The Safest and Most Dangerous Places in Cincinnati, OH
The Cincinnati metro area, the 30th-largest in the US, is home to 2.27 million residents in Ohio, Kentucky and Indiana; Cincinnati itself is the third-largest city in Ohio · Updated November 2026
Is Cincinnati, OH safe?
Yes, crime in the Cincinnati area is low, with an overall CrimeGrade™ of A-. Because most US neighborhoods are safe as well, the Cincinnati area sits near the middle: safer than the neighborhoods where 49% of Americans live. Violent and property crime both grade A- here. The city of Cincinnati itself grades B-. What matters most is the neighborhood: grades within the Cincinnati area run from A+ to F, so check the map or the safest and least safe places below.
A-
Overall CrimeGrade™
Safety score 831 of 1,000About as safe as the typical US neighborhoodi What this means
49% of Americans live in neighborhoods with more crime than the Cincinnati area as a whole, and 51% in neighborhoods with less. The typical US neighborhood has a safety score of 838, a CrimeGrade™ of A-. The Cincinnati area scores 831.
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 Cincinnati, OH at ISP Reports.
Who this page is for: homeowners and renters in the Cincinnati area, 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 the Cincinnati area
Car thefts run high in Cuf, Clifton & Walnut Hills. In this part of central Cincinnati, they run at more than triple the rate in the rest of Cincinnati.
Arson runs low. The Cincinnati area has 0.02 arsons a year per 1,000 residents, a small fraction of the US rate of 0.12.
The safest and most dangerous places in the Cincinnati area
Most of the Cincinnati area grades well: 87% of residents live in areas graded A or B, and 9% in areas graded D or F. Grades across the Cincinnati area run from A+ to F; 69% of residents live in areas with less crime than the typical US neighborhood.
87%
A or B 87%C 4%D or F 9%
Share of residents, by the overall CrimeGrade™ of the area they live in.
Neighborhoods of Cincinnati
1Mount Washington & Cherry Grove, southeastCar thefts run at a small fraction of the rate in the rest of Cincinnati.A888
2Hyde Park, Oakley & Mount Lookout, eastAggravated assaults run at less than half the rate in the rest of Cincinnati.A-789
8Westwood, westRobberies run at more than double the rate in the rest of Cincinnati.D174
9Cuf, Clifton & Walnut Hills, centralBurglaries run at about double the rate in the rest of Cincinnati.D-132
Neighborhood areas of the city of Cincinnati, ranked by overall CrimeGrade™; beside each grade is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer). Each one combines several of the smaller areas on the map.
Cities and towns in the Cincinnati metro area with at least 1,000 residents. Ranked by overall CrimeGrade™; beside each grade is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer), and the other numbers are residents.
Across the area, the Amelia, Bethel, and New Richmond areas have the least crime and the downtown Cincinnati area the most.
Is crime going up in the Cincinnati area?
Since 2019, reported property crime in the Cincinnati area is down 23%, while violent crime has held about steady. Murders, rapes, robberies and aggravated assaults went from about 2.4 to 2.3 a year per 1,000 residents (US: 3.7); burglaries, thefts and vehicle thefts from about 20 to 15 (US: 18). Neither changed much from 2023 to 2024.
Violent crime, change since 2019
Property crime, change since 2019
Cincinnati areaUnited States
Source: crime reports to the FBI from the police departments across the Cincinnati area. The charts follow crimes per resident.
Data table
Year
Violent, Cincinnati area
Violent, US
Property, Cincinnati area
Property, US
2016
+8%
+4%
+32%
+15%
2017
+8%
+4%
+23%
+12%
2018
-0%
+0%
+8%
+4%
2019
+0%
+0%
+0%
+0%
2020
+3%
+4%
-13%
-8%
2021
-0%
+6%
-22%
-10%
2022
-5%
+5%
-16%
-6%
2023
-11%
+2%
-14%
-7%
2024
-4%
-4%
-23%
-15%
Crime rates and types in the Cincinnati area
CrimeGrade™ estimates the Cincinnati area has about 30 reported crimes a year for every 1,000 residents, 19% less than the US as a whole and close to 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.
Theft is the most common crime in the Cincinnati area, about 38% of everything reported, but assault costs more, because each one does more harm.
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 the Cincinnati area
These figures come from the reports of the police departments across the Cincinnati area, 2022 to 2024.
In the Cincinnati area, 65% of burglaries hit homes, against 57% nationally. Thefts from cars happen most often in parking lots and garages: 36% of them, against 31% nationally.
Crime
Most often at
Busiest time
Burglary
Homes (65%)
Afternoon (noon to 6 pm)
Car theft
Streets and sidewalks (30%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Theft from cars
Parking lots and garages (36%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Vandalism
Homes (38%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Robbery
Streets and sidewalks (35%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Aggravated assault
Homes (48%)
Evening (6 pm to midnight)
Shares of the crimes reported to police, 2022 to 2024. Reports with no time recorded are left out of the times.
How the Cincinnati area compares with nearby metro areas
The Cincinnati area has less crime than 9 of its 10 nearest metro areas; only the Knoxville area has less.
Nearest first, with each place's distance from the Cincinnati area. Beside each overall CrimeGrade™ is its safety score, from 0 to 1,000 (higher is safer).
Compared with metro areas of similar size and density, the Cincinnati area is safer than 86% of them.
Density, night lighting and empty homes in the Cincinnati area
One thing sets the Cincinnati area apart: it has 11% of its residents in dense blocks, against 24% nationally. Places like that tend to report less robbery and car theft, yet robbery and car theft run higher here than that would suggest.
Residents in dense blocksBlocks of 10,000 or more people per square mile. Dense neighborhoods tend to report more robbery and car theft.11% of residentsUS: 24%Lower than for 75% of Americans in metro areas
Lit at nightSatellite images show which neighborhoods are lit at night, a sign of busy streets and businesses. Brightly lit places tend to report more theft and vandalism.84% where people liveUS: 78%Lower than for 60% of Americans in metro areas
Empty homesSeasonal and vacation homes are left out. Places with many empty homes tend to report more burglary.5.7% of homesUS: 7.1%Lower than for 56% of Americans in metro areas
Show all 4
Transit serviceBuses and trains an hour at the evening rush. Places with busy transit tend to report more robbery. BestNeighborhood's Transit Grade for the Cincinnati area: D- (11 of 100).3 trips an hourUS: noneLower than for 53% of Americans in metro areas
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 the Cincinnati area
Crime costs the Cincinnati area about $914 a year per household, counting police, courts and prisons as well as victims' losses, 24% less than the US figure of $1,205. The total is about $811 million a year.
Cost of crime per resident, per year
Counting the pain and suffering of victims, which comes almost entirely from violent crime, the full cost rises to about $2.64 billion a year, or $1,164 per resident.
How the cost breaks down
Crime
Cost a year
Per resident
Murder
$193 million
$85
Rape
$41 million
$18
Robbery
$34 million
$15
Assault
$221 million
$97
Burglary
$34 million
$15
Theft
$134 million
$59
Vehicle theft
$77 million
$34
Arson
$1.3 million
$1
Vandalism
$76 million
$33
Total
$811 million
$357
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 the Cincinnati area 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. These figures cover the whole Cincinnati metro area. 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
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 the Cincinnati area average a SchoolGrade of B-: 60% of students test proficient, against 46% projected for schools like them. Overall, they exceed expectations. See schools in the Cincinnati area on SchoolGrade
