Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Kettering is a solid, middle-of-the-road choice. It grades A− overall, 234th among Ohio's 987 graded towns, with no subject far below average. Its best mark is schools: its schools rank ahead of 76% of Ohio towns. It also does better than most on incomes: the median household earns $75K. Its lowest everyday mark is in cost of living: the typical home is worth about $244K, 3.4 years of the Dayton metro’s $72K median household income. Kettering’s trail network density is 1.2 miles per square mile, where Ohio’s towns sit at 0.2 and U.S. towns at 0.4. Only 113 of Ohio’s 1,718 towns score higher on walkability. Kettering is home to Kettering College.
Where Kettering beats most towns.
9.4% of the town is conserved land, across 25 parks and preserves.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Ohio), ordered by how far Kettering is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Charles F. Kettering House is a National Historic Landmark, the National Register’s top tier.
Census counts: 54,462 in 1960, 57,862 in 2020. The archive holds 5 old photos and papers going back to 2007 and 5 maps from 1913 on.
4 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Kettering. Close and well known come first.
6 mi MuseumNational Museum of the United States Air Force1.0M visitors a year
Big draw25 mi Theme parkKings Island3.5M visitors a year6 mi MuseumNational Aviation Hall of Fame300K visitors a year
2 mi National Historical ParkDayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park80K visitors a year
4 mi GardenWoodland Cemetery and Arboretum
6 mi MuseumDayton Art Institute304K visitors a yearNational 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 Aviation Heritage National Historical Park: Chris Light (talk), CC BY-SA 3.0 · Woodland Cemetery and Arboretum: Dcb1995 at en.wikipedia, Public domain · Dayton Art Institute: Warren LeMay, CC BY-SA 2.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Kettering, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Aug 3, 2026.
Ordered by what stands out in Kettering.
Kettering has more 90° days than almost anywhere else in Ohio, trades workers with Dayton and other neighbors and sees little violent crime.
Walkers can cover 22 miles of trail in 25 parks and preserves. Indian Riffle Park, at 123 acres with 1.4 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve. Parks and preserves in Kettering: 25, covering 465 acres.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Hills & Dales MetroPark | 2.9 mi | 83 |
| 2. Indian Riffle Park | 1.4 mi | 123 |
| 3. Lincoln Park | 1.4 mi | 15 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
The Kettering City School District runs its public schools. Three of its 17 schools are shown below, with the reason for each. 6 public schools serve Kettering, with 2,930 students in all.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kettering Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 982 | B− |
| Kettering Fairmont High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 2,445 | B |
| Indian Riffle Elementary SchoolTop results in townGrades PK–5 | Grades PK–5 | 521 | A |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within OH on state tests and graduation
Expected losses in Kettering break down as 58% from inland flooding and 13% from cold waves. The town’s risk rating from FEMA is 12 of 100. Paid flood insurance claims in the town since 1979: 26.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
In Kettering, 13% of adults report frequent physical distress, below both the Ohio town median (15%) and the median of U.S. towns (14%). 34% of adults have obesity locally.
| Kettering | Ohio towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 16% | 14% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 15% | 14% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 26% | 26% | 23% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 34% | 38% | 35% |
| What stands out | Kettering | OH |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 10.5% | 14.1% |
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 12% | 15.3% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The Dayton Mcd weather station, 5 miles away, records that about 39 days a year reach 90°, the highest of 2,573 Ohio places with climate records.
A winter brings about 12 inches of snow, with January nights at 22° and July afternoons at 85°.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Kettering has about as many jobs (28,174) as working residents, but only 3,633 people both live and work here.
Jobs in Kettering grew by 1,735 from 2013 to 2023, reaching 28,174. Just 14% of the town’s working residents have a job in town. For Kettering, the typical journey to work is 20 minutes. The top destinations are Dayton (19%), Beavercreek (6%) and Washington Township (4%).
| Kettering | Ohio towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 20 minutes | 24 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 14% | 6.8% | 8% |
| Work from home | 13% | 9.7% | 11% |
| Below the poverty line | 8.3% | 9.1% | 9.6% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Violent crime is rare: 41 reported in 2025, 0.7 per 1,000 residents.
The violent offense rate in Kettering is 0.7 per 1,000 residents. The property crime rate locally is 13.7 per 1,000 residents.
| Kettering | Ohio towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 13.7 per 1,000 residents | 9.4 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0.7 per 1,000 residents | 1.2 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Typical home values rose 2.3% in the year to September 2026. In Kettering, nearly two thirds of households live in a home they own. 47% of the homes sold in Kettering went for more than their asking price.
| Kettering | Ohio towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 65% | 77% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,051 a month | $943 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Renters paying 30%+ of income on rent | 44% | 42% | 48% |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
12 within 15 miles of the center of Kettering
About 6 of every 100 Kettering residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Ohio.
2 colleges in town.
4 places in Kettering on the National Register of Historic Places.
16 notable people were born in Kettering.
City in Montgomery County, Ohio, US
Kettering is a city in Montgomery County, Ohio, United States. It is an inner suburb of Dayton. The city had a population of 57,862 at the 2020 census, making it the most populous suburb in the Dayton metropolitan area.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
10 towns share a border with Kettering.
Dayton next door grades lower for schools (C− to Kettering’s A−) and higher for cost of living (B+ to C+).
| Town | OH rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Kettering | #234 | A− | C+ | B | A− | B+ |
| Oakwood | #19 | A+ | C− | — | A+ | A+ |
| Moraine | #954 | D | B− | D− | B | D |
| Dayton | #974 | D | B+ | D− | C− | D− |
| Washington Township | #184 | A− | D | — | A− | A− |
| Sugarcreek Township | #227 | A− | D | — | A | A− |
| Beavercreek Township | #316 | B+ | C− | — | A | B |
| Centerville | #175 | A− | C− | B+ | A− | A− |
Oakwood, Washington Township, Sugarcreek Township and Beavercreek Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Kettering with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Kettering grades A− overall, better than 79% of U.S. towns and #234 of 987 in Ohio. It grades B+ for health, B for safety and A− for schools.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C+.
16 notable people were born here, including Brooklyn Decker and Rob Dyrdek.
