 50,332 towns.
Common questions about living in West Salem
Is West Salem a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, West Salem ranks 15,385th of 50,333 towns. It scores highest on cheap car insurance, good schools, and few empty homes, and lowest on education levels and health outcomes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is West Salem expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $195,085. The overall cost of living runs about 15% below the national average. Set against a $71,973 median income, cost of living beats 52% of towns.
Is West Salem safe?
Yes, West Salem is safer than 71% of towns. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $241 per resident a year.
Compare West Salem with other towns
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to West Salem. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in West Salem 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 Salem detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for West Salem: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in West Salem: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of West Salem: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in West Salem: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
West Salem 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.