Do you live in one of the most dangerous cities in Ohio?
We all watch the news and see reports on Facebook of the latest crimes that happen in our hometowns. But it can be hard to tell at a big picture level how dangerous our town actually is.
No one wants to feel unsafe, and statistically speaking, odds are that where you live is most likely relatively safe. In order to help the good people of Ohio — and anyone looking to move to Ohio — know just how close they are to danger, we took data from the annual FBI report and did some serious analysis.
The data shows that these ten cities are currently the most dangerous in the Buckeye State for 2019:
- Whitehall (Photos)
- Springfield (Photos)
- Canton (Photos)
- Cleveland (Photos)
- Lima (Photos)
- Portsmouth (Photos)
- Cincinnati (Photos)
- Chillicothe (Photos)
- Middletown (Photos)
- Dayton (Photos)
After analyzing 247 cities in Ohio, why did Whitehall take the top spot?
For the answer to this question and a detailed explanation of the data and analysis we used in creating this ranking, read on.
Or learn more about the safest places in Ohio.
If you’re looking for something more national, check out the most dangerous cities in America or the most dangerous states in America.
For more Ohio reading, check out:
- 10 Best Places To Live In Ohio
- These Are The 10 Best Counties To Live In Ohio
- 10 Cheapest Places To Live In Ohio
Graphing The Most Dangerous And Safest Places In Ohio
How we determined the most dangerous cities in Ohio for 2019?
Every year the FBI release two crime datasets, a preliminary dataset limited to the biggest cities in the country, followed by a more detailed release at the end of the year.
For our analysis, we focused on the JUST released 2017 data, specifically the 2017 Crime In The United States Report. We will update the results when data becomes available in September 2019.
So what criteria did we use? Have a look:
- Violent Crimes Per Capita
- Property Crimes Per Capita
In order to make the analysis as apples to apples as possible, we only considered cities over 5,000 in population. That left us with 247 cities in Ohio.
We then ranked each city from 1 to 247 for the two criteria with a #1 ranking being the most dangerous for the particular criteria.
Next, we averaged the two rankings into one “Dangerous Index”.
Finally, we ranked every city on the “Dangerous Index” with the lowest index being the most dangerous in Ohio — Whitehall.
Read on for a detailed look at the 10 most dangerous cities in Ohio.
Tiny Whitehall, statistically, is the 10th most violent city per capita in the entire state of Ohio. Whitehall, for those outside of the St. Louis area, is essentially a tiny St. Louis suburb.
While crimes here skyrocketed in 2016, apparently, local jurisdictions have made progress, as crimes went down in 2017. However, for a town of just over 18,835 people, 125 violent crimes is eye opening. Statistically, 1 in 150 residents was the victim of a rape, attack or was killed just two years ago. And that’s even lower than it was the year before, when it was double that.
Rounding out the top 10 dangerous cities is Springfield.
Springfield, a St. Louis suburb, has seen property crimes plummet about 30% recently, so law enforcement must be cracking down on vehicle thefts and home invasion robberies. Statistically, 1 in 159 people in Springfield were raped, attacked or murdered in 2017. Wow.
You have a 1 in 18.9 chance of being the victim of a property crime in Canton and a 1 in 84 chance of being the victim of a violent crime.
We noticed a trend in our top ten that is exemplified by Cleveland. Violent crime rates tend to be higher in bigger cities. This probably has to do with population density and a larger range of incomes. Smaller cities have a tendency to have higher property crime rates.
Cleveland ranks 19th for property crime and 1st for violent crime according to the most recent FBI data.
Lima ranks as the 5th most dangerous city in Ohio according to the FBI data.
The city ranks as having the 13th highest property crime rank and 7th highest violent crime rank in the Buckeye State.
The trajectory of Portsmouth’s crime rate gives it a 6th place finish in our analysis.
Violent crime shot up from 2015-17, while instances of property crime also went up.
That left residents of Portsmouth with a 1 in 173 chance of being the victim of a violent crime in 2017.
If there’s a silver lining to be had, it’s that violent crimes were down about 20% in 2017 from the previous year.
Chillicothe, located in Ross County, is the 8th most dangerous and 22nd most violent city in Ohio.
Violent crime has remained high from 2015-17, during which time property crime fell by only small amounts.
Folks who live in little Middletown have the 196 highest chance of being the victim of a rape or attack. The city, located in Southeastern Ohio, has seen a moderate population decline in recent years, perhaps due to the crime happening within its city limits.
In 2017, 1 out of 15.2 Middletown residents were the victim of a crime.
Middletown is also home of the famous Lambert?s Cafe (the ‘throwed rolls restaurant’).
Dayton isn’t the worst in state in terms of either violent or property crime statistics, but bad rankings in each earn it the title of the 10th most dangerous city in the Buckeye State.
The good news is that instances of property crime dropped between 2015-17, but the bad news is that violent crime rose in the same time period.
That left Dayton residents with a 1 in 113 chance of being the victim of a violent crime in 2017, making the city the 5th most violent place in Ohio.
Locking It All Up In Ohio
The latest FBI crime data shows that Whitehall ranks as the most dangerous city in Ohio for 2019.
We want to point out again that there’s still safes places in Whitehall and that this isn’t a comment on the people that live there. So please don’t beat us up.
If you’re curious enough, here are the safest cities in Ohio:
- Sagamore Hills (Pop. 10,951)
- Broadview Heights (Pop. 19,228)
- Chester Township (Pop. 10,355)
For more Ohio reading, check out:
- 10 Best Places To Raise A Family In Ohio
- These Are The 10 Best Places To Retire In Ohio For 2018
- These Are The 10 Richest Cities In Ohio
- 10 Safest Places In Ohio
- 10 Worst Places To Live In Ohio
Detailed List Of The Most Dangerous Cities In Ohio
| Rank | City | Population |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Whitehall | 18,835 |
| 2 | Springfield | 58,843 |
| 3 | Canton | 71,031 |
| 4 | Cleveland | 385,351 |
| 5 | Lima | 37,220 |
| 6 | Portsmouth | 20,451 |
| 7 | Cincinnati | 299,116 |
| 8 | Chillicothe | 21,695 |
| 9 | Middletown | 48,828 |
| 10 | Dayton | 140,171 |
| 11 | Mansfield | 46,507 |
| 12 | Toledo, , | 277,116 |
| 13 | Akron | 197,412 |
| 14 | Circleville | 13,972 |
| 15 | Butler Township | 7,799 |
| 16 | Steubenville | 17,979 |
| 17 | Warren | 39,643 |
| 18 | Hamilton | 62,094 |
| 19 | Zanesville | 25,457 |
| 20 | Youngstown | 63,889 |
| 21 | Mount Healthy | 6,020 |
| 22 | Columbus | 872,205 |
| 23 | Norwood | 19,994 |
| 24 | Lancaster | 40,026 |
| 25 | Springfield Township, Summit County | 14,434 |
| 26 | Heath | 10,681 |
| 27 | Lorain | 63,672 |
| 28 | Barberton | 26,050 |
| 29 | North College Hill | 9,311 |
| 30 | Alliance | 21,838 |
| 31 | Sandusky | 24,861 |
| 32 | Wooster | 27,172 |
| 33 | Washington Court House | 14,136 |
| 34 | Logan | 7,077 |
| 35 | Warren Township | 5,255 |
| 36 | Trotwood | 24,308 |
| 37 | Piqua | 20,973 |
| 38 | Wilmington | 12,416 |
| 39 | Euclid | 47,270 |
| 40 | Fremont | 16,241 |
| 41 | Findlay | 41,474 |
| 42 | Brooklyn | 10,809 |
| 43 | Sidney | 20,466 |
| 44 | Port Clinton | 5,928 |
| 45 | Bucyrus | 11,828 |
| 46 | Urbana | 11,351 |
| 47 | Groveport | 5,583 |
| 48 | Reading | 10,307 |
| 49 | Oregon | 19,991 |
| 50 | Nelsonville | 5,284 |
| 51 | Reynoldsburg | 37,704 |
| 52 | Marion | 36,230 |
| 53 | Xenia | 26,331 |
| 54 | Van Wert | 10,713 |
| 55 | Ontario | 6,058 |
| 56 | East Cleveland | 17,178 |
| 57 | Forest Park | 18,665 |
| 58 | Upper Sandusky | 6,529 |
| 59 | Elyria | 53,586 |
| 60 | Milford | 6,939 |
| 61 | Greenville | 12,772 |
| 62 | Salem | 11,887 |
| 63 | Huber Heights | 37,996 |
| 64 | Willard | 6,032 |
| 65 | Cheviot | 8,269 |
| 66 | Colerain Township | 58,996 |
| 67 | Mount Vernon | 16,553 |
| 68 | Bedford Heights | 10,558 |
| 69 | Kenton | 8,190 |
| 70 | South Euclid | 21,628 |
| 71 | University Heights | 13,104 |
| 72 | Englewood | 13,504 |
| 73 | Cleveland Heights | 44,525 |
| 74 | Bexley | 13,773 |
| 75 | Defiance | 16,594 |
| 76 | Fairborn | 33,936 |
| 77 | Fairfield | 42,627 |
| 78 | Grove City | 40,421 |
| 79 | Jackson Township, Stark County | 40,624 |
| 80 | Fairfield Township | 22,524 |
| 81 | West Carrollton | 12,898 |
| 82 | Austintown | 35,303 |
| 83 | Shelby | 8,987 |
| 84 | Lakewood | 50,151 |
| 85 | Hillsboro | 6,576 |
| 86 | London | 10,202 |
| 87 | Galion | 10,073 |
| 88 | Richmond Heights | 10,432 |
| 89 | Miami Township, Montgomery County | 28,996 |
| 90 | Ironton | 10,853 |
| 91 | Springfield Township, Hamilton County | 36,571 |
| 92 | Jackson | 6,305 |
| 93 | Vandalia | 15,022 |
| 94 | Wauseon | 7,407 |
| 95 | Monroe | 16,002 |
| 96 | Cambridge | 10,391 |
| 97 | Sylvania Township | 29,536 |
| 98 | Napoleon | 8,410 |
| 99 | Bedford | 12,641 |
| 100 | Oberlin | 8,321 |
Columbus, Oh is not even listed. How accurate is this list when one of Ohio’s largest cities is not even included?
Whitehall is in Columbus city limits pretty much.
I doubt the accuracy since Columbus, Lancaster, Steubenville and others not listed. Crime in the cities are closely related to poverty. Southern Ohio has a lack of jobs and a lot of poverty as do many inner cities. Most city crime is drug related and that’s everywhere.
How about the dirty south. Southside columbus. And Cincinnati is not top 3….wronggggg..
Was it appropriate to give violent crime and property crime equal weight in calculating danger scores?
“Dangerous” should just mean violent crime. They shouldn’t have included property crimes. The real list of 10 most dangerous cities in Ohio should be:
1. Cleveland
2. Toledo
3. Lima
4. Canton
5. Cincinnati
6. Dayton
7. Youngstown
8. Akron
9. Whitehall
10. Springfield
Before you put your name to anything this critical you should be careful coming to any conclusions until you check reported crimes compared to actual crimes. Even though the FBI provide the tools needed to come up with these results they, and you have no way to tell how and why the reports were taken.
no,that list couldnt be right cause dayton wasnt in there.portsmouth is just a small,tiny town of 99,000 nothing like dayton,akron,cincinnati dont believe that.
East cleveland
They were using the UCR which does not take into account dark figure crimes, as well as the UCR only takes the most violent or deviant crimes committed, so if there are multiple crimes committed at one time the worst crime will be the only one reported. Just keep that in mind!
Youngstown was the murder capital of the USA per captita 2001-2003.
In fact I passed a woman wearing a shirt today that had “Youngstown, Ohio murder capital of America, 2001-2003 come heavy or don’t come at all”. LOL Still true today no matter how many gentrified craft beer places they can prop up throughout the area.
come up in new philadelphia ohio you get your head taken off your shoulders
“Springfield, a suburb of St. Louis,”. Unless you are writing about some other state, St. Louis is more than 500 miles away in Missouri. The last I checked there were two states inbetween Ohio and Missouri. Now Springfield, Ohio is small city halfway inbetween Dayton and Columbus and is not considered a suburb of either although it is considered to be in the Dayton CSA
The article says that Springfield Ohio is a st. Louis suburb St Louis is in Missouri
This site, “roadsnacks,” dies not ascribe to any respected methods of research. Much of the information posted in this piece is indeed false. Not only did they put two of the cities on the list as two suburbs of St. Louis Missouri, but their population statistics and crime rates are not even close.
I really dislike places that do this. But people are gullible and believe whatever they are fed.
135 homocides in Columbus as of December 22 that’s the murder cap of ohio
Chris Kolmar, You and your site have zero credibility. You stated that Springfield and Whitehall were suburbs of St. Louis. The last time I looked at a map there were TWO STATES between Ohio and Missouri.They are Indiana and Illinois. Not even Springfield, Missouri is a suburb of St. Louis, They are 250 miles apart. How do you make such mistakes? Your facts are wrong in more ways than one. You contradict yourself. You claim both Dayton and Whitehall are the most dangerous.
Your article lists Springfield as a suburb of St. Louis. So, did you look at data for Springfield Missouri or Springfield Ohio? Perhaps double check that geography before publishing.
Why does the Springfield article refer to to it as a suburb of st Louis?
Yes! Finally something about link.