Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
70% more nonprofits per person than the typical Ohio town.
Defiance Township gives you more for your money than most places: a typical home costs about $137K, 1.9 years of the Defiance area’s $73K median household income. It grades B− overall, 579th among Ohio's 987 graded towns. The low prices come with trade-offs. FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 79% of U.S. communities, with inland flooding at the top. History is its standout character grade: an A, better than 95% of U.S. towns. Only 71 of Ohio’s 1,560 towns score higher on civic life. 22% of working residents work locally in Defiance Township, above both Ohio’s towns (6.8%) and U.S. towns (8%). Only 97 of Ohio’s 1,718 towns score higher on history.
Where Defiance Township beats most towns.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Ohio), ordered by how far Defiance Township is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 800 in 1850, 17,066 in 2020. The archive holds 12 old photos and papers going back to 1879 and 2 maps from 1909 on.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Defiance Township, 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 Township.
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 97% of Ohio towns, with expected losses of about $304 per resident a year; that rating is what its C− for hazard risk is built on.
Since 1978, 87 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Defiance Township.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Its public schools are run by the Defiance City school district. Two of its 5 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Defiance High School, with 697 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Defiance Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades K–5 | Grades K–5 | 1,075 | B− |
| Defiance High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 697 | C+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within OH on state tests and graduation
4.8 miles of trail in 11 parks and preserves. The biggest place to walk is Camp Lakota, 348 acres with 2 miles of trail.
| Defiance Township | Ohio towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.2 miles per square mile | 0.2 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 3.3% | 3.7% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Camp Lakota | 2 mi | 348 |
| 2. Riverside Park | — | 33 |
| 3. Bronson Park | — | 25 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Defiance Township 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
About one in 5 of Defiance Township’s working residents works in town. 16% of Defiance Township residents live below the poverty line. The top destinations are Defiance (33%), Napoleon (6%) and Archbold (4%).
| Defiance Township | Ohio towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 16% | 9.1% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 19 minutes | 24 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Work from home | 6.1% | 9.7% | 11% |
| Median household income | $66,000 | $75,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Defiance Township beats the Ohio average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 1. 14% of adults have diabetes in Defiance Township.
| Defiance Township | Ohio towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 13% | 12% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 38% | 38% | 35% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 28% | 25% |
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 38% | 38% | 36% |
| What stands out | Defiance Township | OH |
|---|---|---|
| More adults who have had cancer | 9.7% | 8.7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
2 within 15 miles of the center of Defiance Township
About 5 of every 100 Defiance Township residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Ohio.
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)
3 towns share a border with Defiance Township.
| Town | OH rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Defiance Township | #579 | B− | A | — | B | C+ |
| Noble Township | #339 | B+ | A | — | B+ | C+ |
| Auglaize Township | — | — | A+ | — | B | C |
| Richland Township | #329 | B+ | B+ | — | A− | C+ |
Auglaize Township has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Defiance Township, Noble Township, Auglaize Township and Richland Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Defiance Township with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Defiance Township grades B− overall, better than 52% of U.S. towns and #579 of 987 in Ohio. It grades C+ for health 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.