Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Public schools that outperform most of Ohio. The town, settled in 1810, counts 21,397 residents.
Trash day: look up yoursA well-rated place to live, with prices to match. Where it does best is schools — its public schools beat 97% of Ohio towns on state tests and graduation. It also does well on health: residents are healthier than 96% of U.S. towns on CDC estimates. What counts against it is cost of living: the typical home is worth about $400K, 5.7 years of the Cleveland metro’s $71K median household income. All told, that adds up to an A+ overall and a rank of 17th of 987 in Ohio. That leaves it better than almost every U.S. town. 64% of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more in Rocky River, where Ohio’s towns sit at 24% and U.S. towns at 29%. On walkability, just 31 of Ohio’s 1,718 towns do better.
Figures: schools, state test and graduation results · health, CDC PLACES · home values, Zillow · incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24.
Where Rocky River beats most towns.
| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| Kensington Intermediate Elementary School | 3–5 | 586 |
| Goldwood Primary Elementary School | K–2 | 575 |
| St. Christopher School | PK–8 | 278 |
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Ohio), ordered by how far Rocky River is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 1,329 in 1900, 21,755 in 2020. The archive holds 18 old photos and papers going back to 1897 and 6 maps from 1902 on.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Rocky River. Close and well known come first.
Big draw9 mi MuseumRock and Roll Hall of Fame580K visitors a year
Big draw9 mi Stadium & arenaProgressive Field
8 mi Stadium & arenaHuntington Bank Field
9 mi Stadium & arenaRocket Arena
11 mi National ParkCuyahoga Valley National Park3.0M visitors a year
13 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 · Rocket Arena: Cards84664, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Cuyahoga Valley National Park: Unknown, Public domain · Cleveland Museum of Art: zenbikescience, CC BY 2.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Rocky River, 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 Rocky River.
Rocky River has schools in the top 5% of Ohio, has less food insecurity than most of Ohio and sees little violent crime.
That grade ranks #15 of the 993 Ohio towns we grade for schools. It comes with a D for cost of living: the typical home is worth about $400K.
Its public schools are run by the Rocky River City school district. Below: Three of its 10 schools, each with why it was picked. 3 public schools serve Rocky River, with 1,734 students in all.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Kensington Intermediate Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades 3–5 | Grades 3–5 | 586 | A+ |
| Rocky River High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 792 | A+ |
| Rocky River Middle SchoolTop results in townGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 573 | A+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within OH on state tests and graduation
The median property tax bill is $6,421, against $2,822 across Ohio, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
Zillow values the typical Rocky River home at about $400,000, up 4.9% in a year, 62% above the Ohio typical home. A home in Rocky River typically sold within 16 days of listing. 38% of the homes sold in Rocky River went for more than their asking price.
| Rocky River | Ohio towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 70% | 77% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,175 a month | $943 a month | $1,185 a month |
Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Its widest gap with Ohio is food insecurity: 6.3% of its 17,360 adults worry about having enough food, against 14.1% statewide.
Rocky River: nearly one in ten adults smoke cigarettes. CDC measures, 32 in all: Rocky River beats Ohio on 22 and trails on 2.
| Rocky River | Ohio towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 18% | 17% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 28% | 25% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 9.1% | 16% | 14% |
| Obesity (CDC PLACES) | 28% | 38% | 35% |
| What stands out | Rocky River | OH |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 6.3% | 14.1% |
| Fewer adults facing housing insecurity | 5.6% | 11.3% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 11% | 8.7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
2.7 miles of trail in 10 parks and preserves. The biggest park or preserve is Rocky River Reservation, at 55 acres. The trail network density locally is 0.5 miles per square mile.
| Rocky River | Ohio towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 8.4% | 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. Tri City Park | 0.3 mi | 15 |
| 2. Rocky River Reservation | 0.1 mi | 55 |
| 3. Elmwood Park | 0.2 mi | 19 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Violent crime is rare: 7 reported in 2025, 0.3 per 1,000 residents.
The level of violent crime for Rocky River comes to 0.3 per 1,000 residents.
| Rocky River | Ohio towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0.3 per 1,000 residents | 1.2 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 5.7 per 1,000 residents | 9.4 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Since 1979, Rocky River has seen 34 flood insurance claims paid out. Expected damage from storms and floods is lower here than in 92% of U.S. communities. Of the losses FEMA expects locally, 59% come from inland flooding and 20% from cold waves. Federal disaster aid has reached households in Rocky River after 4 declared disasters, most recently in 2012.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
July afternoons reach 81°, January nights drop to 23° and about 64 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Only nearly a tenth of working residents stay in Rocky River for work; the rest commute out. Among workers here, 19% work remotely from home. Jobs based locally fell to 6,894 in 2023, 497 fewer than in 2013. The town’s typical household income is $94,000.
| Rocky River | Ohio towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 19% | 9.7% | 11% |
| Below the poverty line | 5.4% | 9.1% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $94,000 | $75,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 22 minutes | 24 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
9 within 15 miles of the center of Rocky River
About 5 of every 100 Rocky River residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Ohio.
7 notable people were born in Rocky River.
City in Ohio, United States
Rocky River is a city in western Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States. A suburb of Cleveland, it is located along the shore of Lake Erie approximately 9 miles (14 km) west of downtown Cleveland. The city is named for the Rocky River that forms its eastern border. The population was 21,755 according to the 2020 census data results.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
4 towns share a border with Rocky River.
Fairview Park next door grades lower for schools (B+ to Rocky River’s A+) and higher for cost of living (C to D).
| Town | OH rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Rocky River | #17 | A+ | D | A | A+ | A+ |
| Lakewood | #262 | A− | C− | B− | B+ | A |
| Fairview Park | #238 | A− | C | — | B+ | A |
| Bay Village | #2 | A+ | C+ | A | A+ | A+ |
| Westlake | #116 | A | D | — | A | A |
Fairview Park and Westlake report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Rocky River with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Yes, by almost any measure. Rocky River grades A+ overall, among the top 2% of U.S. towns and #17 of 987 in Ohio. It grades A+ for health, A for safety and A+ for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a D.
Yes. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades D.
7 notable people were born here, including Michael Chernus and Carter Camper.
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