Ohio · off-grid scores, county by county · 2026

Which Ohio counties score best for off-grid living?

Of the 88 Ohio counties we have scored, Highland County scores highest at 96 and Monroe County lowest at 81. Ohio ranks 18th of 50 overall, at 89 out of 100 (Good with caveats). Buildability separates its counties most: 5 to 10 out of 10.

Updated 2026-09-27 · 88 counties · 431 spots of private rural land scored

Good with caveatsOhio ranks 18th of 50, 89 out of 100, in the Best States ranking: the typical parcel on the state's private rural land, with each scored spot weighted by the land it stands for. On a fresh draw of counties it would rank between #15 and #20. City counties with little private rural land have no page, and any parcel can be scored, free, below.

Every scored county in Ohio, best score first

Find a county88 counties


Highland → 79 people / sq mi	96	24	19	13	15	15	10
Butler → 843 people / sq mi	95	24	19	13	15	14	10
Clinton → 103 people / sq mi	95	25	19	13	15	13	10
Fairfield → 328 people / sq mi	95	25	19	12	15	14	10
Brown → 89 people / sq mi	94	24	19	13	15	13	10
Knox → 121 people / sq mi	93	25	19	12	15	13	9
Licking → 269 people / sq mi	93	25	19	12	15	13	9
Meigs → 51 people / sq mi	93	23	19	12	15	14	10
Morrow → 88 people / sq mi	93	25	19	11	15	14	9
Stark → 648 people / sq mi	93	25	19	11	15	14	9
Ashland → 123 people / sq mi	92	25	19	11	15	12	10
Delaware → 523 people / sq mi	92	25	19	12	15	12	9
Franklin → 2491 people / sq mi	92	25	18	12	14	14	9
Holmes → 105 people / sq mi	92	25	19	11	15	13	9
Huron → 118 people / sq mi	92	23	19	11	15	14	10
Logan → 101 people / sq mi	92	25	19	12	15	13	8
Medina → 437 people / sq mi	92	25	18	11	15	14	9
Pickaway → 122 people / sq mi	92	25	19	12	15	14	7
Ross → 111 people / sq mi	92	24	19	12	15	13	9
Warren → 628 people / sq mi	92	24	19	12	14	14	9
Washington → 93 people / sq mi	92	23	19	12	15	13	10
Greene → 410 people / sq mi	91	25	18	12	14	14	8
Hamilton → 2040 people / sq mi	91	25	19	12	15	13	7
Hancock → 141 people / sq mi	91	25	19	12	15	13	7
Montgomery → 1157 people / sq mi	91	23	19	13	15	14	7
Preble → 96 people / sq mi	91	25	19	13	15	12	7
Richland → 253 people / sq mi	91	25	19	11	14	13	9
Trumbull → 324 people / sq mi	91	25	19	11	15	12	9
Carroll → 68 people / sq mi	90	23	19	11	15	13	9
Columbiana → 188 people / sq mi	90	25	19	11	14	12	9
Fayette → 71 people / sq mi	90	23	19	12	15	14	7
Jackson → 78 people / sq mi	90	22	19	12	15	13	9
Jefferson → 157 people / sq mi	90	24	19	10	15	13	9
Miami → 273 people / sq mi	90	24	19	12	14	14	7
Muskingum → 130 people / sq mi	90	24	19	10	15	13	9
Summit → 1298 people / sq mi	90	25	17	11	15	14	8
Williams → 87 people / sq mi	90	25	19	12	15	12	7
Auglaize → 115 people / sq mi	89	25	19	12	14	12	7
Clark → 340 people / sq mi	89	23	19	12	15	13	7
Clermont → 468 people / sq mi	89	23	18	13	15	13	7
Crawford → 103 people / sq mi	89	25	19	11	15	12	7
Cuyahoga → 2697 people / sq mi	89	25	18	10	14	13	9
Darke → 86 people / sq mi	89	23	19	13	15	12	7
Fulton → 104 people / sq mi	89	24	19	12	15	12	7
Hocking → 65 people / sq mi	89	24	19	12	14	12	8
Mahoning → 548 people / sq mi	89	25	19	11	15	12	7
Perry → 87 people / sq mi	89	24	19	12	14	12	8
Portage → 334 people / sq mi	89	25	19	11	14	13	7
Union → 161 people / sq mi	89	24	19	12	15	12	7
Vinton → 30 people / sq mi	89	23	19	12	15	12	8
Wayne → 210 people / sq mi	89	25	19	11	15	12	7
Adams → 47 people / sq mi	88	22	19	13	15	13	6
Allen → 251 people / sq mi	88	24	18	12	15	12	7
Belmont → 122 people / sq mi	88	23	19	12	15	12	7
Champaign → 91 people / sq mi	88	23	19	12	15	12	7
Coshocton → 65 people / sq mi	88	25	19	10	14	12	8
Erie → 295 people / sq mi	88	24	19	11	15	12	7
Gallia → 62 people / sq mi	88	21	18	12	15	14	8
Guernsey → 73 people / sq mi	88	23	19	12	14	12	8
Hardin → 65 people / sq mi	88	24	19	11	15	12	7
Lake → 1010 people / sq mi	88	25	19	10	15	12	7
Lucas → 1253 people / sq mi	88	24	19	12	14	11	8
Madison → 96 people / sq mi	88	23	19	12	15	12	7
Noble → 36 people / sq mi	88	23	19	12	14	12	8
Putnam → 71 people / sq mi	88	24	19	12	15	11	7
Tuscarawas → 162 people / sq mi	88	24	19	12	14	12	7
Geauga → 238 people / sq mi	87	25	18	10	15	12	7
Henry → 66 people / sq mi	87	24	19	12	15	11	6
Lorain → 648 people / sq mi	87	23	19	11	15	12	7
Marion → 161 people / sq mi	87	23	19	12	14	12	7
Mercer → 92 people / sq mi	87	23	19	12	14	12	7
Ottawa → 156 people / sq mi	87	25	19	11	14	11	7
Pike → 61 people / sq mi	87	24	18	12	15	13	5
Seneca → 99 people / sq mi	87	23	19	11	15	12	7
Shelby → 117 people / sq mi	87	23	19	12	14	12	7
Ashtabula → 138 people / sq mi	86	23	19	10	15	12	7
Athens → 125 people / sq mi	86	23	19	10	15	11	8
Defiance → 93 people / sq mi	86	24	19	12	15	10	6
Harrison → 35 people / sq mi	86	22	19	12	15	11	7
Morgan → 33 people / sq mi	86	23	19	10	14	12	8
Sandusky → 144 people / sq mi	86	23	19	11	14	12	7
Van Wert → 70 people / sq mi	86	23	19	12	14	11	7
Wood → 215 people / sq mi	86	25	19	12	14	11	5
Wyandot → 53 people / sq mi	86	23	17	12	15	12	7
Lawrence → 124 people / sq mi	85	21	19	12	14	11	8
Paulding → 45 people / sq mi	85	24	19	11	14	10	7
Scioto → 118 people / sq mi	83	23	19	11	14	11	5
Monroe → 29 people / sq mi	81	23	19	9	13	12	5

Score is out of 100: Water 25, Legal 20, Solar 15, Hazard 15, Food 15, Buildability 10. Green cells score 80% or better of their maximum; amber cells under 70%.

Where the good land is

93% of Ohio's private rural land scores Good with caveats or better (80 or more). The strongest counties are Highland, Butler and Clinton. The weakest are Monroe, Scioto and Lawrence. Where the land falls short, it is most often on building (slope, septic and land price).

What separates them

Buildability: Highland County scores 10 of 10, Monroe County 5. Slope, the septic the ground needs, footings, and the county's land price. A steep or soggy lot that fails a septic test is the dealbreaker photos hide.
Food: Highland County scores 15 of 15, Paulding County 10. Soil quality, frost-free growing days, and rainfall: what decides whether you can actually feed yourself and your animals.
Solar: Highland County scores 13 of 15, Monroe County 9. Year-round solar potential, including the darkest month, and how much energy it takes to heat and cool a house there. Matters most if you're fully off-grid.
Water: Clinton County scores 25 of 25, Lawrence County 21. Drinking, system, and irrigation water, the #1 reason off-grid and homestead plans collapse. A low score means a deep, costly well or hauled water.

Hazard and Legal barely move across the sample: the counties score within two points of each other there, so those are state-level facts, not county choices.

The state's soft spot

Solar is Ohio's weakest dimension, at 11 of 15 for the state as a whole. Year-round solar potential, including the darkest month, and how much energy it takes to heat and cool a house there. Matters most if you're fully off-grid. Getting a parcel here off-grid runs $30k to $89k by our estimates across these counties, before the house. The full Ohio row in the Best States ranking has the state-wide spread and how the popular off-grid guides rank it.

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Before you buy in Ohio

The scores read the physical land. Whether you may legally live on it is a separate question, and it changes at the county line: Is it legal to live off-grid in Ohio? covers zoning, building code, septic, and wells for the state, with the counties that opt out. For the reason water carries a quarter of the score, how you get water on off-grid land is the read. And the five-point check is the order to do it in.

Good with caveatsOhio: 89 of 100, 18th of 50. A good state is not a good parcel. Score the one you are looking at, free, in about a minute.

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