Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
2.1 times the nonprofits per person than the typical Ohio town.
Eaton gives you more for your money than most places: a typical home costs about $255K, 3.7 years of the county’s $69K median household income. It grades B+ overall, 377th among Ohio's 987 graded towns. The low prices come with trade-offs. CDC estimates put its residents' health behind 78% of the country. 33% of working residents work locally in Eaton, against 6.8% in Ohio’s towns and 8% across U.S. towns. On civic life, just 106 of Ohio’s 1,560 towns do better. Eaton has 4 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Acton House and Eaton High School.
Where Eaton beats most towns.
St. Clair Street Bridge
Census counts: 255 in 1820, 8,375 in 2020. The archive holds 11 old photos and papers going back to 1817 and 3 maps from 1960 on.
4 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Ohio), ordered by how far Eaton is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Eaton, 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 Eaton.
Eaton draws workers from Lake Lakengren and beyond, is healthier than towns with similar incomes and has home values climbing faster than Ohio’s.
6,635 jobs are based in Eaton, 1.9 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in.
About one in 3 of Eaton’s working residents works in town. Eaton’s median household income is $51,000. Jobs based in Eaton grew to 6,635 in 2023, 1,234 more than in 2013.
| Eaton | Ohio towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $51,000 | $75,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 14% | 9.1% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 21 minutes | 24 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Its public schools are run by the Eaton Community City school district.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| William Bruce Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades 3–5 | Grades 3–5 | 432 | A− |
| Eaton High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 546 | B+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within OH on state tests and graduation
Against the 6,292 U.S. towns with household incomes like Eaton’s, it is less healthy than 52%, so its C− isn’t only a matter of income.
32% of adults get no exercise outside work in Eaton. Eaton beats the Ohio average on 1 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 5. 41% of adults have high blood pressure in Eaton.
| Eaton | Ohio towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 32% | 28% | 25% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 41% | 38% | 35% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 13% | 12% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 15% | 14% |
| What stands out | Eaton | OH |
|---|---|---|
| More adults treating high blood pressure | 81.7% | 79.2% |
| More adults with COPD | 10% | 8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 68% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Eaton has chilly winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 84°, January nights drop to 20° and about 12 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Reported crimes fell from 109 to 74 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings. Violent crime is rare: 5 reported in 2025, 0.6 per 1,000 residents.
The violent crime rate in Eaton is 0.6 per 1,000 residents.
| Eaton | Ohio towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0.6 per 1,000 residents | 1.2 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 8.3 per 1,000 residents | 9.4 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
0.5 miles of trail in 4 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Preble County Fairgrounds, at 96 acres.
| Eaton | Ohio towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.1 miles per square mile | 0.2 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 5.6% | 3.7% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Preble County Fairgrounds | — | 96 |
| 2. Fort St. Clair Park | — | 57 |
| 3. Eaton Water Works Park | — | 15 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Home values rose 46% in five years, to about $255K, against 30% across Ohio.
Typical home values rose 9.3% in the year to September 2026. 67% of Eaton households own their home.
| Eaton | Ohio towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $764 a month | $944 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 67% | 77% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Eaton. Close and well known come first.
Big draw34 mi Theme parkKings Island3.5M visitors a year
28 mi MuseumNational Museum of the United States Air Force1.0M visitors a year28 mi MuseumNational Aviation Hall of Fame300K visitors a year
38 mi MuseumChateau Laroche
26 mi LandmarkLux Mundi
35 mi LandmarkPeters Cartridge CompanyKings Island: Eli Duke from Portland, OR, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0 · National Museum of the United States Air Force: No machine-readable author provided. Rogerd assumed (based on copyright claims)., CC BY-SA 3.0 · Chateau Laroche: ConlonTT, Public domain · Lux Mundi: NTT72USA, CC BY-SA 3.0 · Peters Cartridge Company: Internet Archive Book Images, No restrictions
None within 15 miles of Eaton; the nearest are
About 2 of every 100 Eaton residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Ohio.
Where Eaton’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
4 places in Eaton on the National Register of Historic Places.
7 notable people were born in Eaton.
City in Ohio, United States
Eaton is a city in and the county seat of Preble County, Ohio, United States. It is approximately 24 miles (39 km) west of Dayton. The population was 8,375 at the 2020 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Eaton grades B+ overall, better than 68% of U.S. towns and #377 of 987 in Ohio. It grades C− for health, B for safety and B+ for schools. Health 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−.
7 notable people were born here, including William Dennison Stephens and Deem Bristow.
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