Have you just been offered a new job in a new state that you know nothing about? You may be excited at the new opportunity to live in a new place, meet new people, and become a local of a city that is currently foreign to you.
When moving to a new place, there is a lot of excitement, but not all of that energy is the feel-good type. You might also be filled with nervous energy.
How do I know which neighborhoods are good? Will I live near all the action or will I end up in a boring suburb outside of the city? Most importantly, will where I live be safe?
Safety is one of the main concerns everyone has when moving to a new place or even when considering changing your location in the same city.
We want to be able to go to sleep at night and feel comfortable and secure in where we live. Security like this has a major impact on our health and wellbeing, so who wouldn’t want an extra boost in that department?
So where are you moving to next? If it happens to be Ohio, then this is the article for you. Ohio is a state filled with many exciting cities, but the state does have a more dangerous city or two.
If you enjoy beautiful state parks, walking through large cities, and fields upon fields of corn, then Ohio is a great choice. But where are the dangerous places to avoid living as a newcomer?
You will want to know all you can about the cities you live in, but how do you find that information?
Luckily for you, RoadSnacks has figured out that answer for you.
Here are the 10 most dangerous cities in Ohio for 2019:
- Whitehall (Photos)
- Springfield (Photos)
- Canton (Photos)
- Cleveland (Photos)
- Lima (Photos)
- Portsmouth (Photos)
- Cincinnati (Photos)
- Chillicothe (Photos)
- Middletown (Photos)
- Dayton (Photos)
We analyzed 247 cities in Ohio using the latest FBI crime data to determine which cities in Ohio were the most likely to make you double check your doors are locked.
The winner? Whitehall, Ohio. In this small town located just below the Columbus International Airport, you will find crime at its peak.
The larger cities didn’t fare much better. Cleveland, Dayton, and Cincinnati all ranked in our top 10 most dangerous cities list.
Interested to see how your favorite cities stacked up? Read on to learn more about our methodology and to see what makes each of these cities so dangerous.
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
The 10 Most Dangerous Places To Live In Ohio For 2019
Tiny Whitehall, statistically, is the 10th most violent city per capita in the entire state of Ohio. Whitehall, for those outside of the Columbus area, is essentially a tiny Columbus 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.
Springfield, a Columbus 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.
Growing up in Springfield, I can honestly say I have witnessed the decline over the last 40 years first hand. We are to a point now that the crime is absolutely out of control. Nowhere within the entire city is it even remotely safe. There are absolutely no parts of town where one does not risk being assaulted, raped, robbed, or attacked. When I was younger, there were at least safer areas which everyone knew about and we could plan our day within those spots to avoid becoming a victim. Those lines have long since blurred. For instance, some of the fishing spots in some of the parks used to be mildly safe to enjoy. Now, it is practically suicide to fish without a weapon because the scumbag criminals are bleeding over into the forests and natural areas. Fact: if you live in Springfield for any length of time, you WILL be the victim of at least one crime! And, like mentioned, it does not matter what part of town you live in. Stay away, or if you are already here, try to find a way to escape. It is doubtful that it will get any better. Springfield is DEAD! As for me, I’m out. Leaving next year. And I can’t wait!
There is absolutely nothing good about this joke-of-a-city at all!!!
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.
Cleveland has all the benefits of a big city without the heavy traffic and high prices. There are great sports, art museums, plays, and restaurants.
The east 4th street area and the Flats stand out with great places to eat, drink, and hang out.
Lima, with a population of 37,220 ranks as the 5th most dangerous city based on 2017 data.
Between 2015-17, violent crime fell, leaving residents a 1 in 135 chance of being the victim of violence in 2017.
Property crime also dropped during these years, meaning Lima may be off this list in another year if the trend keeps up.
I am from Lima Ohio, born and raised there. Moved to Tennessee 29 years ago. Lima was a thriving place to live when I grew up there. Lots of mid to high blue color jobs and industry. I was and still am a member of lu 776 plumbers and pipe fitters local. Things started going to h**l after Clinton signed the Nafta act. Lots of co. Closed down and went to China and Mexico, only good jobs there now are Ford motor engine plant and the Lima petrochemical and refinery complex.
I worked at all of them at one time or another in the eighteen years I worked at the construction trades there. Still have family there who are doing well, but we are definatley glad we left there in 1987.
Portsmouth has more problems — namely crime. It’s the 6th most dangerous city in Ohio.
Statistically, 1 in 173 people in Portsmouth was the victim of a rape, attack or outright killed in 2017. That’s a really large number.
And that’s just residents who actually reported a crime. Chances are it was even higher than that.
Coming in as the 7th most dangerous city in Ohio is Cincinnati.
While violent crime has been steadily dropping in recent years, with a 10% total drop in violent crime from 2015-17, property crime went up by nearly the same rate during this interval.
That left residents of Cincinnati a 1 in 1219.8 chance of being the victim of a property crime in 2017, and a 1 in 105 chance of being the victim of violence.
Tons to do in Cincinnati. Lots of breweries and great food. The downtown area is constantly expanding with new things to do
Rhinegiest Brewery is awesome. It is downtown in an old warehouse with a beautiful rooftop patio. It is just down the street from the awesome Findlay market where you can find awesome food and local meat and produce.
Located in Ross County., Chillicothe is the 8th most dangerous city in Ohio.
With residents facing a 1 in 233 chance of being the victim of violence in 2017, Chillicothe it earns a spot on the most dangerous places in Ohio.
The 20th most populated city in Ohio, Middletown ranks as the 9th most dangerous.
Middletown’s crime problem has been slowly improving in recent years, with violent crime going down from 2015-17, and property crime dropping.
Still, Middletown residents face about a 1 in 16.5 chance of being the victim of theft or arson.
Let’s see….
Crime is through the roof, drug use levels here are ridiculous, poor utilization of government programs, horrid condition of basically all roads, buildings and homes, zero sense of community pride.
The good news is, you apparently can get all the free Narcan you could ever possibly use.
Basically the whole town is disgusting. Everything to most of the people that live here, to the places to get a job. In addition our “crown jewel of Middletown” AK Steel has made the town absolutely filthy and has zero environmental conscious whatsoever. The rivers, lakes and streams here are all highly polluted, even the air quality is terrible. On the plus side if you own a home here AK will send you a check every year for the environmental damage that they have caused to your home and cars.
No doubt there are a lot of really decent people here. Unfortunately they are terribly outnumbered by tweakers, criminals and other sorts of undesirable tenants.
Not to mention this is the most closed minded, racist, IGNORANT group of citizens I’ve ever encountered.
Only possible saving grace would be a direct nuclear strike or a meteor hitting right square in the middle of town.
Live did a song called “Sh*t Towne” back in the 90’s. Definitely the theme song for the official a*s crack of SW Ohio.
Just dirty….. everything about it.
The 6th-largest city in Ohio is a dangerous one. Though crime looks like it ticked down recently, it’s still, statistically, the 10th most dangerous place in the state of Ohio.
Residents here have a 1 in 113 chance of being the victim of a violent crime, which includes rape, aggravated assault and murders.
Dayton was listed as the 3rd worst city in the country…. I can’t believe there are 2 cities worse than mine
Junkies, junkies everywhere
How Is Your Town In ?
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.
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
- These Are The 10 Richest Cities In Ohio
- 10 Safest Places In Ohio
- 10 Worst Places To Live In Ohio
Where Are 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 |
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.
You have to look further down the article. Columbus is at #22
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.
Well at least they updated Springfield to be a suburb of Columbus, which it isn’t….. sigh.
Dear Gentlemen
Highly disagree with your data and facts on ranking Springfield No. 2 as dangerous to live in Ohio.
We (Springfield, Ohio) is by far the best city in Ohio to live in.
Springfield have gone from strictly depending on manufacturing for employment to a mixture of employers. Springfield has several industrial parks and Springfield Beckley Municipal Airport.
We are home To Wittenberg University and Clark State Community College with wonderful Public and Private Schools.
Great amenities like a brewery with farmers market during winter months, ice arena, baseball, parks and recreation, fantastic Summer Arts Programs in Veterans Park.
Springfield, Ohio has an abundance of group and organizations with events and programs. We are home to the John Legend Theater with year-round plays and programs.
We Springfield, Ohio are an inviting city, look forward to you considering using personal visits and speaking with Greater Springfield Chamber Of Commerce, Elected Officials and people in our great city instead of hiding behind data.
Sincerely,
Joyce Chilton
Hey Joyce Chilton with all do respect.If your really going to be this upset with this web site for putting out the truth about Springfield Ohio.Lets be honest about Springfield Ohio, this city does indeed have its own problems and not only that back 2012 or 2013 we had an economic fail going on in this city. Why not add the fact that Springfield Ohio has a lot of crimes here mostly home invasion,robberys,theft and drug abuse. The sad part about Springfield Ohio is that city hall isn’t doing or saying anything about daily crimes that are happening over there at the low income Ronez Manor Apartments. Plus there’s crimes over in South Limestone. And lets also point out that Springfield Ohio population is decreasing. Work places are going out of business and I like to know 2 things about food restaurants. Why is it we have more fast food places than just regular sit down restaurants? Plus how come when it comes to fast food places that we don’t have Chick-Fi-La in this city. Now another thing i want to bring up is downtown Springfield Ohio. For the long time you and the rest of city hall that you guys are trying everyday to rebuild Springfield Ohio. How in the world are you guys trying if all you commissioners are basically wasting taxpayers money by restructuring the roads terrying down old homes and vacant businesses. You also pointed at the fact that this city has a ice rink and plus John Legend theater and of course you left out the fact every year in the month of May we have a parade for our vets on memorial day and on the month of December we have a lights in the city Christmas special. Where my concern is Joyce is that there’s not much fun activity here in Springfield Ohio. Back 2009 or 2010 i question our mayor Warren Copeland about activitys for youn men,women and children.And all that mayor did was yes me away just like he does with everybody else. Some people around here all they do for fun around is eat,shop and often times go to that game cycle video game store to play retro arcade games. I gave you guys some ideas what you can bring to Springfield Ohio like a indoor skateboard park for all skater fans or how about bringing some sort indy pro wrestling event here to Springfield Ohio or something. What drives me crazy is that this city for a quite long time Springfield Ohio said that one day this city will become like a NYC instead it’s becoming the bad side like Detroit Michigan. So if you don’t want sites to write bad things about our city than do us all a favor and tell Warren Copeland to get his butt up and tell Springfield Ohio to come together and rebuild this city and bring more fun activitys for Springfield Ohio.
This is Valerie Lough, Community Information Coordinator for the City of Springfield. It is worth noting that, while you are sourcing FBI uniform crime reporting, you are assigning a per capita number that includes property crime as well as violent crime. The FBI has routinely cautioned against using crime rankings as they can lead to simplistic analysis, that can create misleading perceptions. Property crimes include theft, motor vehicle theft, and burglary. This is misleading, as many people tend to associate “danger” with violent crime, not property crime. Thank you for your time.
Whitehall you must be from Columbus Whitehall is a little area in Columbus. It is not a city. Your information is false. Cleveland is by far the most dangerous.