Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Cheap to live in, with trade-offs. Its best grade is for cost of living — a typical home costs about $215K, 3.2 years of the Norwalk area’s $68K median household income. With a B overall, Norwalk is better than 63% of U.S. towns. That places it 455th of 987 in Ohio. It also does well on safety (B+): it reports less crime per resident than 73% of U.S. towns. The trade-off is incomes: the median household income is $61K, and 16% of residents live below the poverty line. Its National Register listings include Huron County Courthouse And Jail and West Main Street District. History is its standout character grade: an A, better than 91% of U.S. towns, with 6 places on the National Register.
Figures: home values, Zillow · incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24 · FBI crime data, 2025 · National Register of Historic Places.
Where Norwalk beats most towns.
Census counts: 179 in 1820, 17,068 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1905 and 3 maps from 1960 on.
6 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Ohio), ordered by how far Norwalk is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Norwalk, 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 Norwalk.
Norwalk is healthier than towns with similar incomes, trades workers with Sandusky and other neighbors and has seen reported crime fall by about half.
Norwalk’s trail density comes in at 0.7 miles per square mile. 6.7 miles of trail in 6 parks and preserves. The biggest place to walk is Veterans Memorial Lake Park, 321 acres with 3.8 miles of trail.
| Norwalk | Ohio towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 9.1% | 3.7% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.7 miles per square mile | 0.2 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Veterans Memorial Lake Park | 3.8 mi | 321 |
| 2. Norwalk Area Contractors Park | 0.5 mi | 17 |
| 3. Pleasant Street Park | — | 8 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Three of the 6 schools are below, and why each made the list. The largest public high school is Norwalk High School, with 699 students. The public schools here belong to the Norwalk City school district.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Maplehurst Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–1 | Grades PK–1 | 460 | – |
| Norwalk High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 699 | B− |
| Pleasant Elementary SchoolTop results in townGrades 2–4 | Grades 2–4 | 395 | A |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within OH on state tests and graduation
Reported crimes fell from 194 to 87 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings. Violent crime is rare: 12 reported in 2025, 0.7 per 1,000 residents.
For Norwalk, the property crime rate is 4.4 per 1,000 residents. Its level of violent crime is 0.7 per 1,000 residents, where Ohio’s towns sit at 1.2 and U.S. towns at 1.6.
| Norwalk | Ohio towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 4.4 per 1,000 residents | 9.4 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0.7 per 1,000 residents | 1.2 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Against the 9,147 U.S. towns with household incomes like Norwalk’s, it is less healthy than 51%, so its C isn’t only a matter of income.
18% of Norwalk adults report frequent mental distress, close to Ohio’s towns (18%) and above U.S. towns (17%). Among adults in the town, 31% get no exercise outside work.
| Norwalk | Ohio towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Sleep under 7 hours (CDC PLACES) | 41% | 38% | 36% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 31% | 28% | 25% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 13% | 12% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 16% | 14% |
| What stands out | Norwalk | OH |
|---|---|---|
| More adults with COPD | 9.2% | 8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The range runs from 19° on a January night to 83° on a July afternoon, with about 33 inches of snow a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Norwalk has about as many jobs (8,614) as working residents, but only 2,261 people both live and work here.
Half commute less than 12 miles. Between 2013 and 2023, jobs in Norwalk rose by 1,208, to 8,614. About one worker in three stays in Norwalk for work. For Norwalk, the average trip to work is 21 minutes.
| Norwalk | Ohio towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 30% | 6.8% | 8% |
| Below the poverty line | 16% | 9.1% | 9.6% |
| Work from home | 5% | 9.7% | 11% |
| Average trip to work | 21 minutes | 24 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
In the year to September 2026, typical home values climbed 5.9%. Norwalk: nearly two thirds of households own their home. Its rent at the middle of the market comes in at $836 a month.
| Norwalk | Ohio towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 65% | 77% | 73% |
| Median rent | $836 a month | $944 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Households in Norwalk have drawn federal disaster aid in 4 declared disasters, most recently in 2008. FEMA expects less storm and flood damage in the town than in 56% of U.S. communities. 20 flood insurance claims have been paid locally since 1981.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Norwalk. Close and well known come first.
Big draw17 mi Theme parkCedar Point3.8M visitors a year
32 mi MuseumOhio State Reformatory
30 mi National MemorialPerry's Victory and International Peace Memorial124K visitors a year14 mi Theme parkCastaway Bay
30 mi CaveCrystal Cave
in town TheatreNorwalk TheatreCedar Point: Larry Pieniazek, User:Lar, en:User:Lar (primary), CC BY 2.5 · Ohio State Reformatory: Niagara66, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Perry's Victory and International Peace Memorial: NPS Photo, Public domain · Crystal Cave: Analogue Kid at English Wikipedia, CC BY 3.0 · Norwalk Theatre: Joanna Poe from Munith, MI, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0
1 within 15 miles of the center of Norwalk
About 4 of every 100 Norwalk residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Ohio.
9.1% of the town is conserved land, across 6 parks and preserves.
6 places in Norwalk on the National Register of Historic Places.
26 notable people were born in Norwalk.
City in Huron County, Ohio, US
Norwalk is a city in Huron County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. The population was 17,068 at the 2020 census. The city is the center of the Norwalk micropolitan area and part of the Cleveland–Akron–Canton combined statistical area. Norwalk is located approximately 10 miles (16 km) south of Lake Erie, 51 miles (82 km) west/southwest of Cleveland, 59 miles (95 km) southeast of Toledo, and 58 miles (93 km) west/northwest of Akron.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
2 towns share a border with Norwalk.
| Town | OH rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Norwalk | #455 | B | B+ | B+ | B+ | C |
| Norwalk Township | #319 | B+ | A− | — | B+ | C |
| Ridgefield Township | — | — | A− | — | B− | B− |
Ridgefield Township has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Norwalk Township and Ridgefield Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Norwalk with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
By most measures, yes. Norwalk grades B overall, better than 63% of U.S. towns and #455 of 987 in Ohio. It grades C for health, B+ for safety and B+ for schools.
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+.
26 notable people were born here, including George Kennan and Paul Brown.
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