The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Amherst, OH
Amherst is a city of 22,000 in Lorain County, about 30 miles west of downtown Cleveland · Updated November 2026
Is Amherst, OH safe?
Yes. Most US neighborhoods have little crime, and Amherst has less than most of them: its overall CrimeGrade™ is A, safer than the neighborhoods where 64% of Americans live. Violent and property crime both grade A here. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within Amherst run from A+ to C, so check the map below.
A
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 892 of 1,000Safer than most US neighborhoodsi What this means
64% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than Amherst as a whole, and 36% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. Amherst scores 892.
Crime is concentrated in a small share of places, so most neighborhoods score high on the 0 to 1,000 scale. That is why a score in the 800s can still mean more crime than most US neighborhoods.
How to read the map: each area's color compares its crime with the people, homes and cars there, on one national scale, from green for the least crime to red for the most. Each area gets its own color, so a busy shopping center can show red while the homes beside it stay green. The interactive maps load faster on a strong connection. Compare high speed internet in Amherst, OH at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in Amherst, and anyone thinking about buying or renting a home there.
Business and enterprise customers: this free map shows neighborhood areas. CrimeGrade™ business reports map crime at about 66-meter detail and estimate it for one address and type of business. See business reports
What stands out in Amherst
Vandalism runs low. Amherst has 2.3 acts of vandalism a year per 1,000 residents, less than half the US rate of 5.5.
The safest and least safe parts of Amherst
Low crime is the norm across Amherst: 96% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and the rest in areas graded C. Grades across Amherst run from A+ to C; 89% of residents live in areas with less crime than the typical US neighborhood.
96%
A or B 96%C 4%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Within Amherst, the southwest side has the least crime and the northeast side the most.
Is crime going up in Amherst?
Reported property crime in Amherst has fallen 18% since 2019. Too few violent crimes are reported here each year for a reliable violent crime trend. Burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts went from about 12 to 10 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 18). In 2024 alone, property crime rose 35%.
Property crime, change since 2019
AmherstUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police department that serves Amherst. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Property, Amherst
Property, US
2016
+29%
+15%
2017
+8%
+12%
2018
+27%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
2020
-24%
-8%
2021
-33%
-10%
2022
-36%
-6%
2023
-39%
-7%
2024
-18%
-15%
Crime rates and types in Amherst
CrimeGrade™ estimates Amherst has about 22 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 42% less than the US as a whole and 38% less than Ohio.
Overall crime
Violent crime
Property crime
Reported crimes a year, per 1,000 residents. These figures include simple assaults and vandalism, which the FBI's violent and property crime rates leave out.
Assault is the most common crime in Amherst, about 42% of everything reported, and it also accounts for the largest share of what crime costs here.
Each CrimeGrade™ compares a crime with what it affects: people for assaults and robbery, homes for burglary, parked cars for vehicle theft. Rates count crimes per 1,000 residents.
Select a crime's name to see its map above. CrimeGrade™ business reports map each crime at about 66-meter detail.
Where and when crime happens in Amherst
Amherst has its own police department, and these figures come from its reports, 2022 to 2024.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Vandalism
Stores and businesses (34%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Shares of the crimes reported to police, 2022 to 2024. Reports with no time recorded are left out of the times.
How Amherst compares with nearby cities
Amherst has more crime than 5 of its 8 nearest cities. Birmingham and Sheffield have the least crime nearby.
Two things set Amherst apart: it has 3.4 parking-lot spaces per resident, against 2.0 nationally, and 2% of its residents in dense blocks, against 24% nationally. Places with a lot of parking-lot space tend to report more theft, yet theft runs lower here than that would suggest.
Parking lotsBig lots at stores, offices and apartment complexes. Places with more lot space tend to report more theft.3.4 spaces per residentUS: 2.0Higher than for 90% of US city residents
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery and car theft.2% of residentsUS: 24%Lower than for 86% of US city residents
Walk GradeBestNeighborhood's grade for getting through daily life on foot, traced along real walking routes to shops, schools and parks. Walkable places tend to report more theft and assault. 92% of residents here live in car-dependent areas.D- (10 of 100)US: 21Lower than for 77% of US city residents
Show all 6
Transit serviceBuses and trains an hour at the evening rush. Places with busy transit tend to report more theft and robbery. BestNeighborhood's Transit Grade for Amherst: F (0 of 100).NoneUS: noneLower than for 84% of US city residents
Empty homesSeasonal and vacation homes are left out. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary, vandalism and arson.4.1% of homesUS: 7.1%Lower than for 73% of US city residents
JobsJobs draw daytime crowds. Places with many jobs tend to report more theft and robbery.31 for every 100 residentsUS: 45Lower than for 69% of US city residents
BestNeighborhood, a sister site of CrimeGrade™, ranks the neighborhoods of Amherst on shops, parks, home prices, getting around and more.
These traits tend to go with more or less crime; none of them causes it on its own. Sources: Census job counts and housing figures, OpenStreetMap and Overture business listings, CrimeGrade™ parking estimates, NASA night-light imagery, US Forest Service tree cover, EPA transit data and BestNeighborhood's Walk Grade.
What crime costs Amherst
Counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, crime costs Amherst about $539 a year per household, 55% less than the US figure of $1,205.
Cost of crime per resident, per year
Counting the pain and suffering of victims, which comes almost entirely from violent crime, the full cost comes to about $14 million a year, or $658 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$480,000
$22
Rape
$240,000
$11
Robbery
$110,000
$5
Assault
$2.4 million
$108
Burglary
$180,000
$8
Theft
$950,000
$43
Vehicle theft
$150,000
$7
Arson
$25,000
$1
Vandalism
$360,000
$16
Total
$4.9 million
$222
How CrimeGrade™ works
A CrimeGrade™ shows how much crime an area has compared with the rest of the country, from A+ for the least crime to F for the most. Every neighborhood in the US is graded on the same scale, so a B in Amherst means the same as a B anywhere else.
CrimeGrade™ starts from the crimes people report to police and measures each kind of crime against what it affects: people for assaults, homes for burglaries, parked cars for car thefts.
The rates on this page count crimes for every 1,000 people who live here, the way police departments report them.
Comparisons with US neighborhoods use the Census Bureau's block groups, small areas of about 1,400 residents, and count the people who live in each. The figures count crimes reported to police; many crimes, shoplifting above all, never are. Behind the grades, CrimeGrade™ tested 21,607 factors from 125 data families. For business owners, paid CrimeGrade™ location reports estimate crime at a single address for each type of business.
Where the numbers come from
Crime reports that police departments file with the FBI
State crime records and city crime data, where they are published
Published research on what crime costs victims and communities
These are estimates of reported crime for whole areas, not a record of what happened on any one street. CrimeGrade™ updates them once a year and provides them free and without guarantee. Check local sources before you rely on them for a decision.
Schools in Amherst, OH average a SchoolGrade of D: 46% of students test proficient, against 37% projected for schools like them. Overall, they don't meet expectations. See schools in Amherst on SchoolGrade
