Lake DarbyOH
A town of 4,608.
What should you know before moving to Lake Darby?
Most errands need a car: it is less walkable than 96% of U.S. towns. Overall it grades C+, 740th among Ohio's 987 graded towns. The median household earns $97K and 14% of its land is conserved. Its weakest subject is cost of living: homes are expensive, about $302K for a typical one and 3.7 times the Columbus metro’s $82K median household income. 14% of the land in Lake Darby is conserved, above both the Ohio town median (3.7%) and the median of U.S. towns (4.3%). Only 27 of Ohio’s 1,718 towns score lower on history.
What makes Lake Darby stand out
Where Lake Darby beats most towns.
100% of working residents leave Lake Darby for work
Where Lake Darby’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
How Lake Darby grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Ohio), ordered by how far Lake Darby is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Ohio Stadium and 35 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Lake Darby. Close and well known come first.
Big draw11 mi Stadium & arenaOhio Stadium
11 mi Stadium & arenaScottsMiracle-Gro Field
13 mi Stadium & arenaHistoric Crew Stadium
11 mi Stadium & arenaValue City Arena
14 mi Zoo & aquariumColumbus Zoo and Aquarium
39 mi MountainCampbell HillPhoto credits
Ohio Stadium: Lectrician2, CC BY-SA 4.0 · ScottsMiracle-Gro Field: Nova Crystallis, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Historic Crew Stadium: Rick Dikeman, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Value City Arena: Nick81aku at English Wikipedia, Public domain · Columbus Zoo and Aquarium: Adolphus79 at English Wikipedia, Public domain · Campbell Hill: Analogue Kid (talk)., CC BY-SA 3.0
Moving to Lake Darby: who provides what
Lake Darby is unincorporated, so Franklin County and regional agencies provide most services.
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 Lake Darby.
Lake Darby is one of Ohio’s best towns for the outdoors and has less heart disease than most of Ohio, but it carries more natural-hazard risk than most of Ohio (mostly inland flooding).
14.2% of the land in Lake Darby is protected from building
Its A+ for the outdoors ranks #19 of 993 in Ohio.
The density of trails for Lake Darby comes to 0.6 miles per square mile, above Ohio’s towns (0.2) and close to U.S. towns (0.4). 2.1 miles of trail.
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Compared with most of Ohio and the rest of the country, fewer of Lake Darby’s working residents work locally
Lake Darby has 86 jobs for its 2,287 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out.
For workers in Lake Darby, the share who work from home is 15%. The top destinations are Columbus (49%), Hilliard (6%) and Dublin (5%). The town’s average commute comes in at 23 minutes.
| Lake Darby | Ohio towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 0.5% | 6.9% | 8% |
| Median household income | $97,000 | $75,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 15% | 9.7% | 11% |
| Below the poverty line | 5.1% | 9.1% | 9.6% |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
A smaller share of adults in Lake Darby have high blood pressure than in the typical Ohio or U.S. town
Its widest gap with Ohio is heart disease: 4.5% of its 3,283 adults have heart disease, against 7.1% statewide.
Of 32 CDC measures, Lake Darby beats the Ohio average on 15 and trails it on 5. The share of adults in Lake Darby who have been diagnosed with depression: 28%. Only 4 of the 993 Ohio towns we compare have a higher share of adults who binge drink than Lake Darby.
| Lake Darby | Ohio towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 21% | 17% | 16% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 38% | 35% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 38% | 34% | 33% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 9.2% | 13% | 12% |
| What stands out | Lake Darby | OH |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults with heart disease | 4.5% | 7.1% |
| Fewer adults who have had a stroke | 2.4% | 3.7% |
| More binge drinkers | 21.3% | 16.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Lake Darby’s grade for cost of living is a C−
The median property tax bill is $4,685, against $2,822 across Ohio, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
97% of households live in a home they own in Lake Darby. Homes locally are typically worth about $302,000, about the same as a year ago, 23% above the Ohio typical home. The town’s rent at the middle of the market is $1,446 a month.
| Lake Darby | Ohio towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 97% | 77% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,446 a month | $943 a month | $1,185 a month |
Typical home value
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
In Lake Darby, expect four seasons and pleasant summers
Lake Darby has chilly winters and warm summers. Summer afternoons peak near 85° in July, and January nights bottom out around 21°; snowfall runs to about 24 inches a winter.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Lake Darby is younger than the Ohio average
28% of Lake Darby residents are under 18. People 65 and older are one in ten residents (18% statewide); adults 35 to 64 are 45% of residents (38% statewide). The bachelor’s-degree share among adults 25 and older is 34%, against 32% across Ohio.
| Lake Darby | Ohio towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Aged 65 or older | 11% | 20% | 18% |
| Under 18 | 28% | 22% | 22% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 34% | 24% | 29% |
| Median age | 40.2 years | 41.7 years | 40.5 years |
Ages · share of residents
Education · adults 25 and older
Women and men · all residents
56% women, 44% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±7.8 points. Across Ohio, 50.7% of residents are women. Among residents 75 and older, 91% are men (OH 41%).
| Lake Darby | OH | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 12.5% | 11.7% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 15.1% | 10.3% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 5.9% | 8.9% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 10.8% | 13.2% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 15.8% | 12.5% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 13.8% | 12% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 15.6% | 13.2% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 8.1% | 10.9% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 2.3% | 7.3% | 7% |
| No diploma | 6.1% | 8.2% | 10.4% |
| High school | 38.2% | 32.1% | 26% |
| Some college | 16.7% | 19.3% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 5.1% | 9% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 24.6% | 19.3% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 9.4% | 12.2% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates · in a town of 4,600, single groups can be off by several points
High risk in Lake Darby, with inland flooding at the top
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 92% of Ohio towns, with expected losses of about $212 per resident a year; that rating is what its C for hazard risk is built on.
Of the losses FEMA expects in Lake Darby, 71% come from inland flooding and 12% from cold waves. The risk rating from FEMA for Lake Darby comes to 65 of 100.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Everything we know about Lake Darby
Colleges nearby
8 within 15 miles of the center of Lake Darby
About 6 of every 100 Lake Darby residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Ohio.
About Lake Darby
Census-designated place in Ohio, United States
Lake Darby is an unincorporated community and census-designated place in Franklin County, Ohio, United States, located mostly in Prairie Township and partly in Brown Township. It is more commonly known among locals as Darby Estates, which is also the name of the older housing development there, with the newer development called "West Point". As of the 2020 census, the CDP had a population of 4,731.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 3.5 sq mi
- Elevation
- 925 ft
Lake Darby’s neighbors
4 towns share a border with Lake Darby.
All 4 graded towns on its borders grade higher than its C+; Brown Township (B−) is closest.
| Town | OH rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Lake Darby | #740 | C+ | C− | — | B− | B+ |
| Jefferson Township | #476 | B | B+ | — | B− | C+ |
| West Jefferson | #427 | B | A− | B | B− | B− |
| Prairie Township | #361 | B+ | B− | — | C+ | B |
| Brown Township | #569 | B− | C− | — | B | A |
Lake Darby, Jefferson Township, Prairie Township and Brown Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Lake Darby with a neighbor →
Questions about Lake Darby
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Lake Darby, OH a good place to live?
Lake Darby grades C+ overall, better than 38% of U.S. towns and #740 of 987 in Ohio. It grades B+ for health and B− for schools. Walkability is its weak spot, with a D−.
Is Lake Darby, OH expensive?
Yes. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C−.