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Place dossier plate
SheetOH-BLUE-ASH-OH · Blue Ash, OH 13,374 pop · income 86th pct
Instrument codes from this place’s ACS population and household income, BEA state COL, FBI safety, national income percentile, photo-finish peer city, home-value band, and matched Census-tract book - not a moving recommendation.
Income neighbourhood around Blue Ash
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest Blue Ash on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
Marietta · lowest
45,986
Marietta · lowest
45,986 median HH income
26.5% of the leader · rank #1
Lake Madison · near
116,648
Lake Madison · near
116,648 median HH income
67.1% of the leader · rank #2
Blue Ash · this city
116,663
Blue Ash · this city
116,663 median HH income
67.1% of the leader · rank #3
Fetters Hot S… · near
116,667
Fetters Hot S… · near
116,667 median HH income
67.1% of the leader · rank #4
Morrison · near
116,667
Morrison · near
116,667 median HH income
67.1% of the leader · rank #5
Magnolia · near
116,667
Magnolia · near
116,667 median HH income
67.1% of the leader · rank #6
Salisbury · highest
173,808
Salisbury · highest
173,808 median HH income
100.0% of the leader · rank #7
What this shows Neighbourhood peers only - not a full nationwide city board. Open a near peer when the gap is small; open the poles when the spread is wide.
Compare beyond this state
Nationwide peers by population, income, and FBI crime rate
Out-of-state nearest neighbors for Blue Ash on ACS population and median household income
, plus FBI UCR reporting rate when the extract covers this place. Link sets are deduped so each column is a distinct comparison path, not a forecast that peers share a labor market or climate.
Similar population
Nearest out-of-state cities by ACS population. This city: 13,374.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
Blue Ash - the verdict
Measured against every US city with at least 1,000 residents, Blue Ash lands in the 86th percentile for household income and the 33rd percentile for safety. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
86th
percentile, household income
74th
percentile, home value
22nd
percentile, median rent
33rd
percentile, safety
📝 How we sourced this
Population, income, and housing-cost figures come from the U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey 5-year estimates (B-series tables). Crime data uses FBI UCR; climate uses NOAA Climate Normals; school counts come from NCES Common Core of Data; permits use the Census Building Permits Survey (BPS). See our methodology page for the full ETL pipeline and OMB / FIPS join keys.
Data Snapshot: Blue Ash, OH
Census ACS 2023 estimates count 13,374 residents in Blue Ash, a small town within Ohio. The typical household in Blue Ash brings in $116,663 a year, placing it in the top quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 2.7%. Blue Ash's housing stock carries a median value of $365,700, and the median resident age is 39.3 years. Educational attainment runs 67.0% of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher. Separately, 67.4% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
The Census Building Permit Survey recorded 36 residential units authorized here in 2024 (Growing), up 6% from five years earlier. Crime here tracks close to the national norm: the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program logs 1976.1 total incidents per 100,000 residents here, near the national average (agency reporting is voluntary, so this measures reporting activity, not a definitive danger score).
Living costs in Ohio run below the national norm: the state registers 92.8 on a 100-equals-national-average index (Below Average) per BEA Regional Price Parities 2024. HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in this state is $1,092 per month. Monthly utility costs average around $228 across Ohio, per EIA 2023 residential energy estimates. On FEMA's National Risk Index, this area rates 55.0 out of 100 for natural-hazard exposure (Moderate).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of Blue Ash's data
How this reading path is ordered
This is not a composite city score. It is a city-specific route through the available public records, ordered for this profile so the page starts with questions the joined data can actually answer. The route here runs from reported crime to comparison shortlist to population change to housing and income to work and mobility; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For Blue Ash, city-specific coverage includes FBI reported-crime rates, annual population history, local building permits, commute-mode shares.
No matched row is reported here for within-city Census tract profiles, matched public-school count; the page leaves those layers out instead of substituting a statewide or national value.
Question 1
What can the FBI record say about safety in Blue Ash?
The joined FBI UCR record reports 1976.1 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, below the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 13% lower in arithmetic terms, but agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies.
Treat this as a reporting-rate comparison, not a prediction of personal risk or a neighborhood-level safety grade. Tourism, daytime population, reporting practices, and variation inside the city are not adjusted away. The state rank and same-state peer table are the narrower comparisons available on this page.
Which cities make useful reference points for Blue Ash?
Use the in-state set to hold state policy and broad price conditions more nearly constant. Use the nationwide size set to ask whether cities with a similar resident count produce different housing, income, or commute outcomes. The income set is a third lens, deliberately separate from population matching. The nationwide peer panel below adds a fourth FBI UCR reporting-rate lens, not personal risk.
Within Ohio, the closest population matches are Englewood (13,388 residents, $72,808 income); Bexley (13,324 residents, $152,526 income); Trenton (13,304 residents, $87,788 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Pottsville, PA (13,374 residents); Sault Ste. Marie, MI (13,373 residents); Chino Valley, AZ (13,372 residents). A third, income-matched reference set of 6 out-of-state cities sits in the income neighbourhood chart near the Place Dossier plate. These are mechanical peer sets, not claims that the places share a labor market, climate, culture, or metro context.
Is Blue Ash growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Census PEP estimates show the population grew by +306 residents from 2020 to 2025, a +2.3% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 36 housing units authorized in 2024. PEP and ACS are different Census series, so the trend is kept separate from the headline ACS population.
Recent estimates point upward. Growth can increase housing demand and service needs, but the permit record must move in the same direction before calling it a supply response; the two series measure different things.
How far does income reach against housing in Blue Ash?
This is a citywide price-to-income reference, not a mortgage-affordability test; it does not include interest rates, taxes, insurance, household size, or an individual buyer's down payment. Income and home value move within the same broad scale here. The useful next check is not a generic affordability label, but whether similar-size cities offer a materially different income, housing, or commute trade-off.
The home-value-to-income reference sits in a middle range: the ACS median home value is 3.1 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 2.7%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
These joined records add useful context, but they do not need another full-size panel. Each remains a separate measure with its own geography and source boundary.
Work and mobility
What does the journey to work look like in Blue Ash?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 71.4%. A reliable mean commute time is not available for this row, so the mode shares carry the comparison.
Mode share answers how workers usually travel; it does not measure congestion, reliability, distance to a particular job, or the quality of transit service. Remote work has a visible role in the local pattern. That can reduce commute exposure for some workers, but it says nothing about job availability or broadband quality; read it alongside income and housing rather than as a stand-alone lifestyle score.
Drive alone
71.4%
Work from home
20.4%
Public transit
0.3%
City-level Census ACS commuting estimates covering 7,019 workers age 16+.
Comparative score against U.S. cities with population of 1,000 or more on Census ACS medians
(income, poverty, bachelor's share, cost of living) and FBI UCR violent-crime rates when
published. Higher means a stronger standing on those published figures, not a livability
rating, not a recommendation to move, buy, or pick a "best" city. Missing inputs drop out
and redistribute weight.
How it is calculated.
Bachelor's+ share A+
67.0%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Household income A-
$116,663
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
Poverty rate A-
2.7%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
Cost of living B+
92.8 index
BEA state Regional Price Parities index (100 ≈ national average); lower is stronger on this axis. Same value for every city in the state.
Violent crime C-
179 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Blue Ash profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Bachelor's+ share: 96/100 (A+) · 67.0%
Household income: 84/100 (A-) · $116,663
Poverty rate: 81/100 (A-) · 2.7%
Cost of living: 75/100 (B+) · 92.8 index
Violent crime: 51/100 (C-) · 179 /100k
Where Blue Ash sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
Blue Ash's median home value and FBI crime rate plotted with similar-size and
same-state peers (padded with large cities when the peer set is thin). The second
read: pricey does not always mean safer, check which quadrant this city lands in.
Census ACS median home value vs FBI UCR crime rate - Blue Ash highlighted among 10 peers.Read the chart values
Blue Ash, OH (this city): home $365,700, crime 1,976/100k
Pottsville, PA : home $97,700, crime 1,677/100k
Sault Ste. Marie, MI : home $127,300, crime 1,510/100k
Chino Valley, AZ : home $352,100, crime 548/100k
Moody, AL : home $222,500, crime 1,013/100k
Englewood, OH : home $168,800, crime 2,801/100k
Bexley, OH : home $488,600, crime 2,533/100k
Trenton, OH : home $209,700, crime 243/100k
Harrison, OH : home $221,900, crime 848/100k
Loveland, OH : home $305,200, crime 504/100k
How does Blue Ash compare to other US cities?
Where Blue Ash sits among all US cities (population 1,000+) on each measure, computed live from Census and FBI data.
Household income86% higher than other cities
Home value74% pricier than other cities
Median rent22% pricier than other cities
Safety33% safer than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
Zoom in to just Ohio and the picture shifts: Blue Ash ranks #206 of 281 Ohio cities by lowest crime rate, a different read than the national percentile above.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares Blue Ash against every qualifying US city; each in-state rank narrows that to Ohio only. Full formula and direction notes: methodology.
Ohio-relative analysis
Median Gross Rent places Blue Ash near the bottom of Ohio's cities
Among the 1,196 Ohio cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, Blue Ash ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares Blue Ash only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#95 of 1,145
92nd percentile in Ohio
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 1,196
0th percentile in Ohio
Median Home Value
#64 of 1,164
95th percentile in Ohio
Poverty Rate
#881 of 1,196
26th percentile in Ohio
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#49 of 1,196
96th percentile in Ohio
How in-state ranks are ordered
Ranked by raw value (highest first); a higher rank is not automatically "better" for every measure, see each metric's own context above. This is a comparison within Ohio only, not a livability score. See the methodology for the source and calculation.
Gauge source note
86th percentile nationally for median household income · 33rd percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
Blue Ash's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
Blue Ash's percentile rank on 3 favorable-direction measures (income, affordability, safety) vs. every tracked US city -- higher on every axis is more favorable. Not a composite quality score, just the arithmetic mean of the axes shown.
How Blue Ash's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$365,70026th percentilemore affordable than 26% of 15,600 US cities
Show national distribution
Each bar is a $25K-wide band; taller bars hold more US cities. The dashed line + filled bar mark this entry. Hover or tap any bar for its full count, share, and where it sits relative to this entry.
Source U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year Estimates · 2023
Blue Ash's home-value-to-income ratio: 3.1×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
moderate
3.0–5.0×
National rank
#7,366 of 15,516
More affordable than 53% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#1,093 of 3,317
Small cities (10,000–49,999)
At 3.1×, Blue Ash sits in the moderate band:
national rank #7,366 of 15,516 and #1,093 of 3,317small cities (10,000–49,999).
Income and home value move in the same broad scale; check same-state peers before treating the multiple as an advantage or a warning.
How this ratio is calculated
Ratio = Census ACS 2023 median home value ÷ median household income for cities with both fields and population ≥ 1,000.
Rank 1 = lowest ratio (most compact). Bands match the fleet affordability thresholds used on guides (<3.0 / 3.0–5.0 / >5.0).
This is not a mortgage payment estimate and does not include rates, taxes, insurance, or down payment.
Income distribution context
$116,663Blue Ash, OH median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context Blue Ash, OH median household income (Census ACS 5-year) with U.S. national quintile shares for context. Diagonal = equality; the curve is national, not computed for Blue Ash, OH.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)67.0%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)2.7%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)67.4%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
13,374
Median Income
$116,663
Median Home Value
$365,700
Median Age
39.3
Poverty Rate
2.7%
Labor force participation
67.4%
Bachelor's Degree+
67.0%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
1976.1
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
179.0
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
1797.2
per 100,000 residents
Crime reporting caveat
Reflects incidents reported to the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program — agency participation is voluntary and reporting completeness varies by jurisdiction and year, so this reflects reporting activity, not a definitive danger score. Not adjusted for tourism, commuter, or daytime population.
Population Change
PEP vintage
Annual U.S. Census Bureau Population Estimates Program (PEP) estimates, 2020–2025
Blue Ash's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
13,401 residents
2021
13,385 residents
2022
13,383 residents
2023
13,467 residents
2024
13,622 residents
2025
13,707 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
🏗️ Growing
Total Permits (2024)
36
housing units authorized
Single-Family
36
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
2.7
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
34
34
0
$8.8M
2020
39
39
0
$10.1M
2021
44
44
0
$11.4M
2022
36
36
0
$9.4M
2023
32
32
0
$8.3M
2024
36
36
0
$9.4M
Permit volume increased 6% from 2019 to 2024.
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
71.4%
Carpool
6.2%
Public Transit
0.3%
Walk
0.7%
Work from Home
20.4%
Other
1.0%
Based on 7,019 workers 16 and over.
Monthly Utility Costs
Ohio statewide monthly utility average (EIA 2023): $228
EIA 2023 residential energy data puts average monthly utilities across Ohio at $228 (electricity about $105 , water and sewer about $45 ).
These are Ohio statewide averages, not a meter reading for Blue Ash. Actual bills vary by home size, usage, and local rates. Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023.
Living Costs & Risk
Ohio's BEA cost-of-living index is 92.8 (Below Average; US average = 100, RPP 2024). HUD Fair Market Rent for a typical two-bedroom in the county around Blue Ash is $1,092/mo. FEMA's National Risk Index, averaged to Ohio statewide on PlainCities, rates natural-hazard exposure at 55.0 / 100 (Moderate).
Cost/risk geography note
Cost of living is a Ohio statewide BEA average; rent is a county-level HUD Fair Market Rent for the county Blue Ash sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How Blue Ash compares to similar-size Ohio cities
Same-state peer method
Closest same-state population matches, not geographic neighbors. Population + median household income come from Census Bureau ACS 5-year B01001 and B19013.
Source: U.S. Census Bureau ACS 5-Year 2023, FBI UCR, Census BPS 2024, Census ACS B08301/B08136, U.S. Energy Information Administration (EIA) 2023, BEA Regional Price Parities 2024, HUD Fair Market Rents 2026, FEMA National Risk Index.