Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Yes, by almost any measure. Chardon earns an A+, ranked 52nd of 987 in Ohio. Its schools rank ahead of 91% of Ohio towns, crime is low: it reports less per resident than 90% of U.S. towns, and the median household earns $87K. The exception is cost of living: the typical home is worth about $392K, 5.5 years of the Cleveland metro’s $71K median household income. History is its standout character grade: an A, better than 90% of U.S. towns, with 2 places on the National Register. Only 26 of Ohio’s 1,718 towns score higher on hazard risk. Chardon is more walkable than 75% of U.S. towns. Among 313 Ohio towns, just 9 have a lower violent crime rate than Chardon.
Where Chardon beats most towns.
| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| Park Elementary School | 1–3 | 224 |
| Chardon Early Learning Center | PK–K | 219 |
| St. Mary Elementary School | PK–8 | 227 |
Where Chardon’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Ohio), ordered by how far Chardon is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 381 in 1830, 5,242 in 2020. The archive holds 5 old photos and papers going back to 1868 and 5 maps from 1904 on.
2 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Chardon, 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 Chardon.
Chardon draws workers from Mentor and beyond, gets more snow than nearly all U.S. towns and has less food insecurity than most of Ohio.
Typical home values rose 5.8% in the year to September 2026. 67% of households own their home in Chardon, against 77% in Ohio’s towns and 73% across U.S. towns.
| Chardon | Ohio towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 67% | 77% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,163 a month | $943 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Its public schools are run by the Chardon Local school district. Three of its 5 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Chardon High School, with 1,054 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Chardon Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 4–7 | Grades 4–7 | 716 | A |
| Chardon High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 8–12 | Grades 8–12 | 1,054 | A− |
| Park Elementary SchoolTop results in townGrades 1–3 | Grades 1–3 | 224 | A+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within OH on state tests and graduation
4,470 jobs are based in Chardon, 2 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in.
Most working residents leave Chardon for work: only 14% work in town. 6.7% of residents live below the poverty line in Chardon, below both Ohio’s towns (9.1%) and U.S. towns (9.6%). The top destinations are Cleveland (10%), Mentor (8%) and Willoughby (4%).
| Chardon | Ohio towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 14% | 6.8% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 6.7% | 9.1% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $87,000 | $75,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
The FEMA risk score in Chardon is 4 of 100.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Violent crime is rare: 0 reported in 2025, 0 per 1,000 residents.
Chardon’s property crime rate is 6.1 per 1,000 residents.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Its widest gap with Ohio is food insecurity: 9.1% of its 4,183 adults worry about having enough food, against 14.1% statewide.
Chardon beats the Ohio average on 7 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 1. 33% of Chardon adults sleep under 7 hours.
| Chardon | Ohio towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 33% | 38% | 36% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 18% | 17% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 12% | 16% | 14% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 33% | 38% | 35% |
| What stands out | Chardon | OH |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 9.1% | 14.1% |
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 10.1% | 15.3% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 11% | 8.7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The Chardon weather station records that 114 inches of snow fall in a normal winter, more than in 98% of U.S. towns.
Chardon has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers. July afternoons reach 81° and January nights drop to 18°.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
0.6 miles of trail in 1 park or preserve. The biggest park or preserve is Bass Lake Preserve, at 23 acres.
| Chardon | Ohio towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 6.7% | 3.7% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.1 miles per square mile | 0.2 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Bass Lake Preserve | — | 23 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Chardon. Close and well known come first.
Big draw26 mi MuseumRock and Roll Hall of Fame580K visitors a year
Big draw25 mi Stadium & arenaProgressive Field
26 mi Stadium & arenaHuntington Bank Field
22 mi National ParkCuyahoga Valley National Park3.0M visitors a year
25 mi Stadium & arenaRocket Arena
21 mi MuseumCleveland Museum of Art410K visitors a yearRock and Roll Hall of Fame: MusikAnimal, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Progressive Field: Jsawczuk, Public domain · Huntington Bank Field: Erik Drost, CC BY 2.0 · Cuyahoga Valley National Park: Unknown, Public domain · Rocket Arena: Cards84664, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Cleveland Museum of Art: zenbikescience, CC BY 2.0
5 within 15 miles of the center of Chardon
About 3 of every 100 Chardon residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Ohio.
2 places in Chardon on the National Register of Historic Places.
10 notable people were born in Chardon.
City in Ohio, United States
Chardon is a city in Geauga County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. The population was 5,242 at the 2020 census. Chardon is located about 10 mi (16 km) south of Lake Erie within the "snow belt" of the Great Lakes and is part of the Cleveland metropolitan area. It is the only incorporated city in Geauga County and includes land that was once part of Chardon, Hambden, and Munson townships.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
5 towns share a border with Chardon.
At #52 in OH, it grades higher overall than all 3 graded towns on its borders; Hambden Township (A) comes closest.
| Town | OH rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Chardon · Chardon Township | #52 | A+ | C− | A | A | B+ |
| Munson Township | #233 | A− | C | — | A | B+ |
| Hambden Township | #140 | A | C+ | — | A | B+ |
| Bass Lake | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Claridon Township | #539 | B | C+ | — | A | B |
Munson Township, Hambden Township and Claridon Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Bass Lake isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Chardon Township and Chardon are one community, graded once. Compare Chardon with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Yes, by almost any measure. Chardon grades A+ overall, better than 96% of U.S. towns and #52 of 987 in Ohio. It grades B+ for health, A for safety and A for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a C−.
Yes. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C−.
10 notable people were born here, including Halbert E. Paine and Craig Thrasher.
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