What it's like to live in Richmond Heights

Richmond Heights is a small city in Ohio with rent below the national average, home prices that remain within reach, and crime rates well below the national average. Those factors carry real weight for anyone weighing where to move next.

The tradeoffs are worth naming plainly. Richmond Heights deals with household incomes below the national average, air quality that falls short of national benchmarks, larger class sizes than the national average, and cold winters.

The good

  • Rent below the national average
  • Affordable home prices
  • Low crime rates

The not so good

  • Below-average household incomes
  • Air quality concerns
  • High student-teacher ratio
  • Cold winters
  • Heavy snowfall — 114" per year

How Richmond Heights compares

Median household income

Richmond Heights$60,833
Ohio avg$71,389
US$80,734

Median rent (per month)

Richmond Heights$961
Ohio avg$1,034
US$1,413

Median home value

Richmond Heights$208,800
Ohio avg$214,800
US$332,700

What it takes to move to Richmond Heights

Based on Richmond Heights's median rent, home value and household income

To rent

$1,922

up front: first month plus a typical one-month deposit

  • Income to keep rent under 30%: $38,440 a year
  • 36% of Richmond Heights renters spend 30% or more of their income on rent

To buy

$41,760

a 20% down payment on the median home

  • With 10% down: $20,880
  • Homes cost 3.4× the typical local household income (US: 4.1×)

Moving costs, closing costs and taxes not included.

The details

Cost of living▼ 32% below US

$961/mo median rent

Rent here is genuinely low, with median rent around $961 a month. Factoring in local incomes, the value gets even better. Money stretches further here than in most of the country. Home prices here are genuinely accessible, with a median around $208,800. That kind of affordability is rare in today's market.

Median home value $208,800 · 36% of renters cost-burdened

Job market

4.1% county unemployment

Unemployment in Cuyahoga County is 4.1%, close to the national average of 4.3%. That's the county-wide rate; BLS doesn't measure a place this size on its own.

Cuyahoga County (county-wide)

Safety▼ 80% below US

67 violent crimes per 100k

Safety is genuinely one of the selling points here. Both violent and property crime run well below the national average, the kind of numbers that fade into the background after a week of living somewhere.

Property crime 715/100k · Richmond Heights Police Department · 2025 data

Getting aroundNear US average

27 min average commute

Commutes run about average, at 27 minutes. Fine day to day, but it adds up over a year, and where someone lives relative to where they work starts to matter. 8 in 10 workers drive to work; 17% work from home.

How workers get to work

Drive alone
75%
Work from home
17%
Carpool
4.1%
Other
2.0%
Public transit
1.2%
Walk
0.6%

Climate

Summers are comfortable, with highs around 79°F, and winters are cold, with lows around 26°F and snow a regular occurrence.

Average month

High °FLow °FPrecip (in)
10°30°50°70°90°4"Jan: 1.76" precipitationFeb: 1.53" precipitationMar: 2.35" precipitationApr: 3.10" precipitationMay: 3.51" precipitationJun: 2.84" precipitationJul: 3.66" precipitationAug: 3.45" precipitationSep: 2.94" precipitationOct: 3.24" precipitationNov: 2.92" precipitationDec: 2.04" precipitation24°JJan: high 35°F, low 24°FFFeb: high 37°F, low 25°FMMar: high 45°F, low 31°FAApr: high 57°F, low 41°FMMay: high 68°F, low 53°FJJun: high 77°F, low 63°F81°JJul: high 81°F, low 68°FAAug: high 80°F, low 67°FSSep: high 74°F, low 60°FOOct: high 63°F, low 49°FNNov: high 51°F, low 38°FDDec: high 40°F, low 30°F

30-year averages, 1991–2020

Education & workforce▼ 17% below US

30% bachelor's degree or higher

College degree attainment runs below average at 30%. That tends to reflect a more trade and working-class economy, which can be great or limiting depending on the industry.

Schools

4 public schools inside the boundary

There are 4 public schools inside the boundary. The student-to-teacher ratio is 20:1, above the national average of 16:1.

Parks & recreation

The nearest national park or historic site is James A Garfield National Historic Site (11 miles away). There are 5 national parks and sites within a day's drive.

Bottom line

Richmond Heights's strongest points are rent below the national average and home prices that remain within reach; the main tradeoffs are household incomes below the national average and air quality that falls short of national benchmarks. A year of median rent ($961/mo) equals 19% of the median household income here, about the same as the 21% typical nationwide. It tends to suit people watching their budget, anyone prioritizing low crime, and remote workers (17% of workers here already work from home).

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