Apartments in Dayton

With a population of just over 141,000, Dayton is Ohio’s fourth-largest city. For much of its history, Dayton was one of the country’s most important manufacturing centers, home to Mead Paper, Standard Register, and many other Fortune 500 companies. At its peak, Dayton earned the nickname “Little Detroit” for its concentration of GE employees — the highest outside the state of Michigan.

The city has always been a hotbed for visionary businessmen and inventors. Its most famous company — and the largest, in its heyday — was NCR, National Cash Register, which was the first American producer of mechanical cash registers. Inventor Charles Kettering, holder of almost 200 patents — whose inventions include the self-starting engine, leaded gasoline, Freon, and the first aerial missile — called Dayton home, and his name still graces dozens of buildings and a health care network in the city (not to mention Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York). And who can forget Dayton natives and bicycle shop owners Orville and Wilbur Wright, whose invention of the airplane in 1903 ranks as one of the most significant developments in human history?

Though manufacturing jobs left the area by the thousands in the 1970s, leading to a protracted economic decline, Dayton is on the upswing and remains a viable hub for innovation, especially in aeronautics and health care. Wright Patterson Air Force Base is home to two of the most advanced aeronautics research institutes in the country: The National Air and Space Intelligence Center and the Air Force Research Laboratory. The city’s hospital system, which includes The Kettering Health Network and Premier Health Partners, is a major employer and regularly ranks in the top five in the country. The Center for Tissue Regeneration and Development at Dayton and The National Center for Medical Readiness do groundbreaking research in the Dayton area, as do The University of Dayton and Wright State University, the two D-1 universities that call the city home.

When to Search

Try to stay out of the apartment hunt in the winter if possible in Dayton. The supply will be limited, and most apartments will get snapped up almost right away. If you wait until temperatures start to rise in April and May, you should have an easier time finding an apartment to meet your needs.

Staying in the Know

In addition to “Little Detroit,” one of Dayton’s enduring nicknames is “The Gem City.” No one really knows why, as gems are not commonly mined in the area. One theory ties the name to a famous 19th century racehorse that hailed from the city.

Life in Dayton