The 10 Most Dangerous Cities In Ohio For 2023

The 10 Most Dangerous Places To Live In Ohio For 2023

We’re kicking our list up a notch with the most dangerous places to live in Ohio for 2023 — Canton, a city of 69,623 located approximately 20 miles south of Akron.

We hope they have enough security guarding the memorabilia on display at the Pro Football Hall of Fame in Canton because the city had the highest burglary rate in all of Ohio. Overall, residents faced a 1 in 19 chance of being the victim of a property crime in 2021.

And the bad news just keeps on coming for Canton. The city experienced the highest rate of rape cases in the whole state, and the overall violent crime rate is the second highest.

Next up on our list of Ohio’s most dangerous cities is Whitehall, a suburb of Columbus. Whitehall has some of the highest violent crime numbers in the state, including the 54th highest murder rate. That’s a murder every other month, which is quite high for a city of just 18,985.

Property crime also ranks as the fourth highest statewide, with about three cases occurring each day on average.

At least you can get away from all this crime by spending a relaxing day looking at flowers at the Franklin Park Conservatory nearby.

A part of the Dayton Metro Area, Moraine is a small city of just 6,518 and the third most dangerous place to live in Ohio.

In actuality, Moraine has the highest overall crime rate in Ohio for 2021, but most of that comes from having the second highest rate of property crime in the state.

Unfortunately, the crime problem doesn’t end with property in Moraine. The city also had the 172nd highest murder rate in Ohio for 2021.

Located a half-hour northeast of Dayton, Springfield is Ohio’s fourth most dangerous city. Springfield experienced about two burglaries a day on average in 2021 — that’s enough to give it the eighth highest burglary rate statewide.

Overall, people in Springfield had a 1 in 25 chance of having their stuff stolen or damaged.

At least you can get away from the crime-filled streets of Springfield at Buck Creek State Park… just bring a buddy and get home before dark.

Ohio’s 2nd most populous city and the home to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame is also one of the most dangerous places to live in the state.

Once again, Cleveland had the highest violent crime rate in Ohio, with residents facing a 1 in 60 chance of being attacked in 2021. That includes the highest murder rate and sixth highest rate of rape cases statewide.

Additionally, Cleveland ranked worse for property crime this year than last year. But don’t rule the whole city out because of this result; there are still plenty of safe neighborhoods in Cleveland to choose from.

Mount Healthy is a suburb of Cincy, but its high crime rate keeps it from being one of Cincinnati’s best suburbs.

Mount Healthy sounds like a great place to stay fit, and there are plenty of great parks hero, but you’d be well-advised to not linger alone after dark.

The biggest danger in Mount Healthy, though, is property crime, which ranks as the 12th highest in Ohio. In fact, residents had a 1 in 26 shot of having their belongings stolen or damaged in 2021.

Up next on our list is Dayton, Ohio’s 6th biggest city. Dayton had the third highest burglary rate statewide in 2021 and averaged about two car thefts a day.

We just hope no one pulls a Grand Theft Auto move and steals a plane from the Air Force Museum or a classic car from the Packard Museum.

Violent crime is even worse in Dayton — the city had the 11th highest murder rate in Ohio, with about one murder each week, on average. Dayton also had the 13th highest rate of rape cases statewide and the seventh highest violent crime rate overall.

In the early 20th century, Portsmouth was known for its shoes and paving bricks. With this manufacturing backbone, the town, located across the river from Kentucky in the south-central part of Ohio, saw rapid growth starting in the last part of the 19th century. This economic stimulus led the population to quadruple from 1870 to 1930.

However, the time since has seen a reversal of fortune. The area’s current population of 19,702 is less than half its pre-Great Depression peak. This long decline, spurred by economic dislocation, has led to many problems for the community, including increased crime. The rate of burglaries is particularly high, with 151 such crimes in a year.

Welcome to the birthplace of LeBron James! But that’s just the beginning. Fellow NBA great Stephen Curry also took his first breath in town. Meanwhile, baseball legend Thurman Munson, as well as famed bands like Devo and The Black Keys, all came from Akron as well.

Quite a storied history. Of course, those folks eventually moved out of town to find fame and fortune. Why? Well, the community itself has its share of problems, from high poverty to daunting crime rates. In fact, Akron stands as the number 9 most dangerous place in Ohio. This includes high rates of arson, car thefts, and rape. Not to mention the 36 murders that take place in a year.

There might be lions and tigers and bears at the Cincinnati Zoo, but it turns out that the city’s streets are the really dangerous place.

Cincinnati has the third highest murder rate in Ohio, with more than one murder per week, on average, in 2021. Overall, Cincinnati’s residents had a 1 in 123 chance of being attacked over the year.

Not to mention that 1,467 cars got stolen and 1,752 burglaries went down. A good chunk of this crime comes from Cincinatti’s worst neighborhoods, so if you steer clear of those, you should be all right.

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