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Ohio›Montgomery County

Fort McKinleyOH

A town of 3,508, platted in 1914.

Is Fort McKinley a good place to live?

Fort McKinley gives you more for your money than most places: homes are within reach, about $88K for a typical one, or 1.2 years of the Dayton metro’s $72K median household income. It grades C− overall, 928th of 987 graded towns in Ohio. The low prices come with trade-offs. Residents are less healthy than 96% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates and its public schools trail 82% of Ohio towns on state tests and graduation. On the plus side, natural-hazard risk is low. 21% of residents live below the poverty line in Fort McKinley, above both the Ohio town median (9.1%) and the median of U.S. towns (9.6%). On walkability, just 142 of Ohio’s 1,718 towns do better.

What makes Fort McKinley stand out

Where Fort McKinley beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.

How Fort McKinley grades

Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Ohio), ordered by how far Fort McKinley is from typical.

How grading works

Its grades run from A+ for hazard risk (better than 99% of comparable towns) to D− for health (better than 4%), so the C− overall blends very different results.

Character Graded, but not part of the overall grade.
Described, not graded Taste, not quality: snow or an older crowd is neither good nor bad.

How TownRatings grades towns →

Nearby attractions

National Museum of the United States Air Force and 30 more within 40 miles

Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Fort McKinley. Close and well known come first.

All 81 attractions →
Sources: National Park Service · ski areas © OpenSkiMap / OpenStreetMap contributors · Wikidata · Wikipedia readership · photos via Wikimedia Commons
Photo credits

National Museum of the United States Air Force: No machine-readable author provided. Rogerd assumed (based on copyright claims)., CC BY-SA 3.0 · Kings Island: Eli Duke from Portland, OR, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Dayton Art Institute: Warren LeMay, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park: Chris Light (talk), CC BY-SA 3.0 · Woodland Cemetery and Arboretum: Dcb1995 at en.wikipedia, Public domain

Getting set up

Moving to Fort McKinley: who provides what

Fort McKinley is unincorporated, so Montgomery County and regional agencies provide most services.

PowerAES Ohio16.1¢/kWh · EIA 2025HIFLD · EIA
WaterMontgomery County Water Services 2 PWSNo health-based violations in 5 years · EPAEPA
Internet4 providers99% of addresses get 100/20 MbpsFCC
Trash & county servicesMontgomery CountyMontgomery County provides services here
SchoolsDayton City School DistrictWhich school depends on your addressNCES
Register to voteOnlineIn Ohio you can register online until 30 days before Election Day, in person until 30 days before Election Day, or by mail (postmarked 30 days before).vote.gov
Who runs elections hereDirector, Montgomery County Board of ElectionsMontgomery County; contacts on the Handbook page.FVAP, Jul 2026
ZIP codes45416, 45406, 4540545416 52% · 45406 35% · 45405 13%Census 2020

EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Aug 3, 2026.

The data

Ordered by what stands out in Fort McKinley.

Fort McKinley has more 90° days than almost anywhere else in Ohio and has homes that are cheap against local pay, but it has lost a quarter or more of its jobs in ten years.

HousingCost of living grade B

Fort McKinley’s grade for cost of living is a B

At 1.2 years of the Dayton metro’s $72K median household income, the typical home (about $88K) costs less against local pay than in any other Ohio town; that ratio is one input to its B for cost of living. Its typical home is the least expensive on its borders; Trotwood is next at $138K.

64% of households own their home in Fort McKinley. The typical Fort McKinley home is worth about $88,000, down 1.2% in a year, 64% below the Ohio typical home.

$88KZillow home value
Fort McKinleyOhio townsU.S. towns
Households that own their home64%77%73%
Median rent$1,049 a month$943 a month$1,185 a month

Typical home value

Fort McKinley$88K
Ohio$246K
−1.2%
value change, 1 year
2
homes sold in May

Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center

HealthD−

A larger share of adults sleep under 7 hours in Fort McKinley than in most of Ohio or the rest of the country

49% of Fort McKinley adults sleep under 7 hours. Among 993 Ohio towns, just 3 have a lower share of adults who binge drink than Fort McKinley. 38% of Fort McKinley adults get no exercise outside work.

4%healthier than U.S. townsD−Health Grade
Fort McKinleyOhio townsU.S. towns
Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES)49%38%36%
Food insecurity (CDC PLACES)29%13%14%
Binge drink (CDC PLACES)12%17%16%
Feel lonely (CDC PLACES)40%34%33%
32 measures vs. Ohio
3 better7 too close to call22 worse
What stands outFort McKinleyOH
Fewer binge drinkers11.6%16.6%
Fewer adults who have had cancer6.7%8.7%
More adults facing a utility shut-off19.1%8.3%
Dayton VA Medical Center
4.2 mi away · emergency room
2 of 3
care shortages: primary care, dental
3rd
percentile among OH towns

CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA

Natural hazardsHazard risk grade A+

The FEMA risk score in Fort McKinley is lower than in the typical Ohio or U.S. town

The FEMA risk score in Fort McKinley is 2 of 100.

2risk score of 100
FEMA risk score
2Very low riskLowerHigher
Inland floodingCold wavesTornadoes

FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA

Climate

In Fort McKinley, expect four seasons and pleasant summers

The Dayton Mcd weather station records that about 39 days a year reach 90°, the highest of 2,573 Ohio places with climate records.

Fort McKinley has chilly winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 85°, January nights drop to 21° and about 12 inches of snow falls in a winter.

12″snow a winter

Typical low → high °F

Winter24–40°
Spring42–63°
Summer63–84°
Fall44–65°
Oct 25
typical first frost
Apr 18
typical last frost
+1.3°
vs. the 20th-century average

NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020

Work & commuteJobs & income grade C−

Most of Fort McKinley’s workers commute out: the town has 0.8 jobs for each of them

Jobs based here fell from 1,220 in 2013 to 965.

Most working residents leave Fort McKinley for work: only 1% work in town. Fort McKinley’s median household income is $46,000. Jobs based in Fort McKinley fell to 965 in 2023, 255 fewer than in 2013.

1%work in town
Fort McKinleyOhio townsU.S. towns
Median household income$46,000$75,000$80,000
Average trip to work20 minutes24 minutes25 minutes
Working residents who work in town1%6.9%8%

Where working residents work

In Fort McKinley1%
Dayton29%
Moraine4%
Columbus3%
Kettering3%
8 mi
median commute distance
965
jobs based in Fort McKinley
Balanced
jobs vs. working residents
A−
Walkability grade: more walkable than 77% of U.S. towns

Census LEHD 2023 · ACS

Keep exploring

Everything we know about Fort McKinley

16pages on Fort McKinley
After high school

Colleges nearby

8 within 15 miles of the center of Fort McKinley

About Fort McKinley

Census-designated place in Ohio, United States

Fort McKinley is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Harrison Township in Montgomery County, Ohio, United States. As of the 2020 census, its population was 3,473. Fort McKinley is part of the Dayton Metropolitan Statistical Area. Fort McKinley was platted in 1914.

From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)

Area
1.3 sq mi
Elevation
922 ft

Fort McKinley’s neighbors

4 towns share a border with Fort McKinley.

Explore the map →
How the neighbors grade
TownOH rankOverallCostSafetySchoolsHealth
Fort McKinley#928C−B—C−D−
Harrison Township#876C−B+—C−D
Dayton#974DB+D−C−D−
Shiloh#948DB—C−D
Trotwood#971DBDC−D

Fort McKinley, Harrison Township and Shiloh report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Fort McKinley with a neighbor →

Questions about Fort McKinley

Short answers, built from the data on this page.

Is Fort McKinley, OH a good place to live?

Fort McKinley grades C− overall, better than 15% of U.S. towns and #928 of 987 in Ohio. It grades D− for health and C− for schools. Health is its weak spot, with a D−.

Is Fort McKinley, OH expensive?

Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B.