Dayton conjures up images of tons of things to do, quality people, and a bustling economy. The region consistently ranks as one of the best places to live across the country.
But not everyone is cut out for city life. Some people would prefer to live in the cities and towns that surround Dayton.
So the question arises, do the suburbs maintain a semblance of the larger-than-life appeal of their more famous neighbor?
Today, we’ll use science and data to determine which Dayton ‘burbs need a little tender loving care – the sore thumbs of the Dayton area if you will. Realistically, you can’t expect all the suburbs to live up to Dayton proper, although Oakwood certainly tries.
We examined the 27 biggest suburbs of Dayton to find out the worst places to live. And while you won’t find them on the worst places to live in Ohio, these ten places are a little too far downwind of Dayton in terms of quality of life:
- Trotwood (Photos)
- Moraine (Photos)
- New Carlisle (Photos)
- Riverside (Photos)
- Xenia (Photos)
- Park Layne
- West Carrollton (Photos)
- Huber Heights (Photos)
- Green Meadows
- Fairborn (Photos)
Read on to see how we determined the places around Dayton that need a pick-me-up. And remember, don’t blame the messenger. And once you’re done, you can look at the bottom of the story for a complete chart of worst to best.
How we determined the worst Dayton ‘burbs
To figure out how bad a place is to live in, we only needed to know what kinds of things people like and then decide what cities have the least amount of those things. We threw a lot of criteria at this one in order to get the best, most complete results possible. Using the Census’s most recent 2010-2014 American Community Survey, this is the criteria we used:
- Low unemployment (Less jobs)
- Low median income (Less pay)
- Low population density (No things to do)
- Low home values (No one’s willing to pay to live here)
- High number of high school drop outs
Then, we ranked each place that have over 5,000 people around Dayton for each of these criteria from worst to best.
The place with the lowest average rankings for these criteria ranks as the worst suburb of Dayton.
Read on below to learn more about these terrible places around Dayton to live. Or skip to the end to see the list of all 27 suburbs ranked from worst to best.
This list is a scientific analysis based on real data and is completely unbiased. Snarkiness incorporated for entertainment purposes only. Hold on to your pants.
1. Trotwood
Population: 24,322
Median Income: $35,697
Median Home Value: $78,600
2. Moraine
Population: 6,333
Median Income: $44,203
Median Home Value: $85,100
3. New Carlisle
Population: 5,732
Median Income: $38,399
Median Home Value: $92,000
4. Riverside
Population: 25,143
Median Income: $41,734
Median Home Value: $89,000
5. Xenia
Population: 25,903
Median Income: $37,153
Median Home Value: $97,500
6. Park Layne
Population: 4,747
Median Income: $46,882
Median Home Value: $78,700
7. West Carrollton
Population: 13,087
Median Income: $37,179
Median Home Value: $96,100
8. Huber Heights
Population: 38,484
Median Income: $51,938
Median Home Value: $106,000
9. Green Meadows
Population: 2,513
Median Income: $56,094
Median Home Value: $108,300
10. Fairborn
Population: 33,039
Median Income: $42,545
Median Home Value: $106,600
The areas around Dayton that you probably don’t want to live in
Well there you have it — the worst of the ‘burbs surrounding Dayton with Trotwood landing ahead of the pack.
As we mentioned earlier, the suburbs around Dayton aren’t all bad. Oakwood takes the cake as the best place to live around Dayton.
For the chart below, these are ranked from worst to best.
For more Ohio reading, check out:
- These Are The 10 Happiest Cities In Ohio
- 25 Emojis That Perfectly Explain Ohio
- These Are The 10 Best Places To Live In Ohio
Detailed List Of Dayton Suburbs
Place | Rank |
---|---|
Trotwood | 1 |
Moraine | 2 |
New Carlisle | 3 |
Riverside | 4 |
Xenia | 5 |
Park Layne | 6 |
West Carrollton | 7 |
Huber Heights | 8 |
Green Meadows | 9 |
Fairborn | 10 |
Brookville | 11 |
Vandalia | 12 |
Clayton | 13 |
Troy | 14 |
West Milton | 15 |
Miamisburg | 16 |
Union | 17 |
Kettering | 18 |
Englewood | 19 |
Enon | 20 |
Tipp City | 21 |
Waynesville | 22 |
Beavercreek | 23 |
Bellbrook | 24 |
Centerville | 25 |
Springboro | 26 |
Oakwood | 27 |