Ohio News
The 20 Safest Cities in Ohio—2017
If you live in Ohio, or you’re thinking of moving there, you’ll be glad to hear that the Buckeye state’s overall crime rate decreased from 2014 to 2015, making it the twenty-fourth safest state. But these twenty Ohio communities boast crime rates far below the state—and national—averages.
According to the most recent FBI Crime Report, Ohioans living in any of the cities on our list had less than one out of 1,000 chance of experiencing a violent crime in 2015—almost 75% less than the national average. Equally impressive is the fact that only one of these safe cities reported more than seventeen violent crimes, and Montville Township reported none. We also applaud Bellevue, Poland Township, Hudson, and Hamilton Township in Warren County for having zero reports of murder, rape, or robbery.
Ohio’s top twenty safest cities didn’t report much property crime either, and the occurrence of burglaries was especially low. On average, they cited about twenty break-ins over the course of the year, and Chester Township reported less than five. This is remarkably few burglaries considering one takes place every twenty seconds in the United States.1
With thirteen of the cities on this list having appeared in last year’s top twenty, we think it’s safe to say that the leaders, law enforcement officers, and citizens of these communities continue to work together to keep crime under control. That certainly seems to be the case in Brunswick, where Chief of Police Carl S. DeForest encourages police officers and citizensto “develop partnerships” to help solve community problems—whether they collaborate through initiatives like the Brunswick Citizens Police Academy, the ride-along program, or block watches.
[the_ad_group id=”63″]Even if you live in a city where crime isn’t much of a concern, it’s important to learn as much as you can about personal safety and home security. A great resource is our Ohio Safety Directory, where you’ll find a variety of crime prevention information along with a color-coded map noting the most and least burglarized counties in the state.
Article implemented from SafeWise.com
How We Chose the Safest Cities in Ohio
To identify the safest cities in Ohio, we reviewed the most recent FBI Crime Report statistics from 2015, along with population data. We eliminated all cities with fewer than 2,000 residents as well as any cities that failed to submit a complete crime report to the FBI.
From there, we evaluated the remaining cities. We narrowed it down based on the number of reported violent crimes (aggravated assault, murder, rape, and robbery) and property crimes (burglary, arson, larceny-theft, and motor vehicle theft) in each city. To further level the playing field, we calculated the likelihood of these crimes occurring out of 1,000 people in each city.
Learn more about how we rank our Safest Cities reports.
1. Dover ↑
Previous Rank: 10
Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.47
Property Crimes per 1,000: 2.95
2. Chester Township
Previous Rank: Not ranked
Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.10
Property Crimes per 1,000: 3.37
3. Bay Village
Previous Rank: Not ranked
Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.45
Property Crimes per 1,000: 3.05
4. Bellevue
Previous Rank: Not ranked
Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.12
Property Crimes per 1,000: 3.86
5. Poland Township
Previous Rank: 5
Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.08
Property Crimes per 1,000: 4.38
6. Hudson
Previous Rank: 6
Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.27
Property Crimes per 1,000: 4.36
7. Brecksville ↓
Previous Rank: 2
Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.45
Property Crimes per 1,000: 4.32
8. Olmsted Township
Previous Rank: 8
Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.68
Property Crimes per 1,000: 4.53
9. Seven Hills
Previous Rank: 9
Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.34
Property Crimes per 1,000: 5.14
10. Powell ↑
Previous Rank: 18
Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.47
Property Crimes per 1,000: 5.41
11. North Ridgeville ↑
Previous Rank: 15
Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.34
Property Crimes per 1,000: 5.57
12. Hamilton Township, Warren County
Previous Rank: 12
Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.09
Property Crimes per 1,000: 5.88
13. Sagamore Hills
Previous Rank: 13
Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.36
Property Crimes per 1,000: 6.01
14. Montville Township
Previous Rank: Not ranked
Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.00
Property Crimes per 1,000: 6.47
15. Sylvania Township
Previous Rank: Not ranked
Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.75
Property Crimes per 1,000: 6.48
16. Aurora ↑
Previous Rank: 22
Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.38
Property Crimes per 1,000: 6.97
17. Clearcreek Township ↓
Previous Rank: 11
Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.46
Property Crimes per 1,000: 7.04
18. Springboro ↓
Previous Rank: 17
Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.55
Property Crimes per 1,000: 6.98
19. Fostoria
Previous Rank: Not ranked
Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.99
Property Crimes per 1,000: 6.55
20. Brunswick ↓
Previous Rank: 19
Violent Crimes per 1,000: 0.49
Property Crimes per 1,000: 7.24
Didn’t see your city rank in the top 20?
Check the remaining cities below, and take a look at the most recent FBI crime data here.
| 21. Marysville | 22. Solon | 23. Canfield |
| 24. Twinsburg | 25. Berea | 26. New Philadelphia |
| 27. Orrville | 28. Lawrence Township | 29. Shawnee Township |
| 30. Madison Township, Franklin County | 31. Dublin9 | 32. Mason |
| 33. Centerville | 34. Parma | 35. Westlake |
| 36. Miamisburg | 37. New Albany | 38. American Township |
| 39. Miami Township, Clermont County | 40. Lyndhurst | 41. Medina |
| 42. Louisville | 43. Wyoming | 44. Upper Arlington |
| 45. Perrysburg Township | 46. Goshen Township, Clermont County | 47. Clayton |
| 48. Montgomery | 49. Vermilion | 50. Liberty Township |
| 51. Ross Township | 52. Highland Heights | 53. Delhi Township |
| 54. Lebanon | 55. Norton | 56. Weathersfield |
| 57. North Canton | 58. Streetsboro | 59. Tipp City |
| 60. Tiffin | 61. Bath Township, Summit County | 62. Kent |
| 63. Wadsworth | 64. Strongsville | 65. Macedonia |
| 66. Westerville | 67. Gahanna | 68. Medina Township |
| 69. Athens | 70. Kettering | 71. Wapakoneta |
| 72. Oregon | 73. Bowling Green [the_ad id=”726″] | 74. Amherst |
| 75. Eastlake | 76. Willoughby | 77. Springfield Township, Hamilton County |
| 78. Tallmadge | 79. Brimfield Township | 80. Stow |
| 81. University Heights | 82. Beavercreek | 83. Monroe |
| 84. Mentor | 85. Vandalia | 86. Ashland |
| 87. Riverside | 88. Oxford | 89. Cleveland Heights |
| 90. Cuyahoga Falls | 91. Bedford Heights | 92. Howland Township |
| 93. West Chester Township | 94. East Cleveland | 95. Delaware |
| 96. Ironton | 97. Richmond Heights | 98. Blue Ash |
| 99. Sugarcreek Township | 100. Union Township, Clermont County |
