What it's like to live in Forest Park
Forest Park is a small city in Ohio with home prices that remain within reach and schools with smaller class sizes than the national average. Those factors carry real weight for anyone weighing where to move next.
The tradeoffs are worth naming plainly. Forest Park deals with air quality that falls short of national benchmarks and cold winters.
The good
- Affordable home prices
- Low student-teacher ratio
The not so good
- Air quality concerns
- Cold winters
How Forest Park compares
Median household income
Median rent (per month)
Median home value
What it takes to move to Forest Park
Based on Forest Park's median rent, home value and household income
To rent
$2,612
up front: first month plus a typical one-month deposit
- Income to keep rent under 30%: $52,240 a year
- 38% of Forest Park renters spend 30% or more of their income on rent
To buy
$38,080
a 20% down payment on the median home
- With 10% down: $19,040
- Homes cost 2.5× the typical local household income (US: 4.1×)
Moving costs, closing costs and taxes not included.
The details
Cost of livingNear US average
$1,306/mo median rent
Cost of living works in this city's favor. Median rent sits around $1,306 a month, nothing that raises eyebrows. Solid value overall. Home prices here are genuinely accessible, with a median around $190,400. That kind of affordability is rare in today's market.
Median home value $190,400 · 38% of renters cost-burdened
Job market
4.6% county unemployment
Unemployment in Hamilton County is 4.6%, close to the national average of 4.3%. That's the county-wide rate; BLS doesn't measure a place this size on its own.
Hamilton County (county-wide)
Safety▼ 21% below US
260 violent crimes per 100k
Pretty safe, all things considered. Violent crime sits below the national average, nothing alarming, just ordinary city-life awareness.
Property crime 1105/100k · Forest Park Police Department · 2025 data
Getting aroundNear US average
24 min average commute
Commutes run about average, at 24 minutes. Fine day to day, but it adds up over a year, and where someone lives relative to where they work starts to matter. 8 in 10 workers drive to work; 11% work from home.
How workers get to work
Climate
Summers are warm, with highs around 85°F, and winters are cold, with lows around 24°F and snow a regular occurrence. Rainfall is regular throughout the year.
Average month
30-year averages, 1991–2020
Education & workforce▼ 27% below US
26% bachelor's degree or higher
College degree attainment runs below average at 26%. That tends to reflect a more trade and working-class economy, which can be great or limiting depending on the industry.
Schools
2 public schools inside the boundary
There are 2 public schools inside the boundary. The student-to-teacher ratio is 14:1, well below the national average of 16:1. Smaller class sizes are generally a positive sign for a district.
Parks & recreation
The nearest national park or historic site is William Howard Taft National Historic Site (12 miles away). There are 4 national parks and sites within a day's drive.
Bottom line
Forest Park's strongest point is home prices that remain within reach; the main tradeoffs are air quality that falls short of national benchmarks and cold winters. A year of median rent ($1,306/mo) equals 21% of the median household income here, about the same as the 21% typical nationwide. Whether it fits comes down to the specifics: the neighborhood, the job, and what matters most in the move.
Other places near Forest Park
All Ohio guides →Moving to Springdale →
3 mi away · pop. 11,033
Rent $1,226/mo · Income $67,903
Compare with Forest Park →Moving to Fairfield →
3 mi away · pop. 44,828
Rent $1,242/mo · Income $77,937
Compare with Forest Park →Moving to Northbrook →
4 mi away · pop. 10,742
Rent $1,555/mo · Income $67,426
Compare with Forest Park →Moving to Finneytown →
5 mi away · pop. 12,506
Rent $1,456/mo · Income $83,424
Compare with Forest Park →Not sure Forest Park is the one?
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