Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Public schools that outperform most of Ohio. Settled in 1908, this town now has 9,441 residents.
Trash & recyclingA good place to live, if you can afford it. Oakwood grades A+ overall, better than almost every U.S. town, and ranks 19th of 987 in Ohio. Its standout strength is schools (A+) — its public schools beat 97% of Ohio towns on state tests and graduation. It also does well on health: residents are healthier than 96% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. The drawback is cost of living (C−): the typical home is worth about $395K, 5.5 years of the Dayton metro’s $72K median household income. Three quarters of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more here, above both Ohio’s towns (24%) and U.S. towns (29%). Only 106 of Ohio’s 1,718 towns score higher on walkability. Only 26 of Ohio’s 1,707 towns score higher on incomes.
Figures: schools, state test and graduation results · health, CDC PLACES · home values, Zillow · incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24.
Where Oakwood beats most towns.
| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| Smith Elementary School | PK–6 | 494 |
| Harman Elementary School | 1–6 | 403 |
| Hillel Academy of Greater Dayton | K–6 | 32 |
| Widest gap | Oakwood | OH |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 5.5% | 15.3% |
Where Oakwood’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Ohio), ordered by how far Oakwood is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Hawthorn Hill is a National Historic Landmark, the National Register’s top tier.
Census counts: 358 in 1910, 9,572 in 2020. The archive holds 2 old photos and papers and 5 maps from 1913 on.
6 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Oakwood. Close and well known come first.
5 mi MuseumNational Museum of the United States Air Force1.0M visitors a year
Big draw27 mi Theme parkKings Island3.5M visitors a year6 mi MuseumNational Aviation Hall of Fame300K visitors a year
in town National Historical ParkDayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park80K visitors a year
2 mi GardenWoodland Cemetery and Arboretum
4 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 Oakwood, 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 Oakwood.
Oakwood has schools in the top 5% of Ohio, has more 90° days than almost anywhere else in Ohio and has less tooth loss than most of Ohio.
That grade ranks #15 of the 993 Ohio towns we grade for schools.
The largest public high school is Oakwood High School, with 656 students. Below: Three of its 5 schools, each with why it was picked. Its public schools are run by the Oakwood City school district.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smith Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–6 | Grades PK–6 | 494 | A+ |
| Oakwood High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 656 | A+ |
| Harman Elementary SchoolTop results in townGrades 1–6 | Grades 1–6 | 403 | A+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within OH on state tests and graduation
Its widest gap with Ohio is tooth loss: 5.5% of those 65+ have lost all their teeth, against 15.3% statewide. Against the 2,358 U.S. towns with household incomes like Oakwood’s, it is healthier than 81%, a smaller edge than it has nationally: part of it comes with its incomes.
In Oakwood, a third of adults sleep under 7 hours. Among 993 Ohio towns, just 10 have a lower share of adults who say their health is fair or poor than Oakwood. Two figures for adults locally: 8.1% smoke cigarettes, 14% report frequent mental distress.
| Oakwood | Ohio towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 9.4% | 15% | 14% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 8.1% | 16% | 14% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 18% | 17% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 28% | 25% |
| What stands out | Oakwood | OH |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 5.5% | 15.3% |
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 5.2% | 14.1% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The median property tax bill is $8,284, against $2,822 across Ohio, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
In Oakwood, the median rent is $1,416 a month. The typical home value in the town is about $395,000, up 2% in a year, 61% above the Ohio typical home. 82% of households own their home locally.
| Oakwood | Ohio towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $1,416 a month | $943 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 82% | 77% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Across 7 parks and preserves: 1.3 miles of trail. In Oakwood, the trail density is 0.6 miles per square mile. Parks and preserves locally: 7, covering 27 acres.
| Oakwood | Ohio towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.6 miles per square mile | 0.2 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 4.4% | 3.7% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Houk Stream Park | 0.7 mi | 12 |
| 2. Hawthorn Hill | — | 4 |
| 3. Hills & Dales MetroPark | 0.1 mi | 3 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Federal disaster aid has reached households in Oakwood after 3 declared disasters, most recently in 2008. On expected storm and flood damage, Oakwood sits below 84% of U.S. communities. Expected losses in Oakwood break down as 64% from inland flooding and 10% from cold waves.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Jobs based here grew from 1,359 in 2013 to 1,785.
Half commute less than 5 miles. The share of residents in Oakwood who live below the poverty line: 2.7%. Only 6% of working residents stay in Oakwood for work; the rest commute out. Its typical journey to work is 21 minutes.
| Oakwood | Ohio towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $157,000 | $75,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 2.7% | 9.1% | 9.6% |
| Work from home | 17% | 9.7% | 11% |
| Average trip to work | 21 minutes | 24 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
The Dayton Mcd weather station records that about 39 days a year reach 90°, the highest of 2,573 Ohio places with climate records.
July afternoons reach 85°, January nights drop to 22° and about 12 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
8 within 15 miles of the center of Oakwood
About 6 of every 100 Oakwood residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Ohio.
6 places in Oakwood on the National Register of Historic Places.
City in Ohio, United States
Oakwood is a city in Montgomery County, Ohio, United States. The population was 9,572 at the 2020 census. A suburb of Dayton, Oakwood is part of the Dayton metropolitan area. It was incorporated in 1908. John Henry Patterson, industrialist and founder of the National Cash Register Corporation, is considered the "Father of Oakwood." Oakwood is completely land-locked by the surrounding municipalities of Dayton and Kettering. Its small, compact geographic area facilitates the response of its single, unified (consolidated) Department of Public Safety, in which all personnel are certified as police officers, firefighters, and emergency medical services (EMS) officers.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
2 towns share a border with Oakwood.
| Town | OH rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Oakwood | #19 | A+ | C− | — | A+ | A+ |
| Kettering | #234 | A− | C+ | B | A− | B+ |
| Dayton | #974 | D | B+ | D− | C− | D− |
Oakwood reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare Oakwood with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Yes, by almost any measure. Oakwood grades A+ overall, among the top 2% of U.S. towns and #19 of 987 in Ohio. It grades A+ for health and A+ for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a C−.
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−.
