Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Piqua gives you more for your money than most places: homes are within reach, about $181K for a typical one, or 2.5 years of the Dayton metro’s $72K median household income. It grades C overall, ranked 805th of 987 in Ohio. The low prices come with trade-offs. It reports more crime per resident than 87% of U.S. towns, including 80 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2025, and CDC estimates put its residents' health behind 77% of the country. On the plus side, natural-hazard risk is low. History is its standout character grade: an A+, better than 99% of U.S. towns, with 7 places on the National Register. On history, just 7 of Ohio’s 1,718 towns do better. 23% of working residents work locally in Piqua, above both Ohio’s towns (6.8%) and U.S. towns (8%). Piqua is home to Edison State Community College.
Where Piqua beats most towns.
Piqua Historical Area State Memorial
Its founding year, 1780, is the earliest of any Ohio town we grade.
Census counts: 287 in 1810, 20,354 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1887 and 4 maps from 1914 on.
7 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Ohio), ordered by how far Piqua is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Piqua, 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 Piqua.
Piqua has homes that are cheap against local pay and trades workers with Troy and other neighbors.
The property crime rate in Piqua is 22.3 per 1,000 residents. Piqua reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 87% report less. The violent crime rate in Piqua is 3.8 per 1,000 residents.
| Piqua | Ohio towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 22.3 per 1,000 residents | 9.4 | 9.9 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 3.8 per 1,000 residents | 1.2 | 1.6 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Its public schools are run by the Piqua City school district. Two of its 6 schools are below, each with why it’s listed. The largest public high school is Upper Valley Career Center, with 988 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Piqua Central Intermediate SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 4–6 | Grades 4–6 | 714 | C+ |
| Upper Valley Career CenterLargest public high schoolGrades 6–12 | Grades 6–12 | 988 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within OH on state tests and graduation
3.9 miles of trail in 18 parks and preserves. The biggest place to walk is Johnston Farm & Indian Agency, 159 acres with 1.3 miles of trail.
| Piqua | Ohio towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 2.6% | 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. Johnston Farm & Indian Agency | 1.3 mi | 159 |
| 2. Hollow Park | 1 mi | 28 |
| 3. Pitsenbarger Park and Sports Complex | 0.5 mi | 51 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
19% of adults smoke cigarettes in Piqua. Piqua beats the Ohio average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 4. 27% of adults have been diagnosed with depression in Piqua.
| Piqua | Ohio towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 16% | 14% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 18% | 17% |
| Depression (CDC PLACES) | 27% | 26% | 23% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 30% | 28% | 25% |
| What stands out | Piqua | OH |
|---|---|---|
| More smokers | 18.9% | 15.4% |
| More adults with COPD | 9.6% | 8% |
| Fewer adults seeing a dentist | 55.8% | 62.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
At 2.5 years of the Dayton metro’s $72K median household income, the typical home (about $181K) costs less against local pay than in 78% of Ohio towns; that ratio is one input to its A− for cost of living.
The typical Piqua home is worth about $181,000, up 2.7% in a year, 26% below the Ohio typical home. 65% of Piqua households own their home.
| Piqua | Ohio towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 65% | 77% | 73% |
| Median rent | $922 a month | $944 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Piqua has chilly winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 85°, January nights drop to 20° and about 15 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Piqua has about as many jobs (8,350) as working residents, but only 2,157 people both live and work here.
About one in 4 of Piqua’s working residents works in town. Piqua’s average trip to work is 19 minutes. The top destinations are Troy (12%), Sidney (7%) and Dayton (3%).
| Piqua | Ohio towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Below the poverty line | 18% | 9.1% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 19 minutes | 24 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Work from home | 7.2% | 9.7% | 11% |
| Median household income | $68,000 | $75,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 60% of U.S. communities. Since 1990, 5 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Piqua.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
1 within 15 miles of the center of Piqua
About 3 of every 100 Piqua residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Ohio.
7 places in Piqua on the National Register of Historic Places.
27 notable people were born in Piqua.
City in Ohio, United States
Piqua ( PIK-wə) is a city in Miami County, Ohio, United States, along the Great Miami River. The population was 20,354 at the 2020 census. Located 27 miles (43 km) north of Dayton, it is part of the Dayton metropolitan area.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
3 towns share a border with Piqua.
| Town | OH rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Piqua | #805 | C | A− | D | B− | C− |
| Washington Township | — | — | C+ | — | B− | C |
| Springcreek Township | — | — | B | — | B− | C− |
| Staunton Township | #349 | B+ | C+ | — | A | B |
Washington Township and Springcreek Township have fewer than 2,500 residents, so they get subject grades but no overall grade. Washington Township, Springcreek Township and Staunton Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Piqua with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Piqua grades C overall, better than 31% of U.S. towns and #805 of 987 in Ohio. It grades C− for health, D for safety and B− for schools. Safety 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 A−.
27 notable people were born here, including Dominic Salvatore Gentile and William H. Pitsenbarger.
