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Botkins, Ohio

Botkins is a small town of about 1,100 people in Shelby County, Ohio. Its population has held about steady since 2020. A typical home costs about 2.7 years of the typical household's income, compared with 4.1 across the U.S. The nearest metro area of about a million people or more, Columbus, is about 71 miles away as the crow flies.

Population
1,133
down 2% since 2020
Typical home, 2020-24
$218,400
Shelby County prices up 22% since 2022
Household income
$80,000
U.S.: $80,734
Prices, rural Ohio
88.3
U.S. average = 100
Emergency room
11 miles
Sidney, OH
To Columbus
71 mi
straight line

The book's checklist

  • Lower cost of livingEveryday prices run 11.7% below the U.S. average in the parts of Ohio outside metro areas.
  • More house for the moneyA typical home costs 2.7 years of the typical household's income here. Across the U.S. it's 4.1.
  • A safer neighborhood1 violent crime was reported in 2025, about 0.8 per 1,000 people (U.S.: 3.3). Property crime: 10.1 per 1,000 (U.S.: 15.3).
  • Schools in town2 public schools: 1 elementary and 1 high school.
  • A hospital close byWilson Memorial Hospital in Sidney, about 11 miles away, has the nearest emergency room.
  • Within reach of a big cityColumbus is about 71 miles away as the crow flies. The book suggests staying within about 60 miles if you'll miss big-city sports, concerts and theater.

A check means Botkins meets the rule of thumb from Frank and Dave's book. An empty box isn't a deal breaker: it's something to weigh for your family. A question mark means there isn't enough data.

For a lifetime

Homes and money

Typical home value, as owners valued them in 2020-2024
$218,400U.S.: $332,700
Home prices since then
Up 22%Shelby County, 2022 to 2025
Typical rent, with utilities
$842 a monthU.S.: $1,413
Typical household income
$80,000U.S.: $80,734
Homes owned by the people living in them
75%U.S.: 65%
Typical property tax bill
$1,806 a yearOhio: $2,822
Homes built since 2010
2%U.S.: 11%
Vacation and seasonal homes
0%U.S.: 3%
Everyday prices
88.3U.S. average = 100 (the parts of Ohio outside metro areas)

Home values and rents are what households told the Census Bureau across 2020 to 2024, so they trail today's market: county prices have moved up 22% since 2022. Everyday prices are the government's average for the parts of Ohio outside metro areas, not Botkins alone. Check current listings before you budget.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates; Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions); U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024.

The people

Population, 2025 estimate
1,1332020: 1,156
Median age
36.1 yearsU.S.: 38.9
Age 65 and older
17%U.S.: 17%
Under 18
24%U.S.: 22%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or more
26%U.S.: 36%
Moved here from another county or state in the past year
2%U.S.: 6%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025); U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Work

Biggest lines of work
Manufacturing (38%); schools, health care and social services (15%); wholesale trade (12%)
Unemployment rate
3%U.S.: 5%
Average commute
20 minutesU.S.: 26 minutes
Work from home
5%U.S.: 15%
Below the poverty line
4%U.S.: 12%

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Health care

Nearest emergency room: Wilson Memorial Hospital, Sidney, OH, about 11 miles away. It's a general hospital. Medicare gives it 2 of 5 stars.

Look up doctors, clinics and the hospitals themselves on Medicare's Care Compare. Ask where the most serious cases are sent.

Sources: Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information.

Schools

2 public schools in Botkins, run by Botkins Local.

See each school on the federal school search, then check test scores and graduation rates on Ohio's school report card.

Sources: National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal); National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024.

Internet

Homes with cable, fiber or DSL internet
88%U.S.: 76%
Homes with any internet subscription
96%U.S.: 91%

Before you buy, look up the address on the FCC's National Broadband Map to see which providers serve it.

Sources: U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates.

Weather

January average low
18°F
July average high
84°F
Days 90°F or hotter
14 a year
Nights at or below freezing
134 a year
Rain and melted snow
37.7 inches a year
Snow
10 inches a year
Elevation
986 feet

Weather stations: Sidney 1 S (13 miles away) and St Marys 3 W (15 miles away, rain and snow). Averages for 1991 to 2020.

Sources: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020; U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program.

Getting around

Straight-line miles. The road is always longer, and as the book says, an interstate at 70 is a different trip from a farm road at 45. Check the real drive: Wilson Memorial Hospital, Springfield, Columbus.

Shelby County is outside any metro area, with 20,000 or more people in its towns, next to a metro area (USDA rural-urban code 4, on a scale where 1 is the biggest metro areas and 9 the most rural counties).

For a day

3 places on the National Register of Historic Places.

National Park Service sites within about an hour:

  • Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park45 miles
  • Charles Young Buffalo Soldiers National Monument53 miles

Read about Botkins's history on Wikipedia.

Know Botkins?

Tell us what a visitor shouldn't miss, and what living there is really like. Write to Main Street at mainstreet@smalltownguide.com. The best notes from people who know the town will be added here.

Nearby

Straight-line miles.

Small towns

Smaller places

  • Kettlersville, OH176 people, 4 miles
  • New Knoxville, OH912 people, 8 miles
  • St. Johns, OH (unincorporated)163 people, 9 miles
  • Port Jefferson, OH338 people, 10 miles
  • Uniopolis, OH (unincorporated)166 people, 11 miles
  • Buckland, OH228 people, 13 miles
  • New Hampshire, OH (unincorporated)445 people, 14 miles
  • Waynesfield, OH739 people, 15 miles

Sources

  1. U.S. Census Bureau, Population Estimates (Vintage 2025)
  2. U.S. Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020-2024 5-year estimates
  3. Federal Housing Finance Agency, House Price Index for counties (all transactions)
  4. U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, Regional Price Parities, 2024
  5. FBI, Crime in the United States, Table 8 (offenses known to law enforcement by city)
  6. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Hospital General Information
  7. National Center for Education Statistics, Common Core of Data, 2023-24 (via the Urban Institute Education Data Portal)
  8. National Center for Education Statistics, IPEDS institution directory, 2024
  9. NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020
  10. U.S. Geological Survey, 3D Elevation Program
  11. National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places listings
  12. National Park Service, park unit boundaries
  13. USDA Economic Research Service, Rural-Urban Continuum Codes, 2023
  14. U.S. Census Bureau, 2025 Gazetteer files and 2020 urban areas

Census survey figures are estimates with a margin of error; we leave out any figure whose margin is too wide to be useful. Data last gathered October 5, 2026. See something wrong? Write to mainstreet@smalltownguide.com.