Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Vandalia gives you more for your money than most places: a typical home costs about $240K, 3.3 years of the Dayton metro’s $72K median household income. It grades B+ overall, 311th among Ohio's 987 graded towns. On the plus side, natural-hazard risk is low. 18% of the land in Vandalia is conserved, above both Ohio’s towns (3.7%) and U.S. towns (4.3%). Only 171 of Ohio’s 1,718 towns score higher on walkability. The biggest park or preserve is Art Van Atta Park, at 70 acres.
Where Vandalia beats most towns.
17.5% of the town is conserved land, across 7 parks and preserves.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Ohio), ordered by how far Vandalia is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 228 in 1850, 15,209 in 2020. The archive holds 1 old photo or paper going back to 1890 and 6 maps from 1904 on.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Vandalia. Close and well known come first.
8 mi MuseumNational Museum of the United States Air Force1.0M visitors a year
Big draw37 mi Theme parkKings Island3.5M visitors a year8 mi MuseumNational Aviation Hall of Fame300K visitors a year
9 mi MuseumHuffman Prairie
8 mi MuseumDayton Art Institute304K visitors a year
20 mi LandmarkMadonna of the TrailNational 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 · Huffman Prairie: Wright Brothers, Public domain · Dayton Art Institute: Warren LeMay, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Madonna of the Trail: W. Guy Finley, Public domain
Who provides power, water and the rest in Vandalia, 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 Vandalia.
Vandalia draws workers from Dayton and beyond and is one of Ohio’s best towns for the outdoors.
Its A+ for the outdoors ranks #17 of 993 in Ohio.
13 miles of trail in 7 parks and preserves. Vandalia’s trail density is 1.1 miles per square mile, above both the Ohio town median (0.2) and the median of U.S. towns (0.4).
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Robinette Park | 0.8 mi | 11 |
| 2. Art Van Atta Park | 0.6 mi | 70 |
| 3. Vandalia Art Park | 0.5 mi | 7 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by the Vandalia-Butler City school district. Three of its 5 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Butler High School, with 856 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Morton Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 699 | B |
| Butler High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 856 | B− |
| Helke Early Learning CenterTop results in townGrades PK–K | Grades PK–K | 310 | A− |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within OH on state tests and graduation
11,638 jobs are based in Vandalia, 1.7 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in.
Most working residents leave Vandalia for work: only 12% work in town. Vandalia’s average trip to work is 21 minutes. Jobs based in Vandalia grew to 11,638 in 2023, 1,149 more than in 2013.
| Vandalia | Ohio towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 21 minutes | 24 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 12% | 6.8% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 92% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Vandalia has chilly winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 85°, January nights drop to 21° and about 25 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The property crime rate in Vandalia is 13 per 1,000 residents.
| Vandalia | Ohio towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 13 per 1,000 residents | 9.4 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 1.7 per 1,000 residents | 1.2 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
No broad age group is more than 4 points off the Ohio average. 24% of Vandalia residents are under 18. 29% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 32% across Ohio.
| Vandalia | Ohio towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 18 | 24% | 22% | 22% |
| Median age | 39.6 years | 41.7 years | 40.5 years |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 29% | 24% | 29% |
52% women, 48% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±2.9 points. Across Ohio, 50.7% of residents are women.
| Vandalia | OH | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 15.1% | 11.7% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 8.9% | 10.3% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 7.3% | 8.9% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 13% | 13.2% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 9.8% | 12.5% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 13.5% | 12% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 14.1% | 13.2% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 9.8% | 10.9% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 8.4% | 7.3% | 7% |
| No diploma | 4% | 8.2% | 10.4% |
| High school | 32.1% | 32.1% | 26% |
| Some college | 23.3% | 19.3% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 11.3% | 9% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 19% | 19.3% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 10.2% | 12.2% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
Vandalia beats the Ohio average on 5 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 0. 27% of adults have been diagnosed with depression in Vandalia.
| Vandalia | Ohio towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 26% | 23% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 35% | 34% | 33% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 34% | 38% | 35% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 81% | 80% | 79% |
| What stands out | Vandalia | OH |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 11.3% | 15.3% |
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 11.1% | 14.1% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The typical Vandalia home is worth about $240,000, up 3.5% in a year, close to the Ohio typical home.
| Vandalia | Ohio towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 64% | 77% | 73% |
| Median rent | $882 a month | $944 a month | $1,185 a month |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
8 within 15 miles of the center of Vandalia
About 3 of every 100 Vandalia residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Ohio.
Where Vandalia’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
3 notable people were born in Vandalia.
City in Ohio, United States
Vandalia is a city in Montgomery County, Ohio, United States, and a suburb of Dayton. Its population was 15,209 during the 2020 census. In addition to being the city closest to Dayton International Airport, Vandalia lies at the crossroads of I-75 and I-70.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
6 towns share a border with Vandalia.
| Town | OH rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Vandalia | #311 | B+ | B | C+ | B+ | B− |
| Butler Township | #711 | C+ | C− | — | B+ | C− |
| Huber Heights | #707 | C+ | B− | C+ | C+ | B− |
| Dayton | #974 | D | B+ | D− | C− | D− |
| Bethel Township | #222 | A− | C+ | — | A− | B |
| Harrison Township | #876 | C− | B+ | — | C− | D |
| Monroe Township | #67 | A | B− | — | A | B+ |
Butler Township, Bethel Township, Harrison Township and Monroe Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Vandalia with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Vandalia grades B+ overall, better than 73% of U.S. towns and #311 of 987 in Ohio. It grades B− for health, C+ for safety and B+ 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 B.
3 notable people were born here, including Taylor Decker and John Goldsberry.
