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Place dossier plate
SheetOH-UNIVERSITY-HEIGHTS-OH · University Heights, OH 13,508 pop · income 77th 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 University Heights
Lowest/highest poles plus peers nearest University Heights on median household income. Full ladder: /browse and /rankings.
median HH income
East Cleveland · lowest
22,883
East Cleveland · lowest
22,883 median HH income
18.0% of the leader · rank #1
Menomonee Fal… · near
98,460
Menomonee Fal… · near
98,460 median HH income
77.6% of the leader · rank #2
Hillsborough · near
98,467
Hillsborough · near
98,467 median HH income
77.6% of the leader · rank #3
University He… · this city
98,474
University He… · this city
98,474 median HH income
77.6% of the leader · rank #4
Plum · near
98,475
Plum · near
98,475 median HH income
77.6% of the leader · rank #5
Hope Valley · near
98,481
Hope Valley · near
98,481 median HH income
77.6% of the leader · rank #6
Brecksville · highest
126,888
Brecksville · highest
126,888 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 University Heights 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: 13,508.
Agency-reported UCR totals per 100,000 population, not a neighborhood safety grade or a prediction of personal risk.
University Heights - the verdict
Out of every US city with 1,000+ residents, University Heights places in the 77th percentile for household income and the 56th percentile for safety. Source: Census ACS + FBI UCR.
77th
percentile, household income
50th
percentile, home value
22nd
percentile, median rent
56th
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: University Heights, OH
Census ACS 2023 estimates count 13,508 residents in University Heights, a small town within Ohio. The typical household in University Heights brings in $98,474 a year, placing it in the top quartile of U.S. cities for household income, with a poverty rate of 5.8%. Home values in University Heights run a median of $224,900, and the median resident age is 30.7 years. About 66.2% of adults hold a bachelor's degree or higher, while 65.1% of working-age residents are in the labor force.
Housing supply pressure shows in Census Building Permit Survey data: 3 residential units were authorized in 2024 (Low Activity). University Heights reports a comparatively low crime rate: the FBI's Uniform Crime Reporting program logs 1206.3 total incidents per 100,000 residents here, below 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: BEA Regional Price Parities 2024 puts Ohio at 92.8 on a 100-equals-national-average scale (Below Average). A typical two-bedroom carries a HUD Fair Market Rent of $1,092 per month statewide. Monthly utility costs average around $228 across Ohio, per EIA 2023 residential energy estimates. Natural-hazard exposure scores 55.0 out of 100 on FEMA's National Risk Index (Moderate).
A decision-led reading path
Useful questions to ask of University Heights'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 work and mobility to housing and income to comparison shortlist to population change; another city can have a different sequence or fewer supported layers because the source joins are not uniform.
For University Heights, city-specific coverage includes local building permits, commute-mode shares, FBI reported-crime rates, annual population history.
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 University Heights?
The joined FBI UCR record reports 1206.3 violent and property crimes per 100,000 residents, below the 2280.5 national reference used here. The difference is 47% 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.
What does the journey to work look like in University Heights?
Driving alone is the largest reported mode at 60.6%. 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.
How far does income reach against housing in University Heights?
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. The ratio makes housing the clearest place to start this profile, but a low multiple can coexist with slow demand, older stock, or household-level hardship. Compare the home-value distribution and same-state peer table before treating it as an advantage.
The home-value-to-income reference is relatively compact: the ACS median home value is 2.3 times median household income. The ACS poverty estimate is 5.8%, which keeps the citywide median from describing every household.
Which cities make useful reference points for University Heights?
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 Harrison (13,460 residents, $100,913 income); Warrensville Heights (13,585 residents, $49,256 income); Englewood (13,388 residents, $72,808 income). Outside the state, the closest population matches in this dataset are Vineyard, UT (13,510 residents); King City, CA (13,512 residents); Storrs, CT (13,502 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.
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.
Population change
Is University Heights growing, shrinking, or holding steady?
Census PEP estimates show the population declined by -699 residents from 2020 to 2025, a -5.0% change. Separately, Census BPS recorded 3 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 downward. A falling count can reflect migration, household size, annexation boundaries, or estimation noise, so it is a prompt to inspect the full series rather than a claim about local economic health.
2020 estimate
13,899
2025 estimate
13,200
Period change
-5.0%
Census Population Estimates Program, 2020–2025; permit context uses Census BPS.
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+
66.2%
Adults with a bachelor's degree or higher; ACS.
Household income B+
$98,474
Median household income vs U.S. cities (pop ≥1,000); ACS.
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+
130 /100k
FBI UCR violent offenses per 100,000 residents; lower is stronger on this axis.
Poverty rate C+
5.8%
Share of residents below the poverty line; lower scores better on this axis.
University Heights profile (scored ACS/FBI dimensions)Read the chart values
Bachelor's+ share: 95/100 (A+) · 66.2%
Household income: 76/100 (B+) · $98,474
Cost of living: 75/100 (B+) · 92.8 index
Violent crime: 63/100 (C+) · 130 /100k
Poverty rate: 60/100 (C+) · 5.8%
Where University Heights sits on home value vs crime among peer cities
University Heights'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 - University Heights highlighted among 10 peers.Read the chart values
University Heights, OH (this city): home $224,900, crime 1,206/100k
King City, CA : home $395,800, crime 978/100k
Beeville, TX : home $96,400, crime 3,130/100k
Glen Carbon, IL : home $278,200, crime 1,168/100k
Hazel Crest, IL : home $181,400, crime 3,233/100k
Harrison, OH : home $221,900, crime 848/100k
Englewood, OH : home $168,800, crime 2,801/100k
Blue Ash, OH : home $365,700, crime 1,976/100k
Brecksville, OH : home $360,100, crime 313/100k
East Cleveland, OH : home $68,900, crime 4,409/100k
How does University Heights compare to other US cities?
University Heights measured against every US city with 1,000+ residents, computed live from the same Census and FBI data shown throughout this page.
Household income77% higher than other cities
Home value50% pricier than other cities
Median rent22% pricier than other cities
Safety56% safer than other cities
"Safer than" reflects total crime rate from FBI UCR; the others use Census ACS estimates.
National percentiles can mask local variation. Looking only at Ohio, University Heights ranks #147 of 281 Ohio cities by lowest crime rate - a narrower, more locally useful cut than the national comparison above.
How we calculate these percentiles & ranks
Each percentile compares University Heights 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 University Heights near the bottom of Ohio's cities
Among the 1,196 Ohio cities PlainCities tracks with reported median gross rent data, University Heights ranks #1 - the 0th percentile within the state. This is a different, narrower cut than the nationwide percentiles above: it compares University Heights only against its own state's cities, not the full US field.
Median Household Income
#152 of 1,145
87th percentile in Ohio
Median Gross Rent
#1 of 1,196
0th percentile in Ohio
Median Home Value
#239 of 1,164
79th percentile in Ohio
Poverty Rate
#649 of 1,196
45th percentile in Ohio
Bachelor's Degree or Higher
#53 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
77th percentile nationally for median household income · 56th percentile for safety (lower crime rate). Source: Census ACS 2023 / FBI UCR 2023.
University Heights's profile vs. every US city
Income, affordability, and safety percentile
University Heights'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 University Heights's home value compares nationally
Median home value vs. every US city (population 1,000+)
$224,900Among the most affordablemore affordable than 50% 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
University Heights's home-value-to-income ratio: 2.3×
ACS median home value divided by median household income.
Band
affordable
< 3.0×
National rank
#2,864 of 15,516
More affordable than 82% of tracked cities (pop. 1,000+)
Size class
#198 of 3,317
Small cities (10,000–49,999)
At 2.3×, University Heights sits in the affordable band:
national rank #2,864 of 15,516 and #198 of 3,317small cities (10,000–49,999).
The multiple is comparatively compact among tracked cities, but a low ratio can still coexist with slow demand or household-level hardship.
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
$98,474University Heights, OH median household income (Census ACS)
Show U.S. national quintile / Lorenz context University Heights, 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 University Heights, OH.
Key socioeconomic indicators
Bachelor's degree or higher (adults 25+)66.2%
Census ACS S1501, educational attainment
Poverty rate (households below FPL)5.8%
Census ACS S1701, poverty status
Labor force participation (adults 16+)65.1%
Census ACS S2301, share of working-age residents in the labor force
Population
13,508
Median Income
$98,474
Median Home Value
$224,900
Median Age
30.7
Poverty Rate
5.8%
Labor force participation
65.1%
Bachelor's Degree+
66.2%
Safety & Crime
Total Crime Rate
1206.3
per 100,000 residents
Violent Crime
129.8
per 100,000 residents
Property Crime
1076.5
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
University Heights's Census PEP population estimates, 2020–2025.Read the chart as text
Period
Population
2020
13,899 residents
2021
13,219 residents
2022
13,348 residents
2023
13,247 residents
2024
13,230 residents
2025
13,200 residents
Housing Supply
BPS source
Census Bureau Building Permits Survey (BPS) - annual residential permits authorized
🏗️ Low Activity
Total Permits (2024)
3
housing units authorized
Single-Family
3
detached homes
Multifamily
0
apartments & condos
Supply Intensity
0.2
permits per 1,000 residents
5-Year Permit Trend (2019–2024)
Year
Total
Single-Family
Multifamily
Est. Value
2019
0
0
0
-
2020
1
1
0
$0.3M
2021
5
5
0
$1.3M
2022
3
3
0
$0.8M
2023
4
4
0
$1.0M
2024
3
3
0
$0.8M
Commute Patterns
Commute source
How workers travel to work, Census ACS 2023
Drive Alone
60.6%
Carpool
5.0%
Public Transit
2.5%
Walk
8.2%
Work from Home
22.4%
Other
1.3%
Based on 6,812 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 University Heights. 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 University Heights 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 University Heights sits in; the FEMA hazard score shown here is a statewide average of county NRI inputs, not a parcel-level reading.
How University Heights 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.