Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
A town of 31,182, settled in 1832. 62% more nonprofits per person than the typical Ohio town.
Trash day: look up yoursBowling Green is a solid, middle-of-the-road choice. It grades B overall, ranked 447th of 987 in Ohio, with no subject far below average. Its best mark is safety: crime is low: it reports less per resident than 70% of U.S. towns. Its lowest everyday mark is in incomes: the median household income is $45K, and 29% of residents live below the poverty line. A typical home there costs about $263K, 4 years of the Toledo metro’s $65K median household income. 29% of residents live below the poverty line in Bowling Green, above both the Ohio town median (9.1%) and the median of U.S. towns (9.6%). Only 59 of Ohio’s 1,718 towns score higher on walkability. Bowling Green is home to Bowling Green State University-Main Campus.
Where Bowling Green beats most towns.
Census counts: 906 in 1870, 30,808 in 2020. The archive holds 14 old photos and papers going back to 1900 and 2 maps from 1901 on.
5 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Ohio), ordered by how far Bowling Green is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Bowling Green, and how to reach them.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Aug 3, 2026.
Ordered by what stands out in Bowling Green.
Bowling Green is shaped by its college students, is healthier than towns with similar incomes and has seen reported crime fall by about half.
Its public schools are run by the Bowling Green City School District. Two of its 7 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Bowling Green High School, with 799 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bowling Green Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 589 | C+ |
| Bowling Green High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 799 | C+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within OH on state tests and graduation
14 miles of trail in 17 parks and preserves. The trail density in Bowling Green is 1.1 miles per square mile. Wintergarden Nature Preserve, at 125 acres with 3.7 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve.
| Bowling Green | Ohio towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 1.1 miles per square mile | 0.2 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 7.4% | 3.7% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Wintergarden Nature Preserve | 3.7 mi | 125 |
| 2. Simpson Garden Park | 1 mi | 9 |
| 3. City Park | 0.9 mi | 76 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Reported crimes fell from 404 to 172 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings. Violent crime is rare: 7 reported in 2025, 0.2 per 1,000 residents.
Bowling Green’s violent crime rate is 0.2 per 1,000 residents.
| Bowling Green | Ohio towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0.2 per 1,000 residents | 1.2 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 5.4 per 1,000 residents | 9.4 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Bowling Green has chilly winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 85°, January nights drop to 19° and about 21 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 66% of U.S. communities. Since 1982, 2 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Bowling Green.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
34% of Bowling Green working residents work locally. Since 2013, Bowling Green has added 810 jobs, to 15,553 in 2023. The top destinations are Toledo (10%), Findlay (4%) and Perrysburg (4%).
| Bowling Green | Ohio towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 34% | 6.8% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 18 minutes | 24 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $45,000 | $75,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
34% of households own their home in Bowling Green. The typical Bowling Green home is worth about $263,000, up 3% in a year, 7% above the Ohio typical home.
| Bowling Green | Ohio towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 34% | 77% | 73% |
| Median rent | $897 a month | $944 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Against the 4,057 U.S. towns with household incomes like Bowling Green’s, it is healthier than 93%, so its B− isn’t only a matter of income.
Bowling Green beats the Ohio average on 8 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 10. Only 3 of the 993 Ohio towns we compare have a higher share of adults who have been diagnosed with depression than Bowling Green.
| Bowling Green | Ohio towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 23% | 18% | 17% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 32% | 26% | 23% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 40% | 34% | 33% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 38% | 35% |
| What stands out | Bowling Green | OH |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults with diabetes | 8.3% | 13.2% |
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 5.5% | 8.7% |
| More adults without reliable transportation | 13.1% | 7.7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Bowling Green. Close and well known come first.
20 mi MuseumToledo Museum of Art340K visitors a year
17 mi Zoo & aquariumToledo Zoo
12 mi LandmarkFort Meigs
39 mi National park siteRiver Raisin National Battlefield Park134K visitors a year
20 mi MuseumImagination Station
3 mi MuseumWood County MuseumToledo Museum of Art: Ɱ, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Toledo Zoo: DreamingKoala, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Fort Meigs: Traveler100, CC BY-SA 4.0 · River Raisin National Battlefield Park: Notorious4life (talk), Public domain · Imagination Station: MrJacon000, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Wood County Museum: Nyttend, Public domain
2 within 15 miles of the center of Bowling Green
College town 38 of every 100 Bowling Green residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Ohio.
5 places in Bowling Green on the National Register of Historic Places.
17 notable people were born in Bowling Green.
City in Wood County, Ohio
Bowling Green is a city in, and the county seat of, Wood County, Ohio, United States. The population was 30,808 at the 2020 census. Located 20 miles (32 km) southwest of Toledo, it is part of the Toledo metropolitan area and a member of the Toledo Metropolitan Area Council of Governments. Bowling Green is the home of Bowling Green State University.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
2 towns share a border with Bowling Green.
| Town | OH rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Bowling Green | #447 | B | B− | B+ | B | B− |
| Center Township | — | — | B− | — | B+ | B− |
| Plain Township | — | — | C | — | B | B− |
Center Township and Plain Township have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Center Township and Plain Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Bowling Green with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Bowling Green grades B overall, better than 63% of U.S. towns and #447 of 987 in Ohio. It grades B− for health, B+ for safety and B for schools.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B−.
17 notable people were born here, including Anthony De La Torre and Andy Tracy.
