Living in West Chester, Ohio: homes, prices and straight answers

Is West Chester a city?

No. West Chester is a township in Butler County, which is why there is no local income tax where you live. You still pay city income tax to the city where you work, the same as anyone else in Ohio. The West Chester mailing address also reaches into Liberty Township and other areas, so check the township and school district for each house with the Butler County Auditor.

What is there to do in West Chester?

• The Square @ Union Centre, the township's gathering place, with a clock tower, summer concerts and a Saturday market from late May through September.
• The Streets of West Chester with Topgolf, Main Event and Bass Pro Shops, and IKEA along I-75.
• Voice of America MetroPark: 435 acres, a 35-acre stocked lake, nine miles of trails, a dog park and a sledding hill.
• Keehner Park, 123 wooded acres with trails, an 1800s log cabin and a concert amphitheater.
• UC Health West Chester Hospital, and Liberty Center just north in Liberty Township.

Which West Chester neighborhoods should I look at?

It depends on the house and the amenities you want, and there are a lot of choices. A few I show often, in West Chester and next door in Liberty Township:

• Four Bridges, a golf community with pools and a clubhouse, with condos and maintenance-free homes as well as single-family houses.
• West Chester Village and the Villages of Providence, early-2000s homes with walking trails and ponds near Union Centre.
• Foxborough, mostly Drees homes on the hill with walkout basements.
• Wetherington, where some homes are a walk from Liberty Center.

My neighborhood drive video below shows several of them.

Which school district is a West Chester address in?

Most of the township is in Lakota Local Schools, one of the largest districts in Ohio. The southeast part is in Princeton City Schools and a small area on the eastern edge is in Mason City Schools. Confirm the district for the exact address with the Butler County Auditor, and compare districts on the Ohio School Report Card.

What kinds of homes are in West Chester?

Mostly single-family houses built from the 1970s through the 1990s, plus more condos and apartments than most suburbs. About two homes in three are single-family houses, and about one in four is in a building with two or more units. Only about one home in ten was built after 2010, so new construction here usually means the edges of the township or Liberty Township to the north.