Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Norwood's standout: natural-hazard risk is low. Overall it grades C+, 736th of 987 graded towns in Ohio. It is more walkable than 95% of U.S. towns. Its weakest subject is safety: its crime rate is higher than 85% of U.S. towns, with 56 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025. Norwood’s property crime rate is 30.6 per 1,000 residents, above both Ohio’s towns (9.4) and U.S. towns (9.9). Norwood has 3 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Cincinnati Street Gas Lamps and Norwood Municipal Building.
Where Norwood beats most towns.
Cincinnati Street Gas LampsWhere Norwood’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Ohio), ordered by how far Norwood is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 6,480 in 1900, a peak of 35,001 in 1950, 19,043 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 2007 and 6 maps from 1898 on.
3 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Norwood. Close and well known come first.
Big draw16 mi Theme parkKings Island3.5M visitors a year
6 mi Stadium & arenaPaycor Stadium
5 mi Stadium & arenaGreat American Ball Park
4 mi Stadium & arenaNippert Stadium
3 mi Zoo & aquariumCincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden1.2M visitors a year
Big draw38 mi Theme parkArk EncounterKings Island: Eli Duke from Portland, OR, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Paycor Stadium: JonRidinger, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Great American Ball Park: Eric Kilby profile at Flickr website, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Nippert Stadium: Ben Levin, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Cincinnati Zoo and Botanical Garden: Unknown, CC BY-SA 2.5 · Ark Encounter: OlinEJ, CC0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Norwood, 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 Norwood.
Norwood draws workers from Cincinnati and beyond and is healthier than towns with similar incomes, but it reports property crime at about twice the Ohio rate.
14,748 jobs are based in Norwood, 1.7 for every working resident, so most of the people who work here commute in.
Most working residents leave Norwood for work: only 7% work in town. 18% of residents live below the poverty line in Norwood. Jobs based in Norwood grew to 14,748 in 2023, 2,717 more than in 2013.
| Norwood | Ohio towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 18% | 9.1% | 9.6% |
| Work from home | 16% | 9.7% | 11% |
| Average trip to work | 22 minutes | 24 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $72,000 | $75,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Its public schools are run by the Norwood City school district. Two of its 9 schools are below, each with why it’s listed.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Norwood Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 371 | C+ |
| Norwood High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 435 | C |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within OH on state tests and graduation
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 93% of U.S. communities.
FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
Property crime runs at 30.6 per 1,000 residents, about twice the Ohio rate, most of it theft.
The violent crime rate in Norwood is 2.9 per 1,000 residents. Norwood reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 85% report less.
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Norwood’s median age is 32.8 years. Norwood has grown 3.3% since 2020, to 19,658 residents in the Census Bureau’s 2025 estimate. 12% of Norwood residents are 65 or older.
| Norwood | Ohio towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median age | 32.8 years | 41.7 years | 40.5 years |
| Aged 65 or older | 12% | 20% | 18% |
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 41% | 24% | 29% |
| Under 18 | 19% | 22% | 22% |
48% women, 52% men
That’s an even split within the survey’s margin of ±2.4 points. Across Ohio, 50.7% of residents are women. Among residents 45 to 54, 68% are men (OH 50%). Median age: women 32.1, men 33.7.
| Norwood | OH | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 11.6% | 11.7% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 7.7% | 10.3% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 11.1% | 8.9% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 24.1% | 13.2% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 12.8% | 12.5% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 10% | 12% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 10.5% | 13.2% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 7.4% | 10.9% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 4.8% | 7.3% | 7% |
| No diploma | 9.4% | 8.2% | 10.4% |
| High school | 27.8% | 32.1% | 26% |
| Some college | 14.9% | 19.3% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 6.5% | 9% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 25.2% | 19.3% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 16.1% | 12.2% | 14.1% |
Census population estimates, 2025 · U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
Norwood has chilly winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 87°, January nights drop to 23° and about 16 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Against the 10,645 U.S. towns with household incomes like Norwood’s, it is healthier than 80%, so its B+ isn’t only a matter of income.
Norwood beats the Ohio average on 10 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 5.
| Norwood | Ohio towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 20% | 17% | 16% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 38% | 35% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 26% | 23% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 12% | 15% | 14% |
| What stands out | Norwood | OH |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults who have had cancer | 6.3% | 8.7% |
| Fewer adults who have had a stroke | 2.7% | 3.7% |
| More binge drinkers | 20.3% | 16.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
0.9 miles of trail in 9 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Millcrest Park, at 27 acres.
| Norwood | Ohio towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 2.4% | 3.7% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.3 miles per square mile | 0.2 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Millcrest Park | 0.6 mi | 27 |
| 2. Waterworks Park | — | 19 |
| 3. Tower Park | — | 11 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
The typical Norwood home is worth about $242,000, down 1% in a year, close to the Ohio typical home.
| Norwood | Ohio towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 48% | 77% | 73% |
| Median rent | $981 a month | $943 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
18 within 15 miles of the center of Norwood
About 10 of every 100 Norwood residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Ohio.
3 places in Norwood on the National Register of Historic Places.
12 notable people were born in Norwood.
City in Ohio, United States
Norwood is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, and an enclave of Cincinnati. The population was 19,043 at the 2020 census, making it the third-most populous city in Hamilton County. Originally settled as an early suburb of Cincinnati in the wooded countryside north of the city, the area is characterized by older homes and tree-lined streets.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
One town shares a border with Norwood.
| Town | OH rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Norwood | #736 | C+ | B− | C− | C+ | B+ |
| Columbia Township | #825 | C | C− | — | C | A− |
Columbia Township reports no FBI crime data of its own. Compare Norwood with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Norwood grades C+ overall, better than 38% of U.S. towns and #736 of 987 in Ohio. It grades B+ for health, C− for safety and C+ for schools. Safety is its weak spot, with a C−.
Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B−.
12 notable people were born here, including George Chakiris and Vera-Ellen.
