Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Mentor grades A− overall, ranked 242nd of 987 in Ohio, with clear strengths and some subjects that lag. The median household earns $89K and its public schools beat 76% of Ohio towns on state tests and graduation. It also does better than most on health: CDC estimates put its residents' health ahead of 66% of the country. Its lowest everyday mark is in cost of living: the typical home is worth about $276K, 3.9 years of the Cleveland metro’s $71K median household income. Its National Register listings include James A. Garfield National Historic Site and Corning-White House. 24% of working residents work locally in Mentor, above both Ohio’s towns (6.8%) and U.S. towns (8%). Mentor Lagoons Nature Preserve, at 218 acres with 3.8 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve.
Where Mentor beats most towns.
James A. Garfield National Historic Site| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| Ridge Elementary School | K–5 | 661 |
| Hopkins Elementary School | K–5 | 466 |
| Bellflower Elementary School | K–5 | 465 |
James A. Garfield National Historic Site is a National Historic Landmark, the National Register’s top tier.
Census counts: 416 in 1870, 47,450 in 2020. The archive holds 18 old photos and papers going back to 1880 and 6 maps from 1905 on.
13 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Ohio), ordered by how far Mentor is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Mentor. Close and well known come first.
Big draw22 mi MuseumRock and Roll Hall of Fame580K visitors a year
Big draw23 mi Stadium & arenaProgressive Field
23 mi Stadium & arenaHuntington Bank Field
23 mi National ParkCuyahoga Valley National Park3.0M visitors a year
23 mi Stadium & arenaRocket Arena
19 mi MuseumCleveland Museum of Art410K visitors a yearRock and Roll Hall of Fame: MusikAnimal, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Progressive Field: Jsawczuk, Public domain · Huntington Bank Field: Erik Drost, CC BY 2.0 · Cuyahoga Valley National Park: Unknown, Public domain · Rocket Arena: Cards84664, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Cleveland Museum of Art: zenbikescience, CC BY 2.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Mentor, 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 Mentor.
Mentor gets more snow than nearly all U.S. towns and has less food insecurity than most of Ohio, but it reports more crime than Willoughby and its other graded neighbors.
| Mentor | Ohio towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 8.2% | 3.7% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.5 miles per square mile | 0.2 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Mentor Lagoons Nature Preserve | 3.8 mi | 218 |
| 2. Spring Brook Gardens Park | 1.9 mi | 47 |
| 3. Wildwood Cultural Park | 1.5 mi | 35 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by the Mentor Exempted Village school district. Three of its 16 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Memorial Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 852 | B+ |
| Mentor High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 2,217 | B |
| Hopkins Elementary SchoolTop results in townGrades K–5 | Grades K–5 | 466 | A |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within OH on state tests and graduation
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 87% of U.S. communities. Since 1978, 33 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Mentor.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Its widest gap with Ohio is food insecurity: 8.5% of its 38,733 adults worry about having enough food, against 14.1% statewide.
30% of adults feel lonely in Mentor. Mentor beats the Ohio average on 14 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 1. 15% of adults report frequent mental distress in Mentor.
| Mentor | Ohio towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 34% | 33% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 18% | 17% |
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 82% | 80% | 79% |
| Food insecurity (CDC PLACES) | 8.5% | 13% | 14% |
| What stands out | Mentor | OH |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 8.5% | 14.1% |
| Fewer adults facing a utility shut-off | 5.2% | 8.3% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 11% | 8.7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The Chardon weather station, 10 miles away, records that 114 inches of snow fall in a normal winter, more than in 98% of U.S. towns.
The July high in Mentor is 81°F. Mentor has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
About one in 4 of Mentor’s working residents works in town. 5.2% of Mentor residents live below the poverty line. Since 2013, Mentor has added 2,209 jobs, to 31,897 in 2023.
| Mentor | Ohio towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 5.2% | 9.1% | 9.6% |
| Work from home | 15% | 9.7% | 11% |
| Average trip to work | 22 minutes | 24 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $89,000 | $75,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
People 65 and older are 24% of residents (18% statewide); adults 18 to 34 are 18% of residents (22% statewide). Mentor’s median age is 46.5 years. 37% of adults 25 and older have a bachelor’s degree or more, vs 32% across Ohio.
| Mentor | Ohio towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 46.5 years | 41.7 years | 40.5 years |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 37% | 24% | 29% |
| Under 18 | 19% | 22% | 22% |
51% women, 49% men
About 96 men for every 100 women (the survey’s margin: ±1.1 points). Across Ohio, 50.7% of residents are women. Median age: women 48.0, men 45.0.
| Mentor | OH | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 10.2% | 11.7% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 8.8% | 10.3% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 6.4% | 8.9% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 11.6% | 13.2% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 11.2% | 12.5% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 12.3% | 12% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 15.2% | 13.2% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 14.5% | 10.9% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 9.8% | 7.3% | 7% |
| No diploma | 3.4% | 8.2% | 10.4% |
| High school | 29.5% | 32.1% | 26% |
| Some college | 21.4% | 19.3% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 9% | 9% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 22.9% | 19.3% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 13.8% | 12.2% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
The typical Mentor home is worth about $276,000, up 3.5% in a year, 12% above the Ohio typical home.
| Mentor | Ohio towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 85% | 77% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,239 a month | $943 a month | $1,185 a month |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Mentor is safe by national standards, yet each of the 3 graded towns on its borders reports less crime per resident, from Willoughby (B) to Kirtland (A+). Reported crimes fell from 735 to 532 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
4 within 15 miles of the center of Mentor
About 4 of every 100 Mentor residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Ohio.
13 places in Mentor on the National Register of Historic Places.
12 notable people were born in Mentor.
City in Ohio, United States
Mentor ( MEN-tər; also, MEN-nər) is a city located in Lake County, Ohio, United States. It is situated on the south shore of Lake Erie. A suburb northeast of Cleveland, Ohio, it is part of the Greater Cleveland metropolitan area. Its population during the 2020 census was 47,450. Mentor (also known as Mentor City) is the most populous city in Lake County, Ohio. Mentor was settled in 1797. In 1876, James A. Garfield purchased a home there, from which he conducted the first successful front porch campaign for the United States presidency in 1880; the house is now maintained as the James A. Garfield National Historic Site. The city is home to Headlands Beach State Park, the longest public swimm…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
8 towns share a border with Mentor.
| Town | OH rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Mentor | #242 | A− | C | B− | A− | B+ |
| Kirtland Hills | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Willoughby | #491 | B | C | B | B− | B |
| Mentor-on-the-Lake | #162 | A | B− | A− | A− | C+ |
| Concord Township | #624 | B− | C− | — | B+ | C+ |
| Painesville · Painesville Township | #867 | C− | B− | — | B− | D |
| Kirtland | #56 | A+ | C+ | A+ | A | A− |
| Grand River | — | — | — | — | — | — |
Concord Township and Painesville report no FBI crime data of their own. Kirtland Hills and Grand River aren’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Painesville Township and Painesville are one community, graded once. Compare Mentor with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Mentor grades A− overall, better than 78% of U.S. towns and #242 of 987 in Ohio. It grades B+ for health, B− for safety and A− for schools.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades C.
12 notable people were born here, including Walter Wellman and Micah Potter.
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