Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Dayton earns a D, 974th among Ohio's 987 graded towns, mostly because of safety and health. It reports more crime per resident than 99% of U.S. towns, including 1,662 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025. Residents are less healthy than 96% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. What it does well: it is easier to get around on foot or by transit than 95% of U.S. towns. History is its standout character grade: an A+, better than 98% of U.S. towns, with 112 places on the National Register. 27% of residents live below the poverty line in Dayton, against 9.1% in Ohio’s towns and 9.6% across U.S. towns. Its National Register listings include Paul Laurence Dunbar House and Montgomery County Courthouse. Only 101 of Ohio’s 1,718 towns score higher on the outdoors.
Where Dayton beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Paul Laurence Dunbar House
Paul Laurence Dunbar House is one of 3 National Historic Landmarks here, the National Register’s top tier. Its 112 National Register listings are more than in 99% of Ohio towns with a listing.
Census counts: 383 in 1810, a peak of 262,332 in 1960, 137,644 in 2020. The archive holds 15 old photos and papers going back to 1795 and 5 maps from 1955 on.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Ohio), ordered by how far Dayton is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Dayton. Close and well known come first.
5 mi MuseumNational Museum of the United States Air Force1.0M visitors a year
Big draw31 mi Theme parkKings Island3.5M visitors a year5 mi MuseumNational Aviation Hall of Fame300K visitors a year
in town MuseumDayton Art Institute304K visitors a year
in town GardenWoodland Cemetery and Arboretum
in town MuseumSunWatch Indian VillageNational Museum of the United States Air Force: No machine-readable author provided. Rogerd assumed (based on copyright claims)., CC BY-SA 3.0 · Kings Island: Eli Duke from Portland, OR, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Dayton Art Institute: Warren LeMay, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Woodland Cemetery and Arboretum: Dcb1995 at en.wikipedia, Public domain · SunWatch Indian Village: Andrew Sawyer a.k.a. Asawyer sunwatch., Public domain
Who provides power, water and the rest in Dayton, 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 Dayton.
Dayton has more 90° days than almost anywhere else in Ohio and draws workers from Kettering and beyond, but it reports violent crime at 4 times the Ohio rate.
44 miles of trail in 59 parks and preserves. The trail density in Dayton is 0.8 miles per square mile. The biggest place to walk is Possum Creek MetroPark, 489 acres with 12.7 miles of trail.
| Dayton | Ohio towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 9.2% | 3.7% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.8 miles per square mile | 0.2 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Possum Creek MetroPark | 12.7 mi | 489 |
| 2. Eastwood MetroPark | 2.7 mi | 451 |
| 3. Wegerzyn Gardens Metropark | 1.7 mi | 55 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by the Dayton City school district. Two of its 52 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Deca PrepLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–8 | Grades K–8 | 950 | C− |
| Belmont High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 7–12 | Grades 7–12 | 1,153 | D |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within OH on state tests and graduation
Violent crime runs at 12.2 per 1,000 residents, 4 times the Ohio rate; the Safety Grade counts each violent crime four times, so this weighs most on its D−. Property crime runs at 39.7 per 1,000 residents, about twice the Ohio rate.
Dayton’s violent crime rate is 12.2 per 1,000 residents. Among 313 Ohio towns, just 7 have a higher property crime rate than Dayton. Dayton reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 99% report less.
| Dayton | Ohio towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 12.2 per 1,000 residents | 1.2 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 39.7 per 1,000 residents | 9.4 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
40% of Dayton adults feel lonely. Dayton beats the Ohio average on 2 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 21. 22% of Dayton adults report frequent mental distress.
| Dayton | Ohio towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 40% | 34% | 33% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 13% | 14% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 45% | 38% | 36% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 13% | 12% |
| What stands out | Dayton | OH |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 6.2% | 8.7% |
| Fewer adults with high cholesterol | 32% | 36.7% |
| More adults facing a utility shut-off | 17% | 8.3% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
76,256 jobs are based in Dayton, 1.5 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in.
About one in 4 of Dayton’s working residents works in town. Since 2013, Dayton has lost 5,134 jobs, to 76,256 in 2023. The top destinations are Kettering (6%), Beavercreek (4%) and Moraine (4%).
| Dayton | Ohio towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $45,000 | $75,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 20 minutes | 24 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
At 1.9 years of the Dayton metro’s $72K median household income, the typical home (about $138K) costs less against local pay than in 95% of Ohio towns; that ratio is one input to its B+ for cost of living.
The typical Dayton home is worth about $138,000, up 1% in a year, 44% below the Ohio typical home. 48% of households own their home in Dayton.
| Dayton | Ohio towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 48% | 77% | 73% |
| Renters paying 30%+ of income on rent | 53% | 42% | 48% |
| Median rent | $918 a month | $944 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
The Dayton Mcd weather station records that about 39 days a year reach 90°, the highest of 2,573 Ohio places with climate records.
Dayton has chilly winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 86°, January nights drop to 22° and about 12 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
26.9% of residents live below the poverty line, against 13.3% across Ohio, which weighs on its C− for jobs and income.
Adults 18 to 34 are 30% of residents (22% statewide); people 65 and older are 14% of residents (18% statewide). 22% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 32% across Ohio.
| Dayton | Ohio towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 34.1 years | 41.7 years | 40.5 years |
| Aged 65 or older | 14% | 20% | 18% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 22% | 24% | 29% |
51% women, 49% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±1 point. Across Ohio, 50.7% of residents are women. Median age: women 34.7, men 33.5.
| Dayton | OH | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 11.8% | 11.7% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 9.5% | 10.3% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 14.5% | 8.9% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 15.4% | 13.2% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 12.1% | 12.5% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 10.2% | 12% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 12.4% | 13.2% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 8.6% | 10.9% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 5.5% | 7.3% | 7% |
| No diploma | 11.8% | 8.2% | 10.4% |
| High school | 32% | 32.1% | 26% |
| Some college | 25.7% | 19.3% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 8.9% | 9% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 13.6% | 19.3% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 8% | 12.2% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 62% of U.S. communities. Since 1979, 24 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Dayton.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
8 within 15 miles of the center of Dayton
About 12 of every 100 Dayton residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Ohio.
2 colleges in town.
112 places in Dayton on the National Register of Historic Places.
36 notable people were born in Dayton.
City in Ohio, United States
Dayton ( ) is a city in Montgomery County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is the sixth-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 137,644 at the time of 2020 United States census. The Dayton metropolitan area has an estimated 822,000 residents and is the state's fourth-largest metropolitan area. Dayton is located within Ohio's Miami Valley region, 40 miles (64 km) north of Cincinnati and 55 miles (89 km) southwest of Columbus, Ohio. Dayton was founded in 1796 along the Great Miami River and named after Jonathan Dayton, a Founding Father of the United States who owned a significant amount of land in the area. It grew in the 19th century as a canal town and was home to man…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
10 towns share a border with Dayton.
All 7 graded towns on its borders grade higher than its D; Trotwood (D) is closest.
| Town | OH rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dayton | #974 | D | B+ | D− | C− | D− |
| Harrison Township | #876 | C− | B+ | — | C− | D |
| Riverside | #802 | C | B | — | C+ | C− |
| Jefferson Township | #956 | D | B− | — | D | D |
| Trotwood | #971 | D | B | D | C− | D |
| Shiloh | #948 | D | B | — | C− | D |
| Huber Heights | #707 | C+ | B− | C+ | C+ | B− |
| Fort McKinley | #928 | C− | B | — | C− | D− |
Harrison Township, Riverside, Jefferson Township, Shiloh and Fort McKinley report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Dayton with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Dayton grades D overall, better than 7% of U.S. towns and #974 of 987 in Ohio. It grades D− for health, D− for safety and C− for schools. Safety is its weak spot, with a D−.
Not for the area. That is 1.9 years of the area's median household income ($71,739 across the Dayton-Kettering-Beavercreek, OH metro area). Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B+.
36 notable people were born here, including Jonathan Winters and Martin Sheen.
