Dayton, Ohio

Area Profile

136,579 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Dayton, in Montgomery County.

57out of 100
Area Score
Bottom 45% of 4,196 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 16 sources
Opportunity2,544th of 4,199 cities measured51
Schools4,045th of 4,162 cities measured10
Growth2,126th of 4,224 cities measured50
Housing affordabilityTop 42% of 4,218 cities measured69
Climate2,470th of 4,225 cities measured68
Physical resilienceTop 16% of 4,226 cities measured85
AccessTop 16% of 4,226 cities measured99
Economic stability4,091st of 4,226 cities measured22
The quick read

Unemployment is 4.5% and median household income $45,247, putting employment conditions in the middle range of cities measured.

In the public schools here, 33% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 17.3 students for every teacher.

364 housing units were authorized over the past twelve months, within 4% of the prior year — steady rather than turning.

These sentences are written by fixed rules from the measurements below — a statement appears because a number crossed a stated threshold, and the values behind it are stored with it. No figure anywhere on this site is invented, estimated or inferred to fill a gap. How this works.

At a glance

Population
136,579
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$45,247
Bottom 16% nationally
Density
2,447/sq mi
55.8 sq mi of land
Median age
34.1
2024 ACS 5-Year
Nearest major airport
DAY
8 mi · James M Cox Dayton Intl
Median home value
$100,600
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.5% — higher than in all but 43% of the 4,226 measured US cities.

Employment grew 0.6% over the past year, to 56,667 employed residents.

Median household income of $45,247 is lower than in 84% of measured US cities.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsMontgomery County, OH’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$55,37217th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftMontgomery County, OH’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$64,31433rd percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$1,7032024 ACS 5-Year$45,247Bottom 16%of 29,2232024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,0912024 ACS 5-Year$27,444Bottom 28%of 31,4202024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year26.0%Bottom 14%of 31,7732024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±0.7 min2024 ACS 5-Year21.8 minTop 25%of 31,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year21.6%Top 47%of 31,9192024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year72.2%34th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202656,667Bottom 49%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026+2.0%Top 20%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026+0.6%Top 24%of 4,226July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202659,31349th percentileof 4,226July 2026
Labor force participation ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year72.8%Bottom 33%of 31,5132024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wageDayton-Kettering-Beavercreek, OH Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$65,730Bottom 35%of 3,7292025 OEWS
Median annual wageDayton-Kettering-Beavercreek, OH Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$49,980Bottom 40%of 3,7292025 OEWS
Public transit to work ±0.6%2024 ACS 5-Year3.1%93rd percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026−1.9%Top 1%of 4,226July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20264.5%Bottom 43%of 4,226July 2026
Worked from home ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year9.7%59th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/077.53.9
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 4.5% in July 2026. It has been falling, over a series running from 2020-01 to 2026-07. A break in the line is a month the Bureau of Labor Statistics did not publish for this area — it is left empty rather than estimated.

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202445k38k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $45,247 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.

Largest occupations — Dayton-Kettering-Beavercreek, OH

OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Fast Food and Counter Workers11,860$27,680
Registered Nurses11,640$82,510
General and Operations Managers10,180$98,030
Retail Salespersons9,170$30,360
Stockers and Order Fillers8,770$36,750
Cashiers7,300$28,750

Searches the 40 largest occupations here that have a published wage.

Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

33% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 41% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 17.3 students for every full-time teacher across 35 public schools, more than in most measured places.

Public schools
37
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
17.3
across 35 of them
Math proficiency
32.8%
Bottom 3% in Ohio
Reading proficiency
41.5%
Bottom 4% in Ohio
The 12 largest of 37 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Deca Prep · charterDECA PREP95017.642%55%
Pathway School of Discovery · charterPathway School of Discovery84317.239%50%
Stivers School For The ArtsDayton City83717.460%75%
Northridge Elementary SchoolNorthridge Local79619.047%52%
David H. Ponitz Career Technology CenterDayton City78519.122%47%
Emerson Academy · charterEmerson Academy67417.738%47%
Smith Intermediate SchoolVandalia-Butler City64217.878%66%
Ruskin Elementary SchoolDayton City55319.835%41%
Alliance Community Schools Inc. dba Dayton Leadership Acade · charterAlliance Community Schools Inc. dba Dayton Leadership Acade55220.425%27%
River's Edge Montessori Elementary SchoolDayton City55219.034%46%
Thurgood Marshall High SchoolDayton City54817.73%12%
Northridge High SchoolNorthridge Local49318.320%43%

49.6% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with, not how the schools perform, so it is shown and not scored.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data, placed by ZIP code — which schools are in this place, not which one a particular address is zoned for. A dash in a proficiency column is a gap in the federal file, not a bad result. Proficiency is measured against Ohio’s own standard, so it is ranked within state. How to read school figures.

Prices for everything a household buys run about 8% below the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 92.4, against 100 for the nation. Nationally, housing drives most of the spread between places in this index; other goods vary far less.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the Dayton-Kettering-Beavercreek, OH Metro Area is up 50% over five years, and up 5.3% over the last year. It follows repeat sales of the same homes, so it measures price change rather than which homes happened to sell.

Homeowners here who pay a tax bill pay a median of $1,673 a year in real estate taxes, about 1.66% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,219, some 33% above the $918 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,219 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $48,800 a year, about 108% of the median household income here of $45,247.

The typical renter household here spends 32% of its income on rent, above the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $918 a month.

A median home at $100,600 costs 1.6 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $63,497, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Cost of living
92.4

Prices here run about 8% below the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Published for the Dayton-Kettering-Beavercreek, OH Metro Area as a whole. Prices are regional — people shop, commute and rent across a metropolitan area rather than within a city boundary — so this describes the cost of living around this place better than a figure drawn to its own limits would.

Rent as a share of income
31.7%
Above the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
1.6×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,219
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$918
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$100,600
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Dayton’s median household income of $45,247, which describes the place rather than you. Enter your own and the ratio is recomputed against it. It stays in this browser.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Cost of living indexthe Dayton-Kettering-Beavercreek, OH Metro Area’s figure202392.4Top 14%of 3,7002023
Home price change (1 year)the Dayton-Kettering-Beavercreek, OH Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+5.3%81st percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Dayton-Kettering-Beavercreek, OH Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+49.7%77th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Dayton-Kettering-Beavercreek, OH Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+110.0%76th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.12024 ACS 5-Year1.6Top 18%of 26,8152024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year48.4%8th percentileof 31,7172024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±1,2372024 ACS 5-Year70,33599th percentileof 32,1772024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$968Top 20%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,582Top 22%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,219Top 22%of 4,072FY2026
Median gross rent ±$232024 ACS 5-Year$918Top 44%of 23,1202024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$4,0752024 ACS 5-Year$100,60019th percentileof 29,1112024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$782024 ACS 5-Year$1,67347th percentileof 26,4402024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$2,1552024 ACS 5-Year$63,497Bottom 28%of 27,5482024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.10%2024 ACS 5-Year1.66%84th percentileof 20,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year31.7%Bottom 33%of 22,9502024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±2812024 ACS 5-Year58797th percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year0.8%60th percentileof 31,8952024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year16.0%81st percentileof 31,7692024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±7062024 ACS 5-Year11,85899th percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year

These measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with. They compare housing cost with local earnings only: transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not in them. How to read affordability, the two rent figures and the cost-of-living index.

Development Momentum

50/ 100
Ranks 2,126 of 4,224 published city profiles
Permitting has been falling for the last 3 years of a series running from 2020 to 2025. That is the direction of the recent run. The chart below compares the first year with the last, which can point the other way.

An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.

Population has fallen 1% since 2020, to 136,346 in 2024.

Permit activity fell in each of the 3 calendar years through 2025.

71% of the 364 units permitted over the past twelve months are in buildings of five or more homes, so new supply is concentrated in apartments and condominiums rather than detached houses.

Federal tax returns show that people moving in from elsewhere in the US and people moving out roughly balanced across Montgomery County, which contains Dayton, in the most recent year. Households that moved in reported an average income of $55,372, below the $64,314 of households that moved out.

At 2.7 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
364
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
2.7
Top 49% nationally
Year over year
+4%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
71.4%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

20202021202220232024138k136k
Census Population Estimates Program, July 1 of each year. These annual estimates are designed for year-over-year comparison, unlike the ACS five-year figure shown as this profile's population. It has been rising, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
−0.1%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
41%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$55,372
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$64,314
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Greene County, OH 3,549 people · 17% of arrivals
  2. Warren County, OH 1,621 people · 7.7% of arrivals
  3. Butler County, OH 1,216 people · 5.8% of arrivals
  4. Miami County, OH 1,158 people · 5.5% of arrivals
  5. Clark County, OH 823 people · 3.9% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Greene County, OH 3,690 people · 17% of departures
  2. Warren County, OH 1,801 people · 8.4% of departures
  3. Miami County, OH 1,541 people · 7.2% of departures
  4. Franklin County, OH 967 people · 4.5% of departures
  5. Butler County, OH 931 people · 4.3% of departures

Based on the address on federal tax returns, compared with the same filers a year earlier. It counts people who file, and sees a move only when the address on a return changes. Domestic moves only: people arriving from abroad are left out. This is the figure for Montgomery County, OH. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

20202021202220232024202533514
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2020 (+37%).

Weather & climate

6 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 86°F and January a low of 22°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 41.3 inches, including 25.0 inches of snow.

Air quality measures a median index of 47, in the Good band, and about 4 days a year pass 100, the threshold at which the air is unhealthy for sensitive groups.

10°30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station DAYTON INTL AP, 8.4 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND4.5"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year642024 calendar year
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals41.3"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall1991-2020 Normals25.0"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals22°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals86°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals61991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year42024 calendar year
Median air quality index2024 calendar year472024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals47°F1991-2020 Normals

Air quality

Median air quality index
47
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
64
90th percentile index
Days above 100
4
unhealthy for sensitive groups

A comfortable median and a bad tail are different problems. Wildfire smoke and summer ozone show up in the worst tenth of days, not in the middle of the year.

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. Air quality is measured by EPA monitors and published by county only where a monitor sits; a county without one shows nothing rather than an estimate, and a county reading is still the county’s. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

85 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, cold wave and tornado, with inland flooding alone responsible for 67% of it. Every one of these is independently rated low or minimal nationally — this describes how a small risk is composed, not a large one.

Overall hazard risk is lower than 84% of measured US cities.

Strong windModerate
Ice stormModerate
HailModerate
EarthquakeModerate
Heat waveModerate

Low or minimal exposure: inland flooding, cold wave, lightning, tornado, winter weather, landslide, hurricane, wildfire, drought, avalanche, coastal flooding, tsunami, volcanic activity.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. City values are the population-weighted mean of the counties the city overlaps, using AreaProfile place-to-county land-area weights. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

Violent crime
1,230
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year
Property crime
4,027
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year

Below these are deaths rather than offenses, published for the county. The two measure different things and are not comparable with each other.

Dayton's police department reported 1,230 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, higher than most places with a department reporting. Property crime runs at 4,027.

Montgomery County records 6.9 homicide deaths per 100,000 residents a year, higher than most counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 15.0 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 25.9 per 100,000 residents in Montgomery County.

Homicide
6.9
per 100,000 residents
Firearm deaths, all intents
15.0
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
25.9
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
14.1
per 100,000 residents

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides, so the firearm figure and the homicide figure above it count some of the same deaths twice over. They overlap and should not be added together.

Offenses are reported to the FBI by Dayton’s own police department and shown only where it reported every month of the year; a partial year is withheld rather than scaled up. Reported crime is what police recorded, which is not the same as what happened. Death rates are crude rates — deaths divided by population, not adjusted for age — except where a count was too small for the CDC to publish and it modeled the rate, which the card marks. They come from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC by county and not below it. So they describe the county around Dayton (Montgomery County) rather than Dayton itself. Neither is part of the Area Score. How to read crime rates and death rates.

What this profile does not cover

Each of these is absent for a reason, not by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them; the weighting is on the methodology page.

Taxes
Income and sales taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Property taxes are shown in the housing section but are not part of the score. The cost-of-living index above is a price level for all consumption, not a household budget, and it excludes taxes. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.

Access

5 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest James M Cox Dayton Intl at 8 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±0.7%2024 ACS 5-Year85.5%Bottom 33%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle8 miTop 20%of 4,226NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle5Top 45%of 4,226NASR current cycle
No internet access ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year10.6%Bottom 35%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
James M Cox Dayton IntlDAY8 mi8,502 ft
Wilmington Air ParkILN33 mi10,701 ft
Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky IntlCVG57 mi10,000 ft

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.

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Area Score
57
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—

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Other cities in Dayton-Kettering-Beavercreek, OH

Same metropolitan area, measured the same way
CityCountyPopulationArea ScoreCompare
KetteringMontgomery County57,20668Kettering vs Dayton
BeavercreekGreene County47,12679Beavercreek vs Dayton
Huber HeightsMontgomery County43,45566Huber Heights vs Dayton
FairbornGreene County34,53472
TroyMiami County26,84275
XeniaGreene County25,68969
CentervilleMontgomery County25,20578
RiversideMontgomery County24,43566
TrotwoodMontgomery County23,04156
PiquaMiami County20,64668
MiamisburgMontgomery County19,94871
VandaliaMontgomery County15,05372

Every city here is measured on the same scale from the same source releases, so the comparison is like for like. A higher Area Score reflects AreaProfile’s standardized weighting rather than a judgment about which is the better place to live.

Compare

Put Dayton side by side with a similar place.

Dayton vs ClevelandDayton vs Hammond

Moving to Dayton from somewhere else?

You get the difference in prices, rent and weather, and the income that would keep pace.

Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
SafetyFederal Bureau of Investigation, Crime Data Explorer
Summarized offense counts by law enforcement agency
2025 calendar year
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)
Demographics, IncomeInternal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income Division
U.S. Population Migration Data (county to county)
filing years 2022–2023
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 Normals
HousingU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWS
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
SafetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
March 2025 to February 2026; May 2025 to April 2026
SchoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2018-19 school year; 2024-25 school year
HousingU.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research
Fair Market Rents
FY2026
ClimateU.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System
Daily Air Quality Index by county
2024 calendar year
HousingU.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency
House Price Index (traditional, all-transactions)
2026 Q2
Current conditionsNOAA National Weather Service
National Weather Service current conditions
Live observation, read when the page opens

Profile recalculated October 8, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology, or every source with how often each updates.

ZIP codes in Dayton

8 ZIP areas

Every ZIP area in Dayton with census figures of its own, largest first. The ones linked below diverge enough from the city as a whole to carry a full profile; the rest track Dayton closely, so their figures are here rather than on a page that would repeat this one. An Area Score is calculated for published profiles only, which is why it is blank on those rows.

ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeMedian home valueArea Score
4541728,186$36,945$75,10054
4541421,167$54,485$182,30059
4540619,991$41,796$85,00057
4540518,955$43,973$84,200—
4541014,694$46,651$110,600—
4540313,608$38,323$87,500—
454049,826$38,874$86,900—
454029,407$48,401$135,700—