Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Defiance gives you more for your money than most places: homes are within reach, about $184K for a typical one, or 2.5 years of the Defiance area’s $73K median household income. It grades B− overall, ranked 600th of 987 in Ohio. The low prices come with trade-offs. FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 70% of U.S. communities, with inland flooding at the top. History is its standout character grade: an A, better than 93% of U.S. towns, with 10 places on the National Register. 33% of working residents work locally in Defiance, above both the Ohio town median (6.8%) and the median of U.S. towns (8%). On civic life, just 48 of Ohio’s 1,560 towns do better. Defiance is home to Defiance College.
Where Defiance beats most towns.
East Side Fire Station
Census counts: 800 in 1850, 17,066 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1879 and 3 maps from 1907 on.
10 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Ohio), ordered by how far Defiance is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Defiance, 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 Defiance.
Defiance is healthier than towns with similar incomes and has homes that are cheap against local pay, but it carries more natural-hazard risk than most of Ohio (mostly inland flooding).
3.9 miles of trail in 12 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Diehl Park, at 39 acres.
| Defiance | Ohio towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.3 miles per square mile | 0.2 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 4% | 3.7% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Diehl Park | — | 39 |
| 2. Riverside Park | — | 33 |
| 3. Bronson Park | — | 25 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
At 2.5 years of the Defiance area’s $73K median household income, the typical home (about $185K) costs less against local pay than in 78% of Ohio towns; that ratio is one input to its A for cost of living.
The typical Defiance home is worth about $185,000, up 3.7% in a year, 25% below the Ohio typical home. Defiance’s median rent is $853 a month.
| Defiance | Ohio towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $853 a month | $944 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 69% | 77% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 94% of Ohio towns, with expected losses of about $213 per resident a year; that rating is what its C− for hazard risk is built on. 248 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 26 properties have flooded more than once.
Since 1978, 248 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Defiance.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Defiance has chilly winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 85°, January nights drop to 19° and about 24 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Against the 9,289 U.S. towns with household incomes like Defiance’s, it is healthier than 52%, so its C isn’t only a matter of income.
Defiance beats the Ohio average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 2. 14% of adults have diabetes in Defiance.
| Defiance | Ohio towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 13% | 12% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 28% | 25% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 39% | 38% | 36% |
| No health insurance, 18–64 (CDC PLACES) | 10% | 7.7% | 8.1% |
| What stands out | Defiance | OH |
|---|---|---|
| More uninsured adults | 10.3% | 8% |
| Fewer adults seeing a dentist | 58.8% | 62.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
About one in 3 of Defiance’s working residents works in town. The average trip to work in Defiance is 18 minutes. Since 2013, Defiance has lost 1,692 jobs, to 8,999 in 2023.
| Defiance | Ohio towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 18 minutes | 24 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 15% | 9.1% | 9.6% |
| Work from home | 5.9% | 9.7% | 11% |
| Median household income | $61,000 | $75,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Reported crimes fell from 287 to 217 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
2 within 15 miles of the center of Defiance
About 7 of every 100 Defiance residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Ohio.
10 places in Defiance on the National Register of Historic Places.
24 notable people were born in Defiance.
City in Ohio, United States
Defiance is a city in Defiance County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. The population was 17,066 at the 2020 census. It is located at the confluence of the Auglaize and Maumee rivers about 55 miles (89 km) southwest of Toledo and 47 miles (76 km) northeast of Fort Wayne, Indiana, in Ohio's northwestern corner.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Defiance grades B− overall, better than 50% of U.S. towns and #600 of 987 in Ohio. It grades C for health, C+ for safety and B for schools. Hazard risk is its weak spot, with a C−.
Not for the area. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades A.
24 notable people were born here, including Wild Bill Davison and Chad Billingsley.
