Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Martins Ferry gives you more for your money than most places: a typical home costs about $95K, 1.6 years of the Wheeling metro’s $57K median household income. It grades C− overall, 922nd among Ohio's 987 graded towns. The low prices come with trade-offs. FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 97% of U.S. communities, with inland flooding at the top, and the median household income is $37K, and 34% of residents live below the poverty line. 34% of residents live below the poverty line in Martins Ferry, above both Ohio’s towns (9.1%) and U.S. towns (9.6%). Only 48 of Ohio’s 1,718 towns score lower on health. Martins Ferry has 1 place on the National Register.
Where Martins Ferry beats most towns, and one thing worth knowing.
Finney-Darrah HouseEach subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Ohio), ordered by how far Martins Ferry is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Its founding year, 1779, is the earliest of any Ohio town we grade.
Census counts: 1,220 in 1860, a peak of 14,729 in 1940, 6,260 in 2020. The archive holds 4 old photos and papers going back to 2015 and 8 maps from 1902 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Who provides power, water and the rest in Martins Ferry, 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 Martins Ferry.
Martins Ferry sends many workers across the state line to Weirton and is healthier than towns with similar incomes, but it carries more natural-hazard risk than most of Ohio (mostly inland flooding).
Against the 1,728 U.S. towns with household incomes like Martins Ferry’s, it is less healthy than 75%, so its D− isn’t only a matter of income.
Among adults in Martins Ferry, 26% say their health is fair or poor. Just over a fifth of adults in Martins Ferry smoke cigarettes; 36% get no exercise outside work.
| Martins Ferry | Ohio towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 15% | 14% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 22% | 16% | 14% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 36% | 28% | 25% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 13% | 12% |
| What stands out | Martins Ferry | OH |
|---|---|---|
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 25.7% | 15.3% |
| More adults with COPD | 12% | 8% |
| More smokers | 21.8% | 15.4% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
At 1.6 years of the Wheeling metro’s $57K median household income, the typical home (about $95K) costs less against local pay than in 99% of Ohio towns; that ratio is one input to that grade. At about $95K, home values are up 14% in five years, against a rise of 30% across Ohio.
Martins Ferry: 54% of households own their home. Typical home values rose 3.1% in the year to September 2026. Its rent at the middle of the market comes in at $800 a month.
| Martins Ferry | Ohio towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 54% | 77% | 73% |
| Median rent | $800 a month | $944 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
FEMA rates its natural-hazard risk higher than 100% of Ohio towns, with expected losses of about $665 per resident a year; that rating is what its D− for hazard risk is built on.
Federal disaster aid has reached households in Martins Ferry after 7 declared disasters, most recently in 2019. Of the losses FEMA expects locally, 93% come from inland flooding. This Ohio town has had 22 paid flood insurance claims since 1978.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
A winter brings about 15 inches of snow, with January nights at 22° and July afternoons at 84°.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
40% of working residents cross a state line to work, Weirton among the top destinations. Martins Ferry has about as many jobs (2,247) as working residents, but only 323 people both live and work here.
Only 13% of working residents stay in Martins Ferry for work; the rest commute out. Its mean commuting time comes in at 19 minutes. Jobs in the town fell by 175 from 2013 to 2023, to 2,247. The top destinations are Wheeling (21%), Richland Township (5%) and St. Clairsville (4%).
| Martins Ferry | Ohio towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $37,000 | $75,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 19 minutes | 24 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Working residents who work in town | 13% | 6.8% | 8% |
| Work from home | 7.3% | 9.7% | 11% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
The property offense rate for Martins Ferry comes to 5.2 per 1,000 residents. The rate of reported violence for Martins Ferry comes to 3 per 1,000 residents.
| Martins Ferry | Ohio towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 3 per 1,000 residents | 1.2 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 5.2 per 1,000 residents | 9.4 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
0.2 miles of trail in 1 park or preserve. Martins Ferry’s trail network density is 0.1 miles per square mile. It has one park or preserve, 7 acres in all.
| Martins Ferry | Ohio towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.1 miles per square mile | 0.2 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 1.5% | 3.7% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Fodor Memorial Park | — | 7 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Martins Ferry. Close and well known come first.
18 mi MuseumMeadowcroft Rockshelter
3 mi Stadium & arenaWesBanco Arena
13 mi Ancient siteGrave Creek Mound
4 mi City parkOglebay Park
3 mi MuseumWest Virginia Independence Hall
37 mi AttractionChester teapotMeadowcroft Rockshelter: Lee Paxton, CC BY-SA 4.0 · WesBanco Arena: Jgera5 at English Wikipedia, CC0 · Grave Creek Mound: Shonebrooks, CC0 · Oglebay Park: Morganismysheltie (talk), CC BY-SA 3.0 · West Virginia Independence Hall: Nyttend, Public domain · Chester teapot: Navy2004, CC BY-SA 3.0
6 within 15 miles of the center of Martins Ferry
About 3 of every 100 Martins Ferry residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Ohio.
19 notable people were born in Martins Ferry.
City in Ohio, US
Martins Ferry is the most populous city in Belmont County, Ohio, United States. The population was 6,260 as of the 2020 census. Located along the Ohio River across from Wheeling, West Virginia, it is part of the Wheeling metropolitan area.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
4 towns share a border with Martins Ferry.
| Town | OH rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Martins Ferry | #922 | C− | B+ | B− | C+ | D− |
| Pease Township | #888 | C− | A− | — | B− | D |
| Bridgeport | — | — | A+ | — | B | D |
| Yorkville | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Bridgeport has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Pease Township and Bridgeport report no FBI crime data of their own. Yorkville isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Martins Ferry with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Martins Ferry grades C− overall, better than 16% of U.S. towns and #922 of 987 in Ohio. It grades D− for health, B− for safety and C+ for schools. Hazard risk is its weak spot, with a D−.
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 B+.
19 notable people were born here, including John Havlicek and William Dean Howells.
.JPG){kind=link}
