Photo: Nyttend · Public domainElyria reports more crime per resident than 61% of U.S. towns
On crimes reported to the FBI by Elyria’s police in 2023–2025, it grades C+ for safety: #209 of 296 graded towns in Ohio.
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. “Rest of OH” is every other Ohio city and town in the FBI’s tables; the U.S. figure is the FBI’s national estimate as published, averaged over the three years. The FBI publishes no national homicide or robbery rate in our data, so those compare with all U.S. cities and towns in its tables.
What stands out about safety in Elyria
1 of the 1 graded towns next door reports less crime
Of the 7 Ohio towns on Elyria’s borders, 1 have a Safety Grade: North Ridgeville (A). Carlisle Township, Elyria Township, Eaton Township, Amherst Township and Sheffield Township have no FBI figures of their own for 2023–2025. Sheffield reported to the FBI for 2023 but not 2024 or 2025. Neighbors ↓
A college town
Elyria is home to Lorain County Community College, with 6,723 students taking classes on campus (federal college data), and 5% of residents are enrolled in college (Census). Students who live in town count as residents, so they are part of the per-resident rate. How to read it ↓
Written from the FBI data on this page. Figures are crimes reported to police, not convictions.
What’s behind Elyria’s grade
Property crimes plus four times violent crimes reported to the FBI per resident, 2023–2025, on a national curve. Both violent and property crime are higher than in most U.S. towns; violent crime is the closer of the two to typical. Its violent rate (2.3) is below the FBI’s national estimate (3.6) but higher than in most individual towns: the national figure is weighted by people, and the grade counts towns. Its property rate (14.1) is below the FBI’s national estimate (17.6) but higher than in most individual towns: the national figure is weighted by people, and the grade counts towns.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Elyria’s police reported 362 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 2.3 per 1,000 residents a year, against 3.7 in the rest of Ohio and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
Show as a table
| Year | Elyria | Rest of Ohio | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 2.0 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 2.0 | 3.8 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 2.9 | 3.9 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 1.8 | 3.5 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
For every 1,000 residents, about 13 property crimes reported
And about 2 violent crimes, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.
Violent crime per 1,000 residents, 2025
Property crime per 1,000 residents, 2025
Crimes reported to police in 2025 per resident; one person can be the victim of more than one, and some reports involve visitors.
Reported crime is steady
Reported crime per resident was steady from 2023 to 2025: the change is within ordinary year-to-year swings. Per 1,000 residents, 2022–2025, against the rest of Ohio.
Show as a table
| Year | Elyria property | Rest of Ohio property | Elyria violent | Rest of Ohio violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 19.0 | 22.6 | 2.0 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 14.5 | 21.1 | 2.0 | 3.8 |
| 2024 | 14.8 | 19.9 | 2.9 | 3.9 |
| 2025 | 13.2 | 17.9 | 1.8 | 3.5 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
807 crimes reported in 2025
99 violent and 708 property, as reported to the FBI by Elyria’s police.
2025 offenses reported
Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total.
11 people died in crashes on Elyria’s roads in 2019–2023
Elyria had 9 fatal crashes in five years, in which 11 people died. 2 died in crashes on an Interstate.
That is 4.1 deaths per 100,000 residents a year, about the same as the median for Ohio towns of 25,000–100,000 people (4.7, 98 towns).
Deaths are counted where the crash happened, not where the people lived: a highway through town adds through-traffic deaths, and residents’ own risk on roads elsewhere isn’t here. Town rates sit below state and U.S. rates because a third of fatal crashes happen outside any town. Road safety is described here and is not part of the Safety Grade. Source: NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), 2019–2023.
Elyria and its neighbors
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Elyria | C+ | 2.3 | 14.1 |
| Carlisle Township | — | — | — |
| Elyria Township | — | — | — |
| Eaton Township | — | — | — |
| Amherst Township | — | — | — |
| North Ridgeville | A | 0.4 | 2.6 |
| Sheffield | — | — | — |
| Sheffield Township | — | — | — |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Carlisle Township, Elyria Township, Eaton Township, Amherst Township and Sheffield Township have no FBI figures of their own for 2023–2025. Sheffield reported to the FBI for 2023 but not 2024 or 2025.
Ohio towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Elyria | C+ | 2.3 | 14.1 |
| Kettering | B | 0.6 | 14.3 |
| Sylvania Township | B− | 0.7 | 15.4 |
| Cuyahoga Falls | C+ | 2.0 | 17.7 |
| Miami Township | C | 1.8 | 22.9 |
| Newark | C | 2.9 | 18.3 |
The five graded Ohio towns closest to Elyria’s population (53,634), by grade.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- It’s reported crime. Only incidents reported to and recorded by police appear here. Many crimes are never reported to police.
- One number for all of Elyria. A citywide rate doesn’t show where incidents happen, and that can differ a lot from one part of the city to another.
- Visitors count too. Incidents involving people who work, shop or visit are counted against Elyria’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (53,836 in 2025); our figure for Elyria is 53,634 (2025 Census estimate).
- Gaps are real gaps. A missing year means the department didn’t report a full year, not that nothing happened.
How the grade is calculated, for every town: How TownRatings grades safety →
Questions about safety in Elyria
Is Elyria, OH safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Elyria reports more crime per resident than 61% of U.S. towns, a C+ Safety Grade and #209 of 296 in Ohio. Its police reported 2.3 violent crimes per 1,000 residents a year, against 3.7 in the rest of Ohio and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
What is the crime rate in Elyria?
2.3 violent and 14.1 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of Ohio reports 3.7 and 19.6; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
Is crime going up or down in Elyria?
Reported crime per resident was steady from 2023 to 2025: the change is within ordinary year-to-year swings.
How many homicides were there in Elyria in 2025?
Elyria’s police reported 1 homicides to the FBI for 2025, 1.9 per 100,000 residents. Across U.S. cities and towns in the FBI’s tables the 2025 figure was 4.6.
Is Elyria safer than North Ridgeville?
North Ridgeville reports less crime per resident than Elyria: North Ridgeville grades A for safety and Elyria C+. North Ridgeville’s police reported 0.4 violent and 2.6 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Elyria?
Elyria’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Elyria”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Neighbors looking out for each other in Elyria.
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
Please don’t name or describe individuals. In an emergency, call 911.
Crime: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program, Crime Data Explorer: offenses known to law enforcement by city, 2025, and state and national rates. Counts are crimes reported to police, not convictions. The Safety Grade is our own summary of that data, not an official rating. Road deaths: NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), 2019–2023. This isn’t an official statement of public safety. In an emergency, call 911.