Photo: Ken Winters, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers · Public domainPer resident, Rocky River records less violent crime than 90% of U.S. towns
One of the 2 towns next door with figures records less crime per resident. Rocky River’s Safety Grade is A, on crimes its police reported from 2023 to 2025: #37 of 296 graded towns in Ohio. What’s more, recorded violent crime ran at 0.3 per 1,000 residents a year and property crime at 4.9, against 3.7 and 19.6 in the rest of Ohio.
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. “Rest of OH” is every other Ohio city and town in the FBI’s tables; the U.S. figure is the FBI’s national estimate as published, averaged over the three years. The FBI publishes no national homicide or robbery rate in our data, so those compare with all U.S. cities and towns in its tables.
What stands out about safety in Rocky River
1 of the 2 graded towns next door reports less crime
Of the 4 Ohio towns on Rocky River’s borders, 2 have a Safety Grade: Bay Village (A), Lakewood (B−). Fairview Park reported to the FBI for 2024 and 2025 but not 2023. Westlake reported to the FBI for 2024 but not 2023 or 2025. Neighbors ↓
Written from the FBI data on this page. Figures are crimes reported to police, not convictions.
What’s behind Rocky River’s grade
Property crimes plus four times violent crimes reported to the FBI per resident, 2023–2025, on a national curve. Both violent and property crime are lower than in most U.S. towns; violent crime is the stronger of the two.
Violent crime, by year and by type
Show as a table
| Year | Rocky River | Rest of Ohio | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 0.8 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 0.5 | 3.8 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 0.2 | 3.9 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 0.3 | 3.5 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
Rocky River’s police reported 22 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 0.3 per 1,000 residents a year, against 3.7 in the rest of Ohio and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
Crime in Rocky River per 1,000 residents
Violent crime per 1,000 residents, 2025
Property crime per 1,000 residents, 2025
Crimes reported to police in 2025 per resident; one person can be the victim of more than one, and some reports involve visitors.
And fewer than 1 violent crime, in 2025. Below are 1,000 dots, one per resident; each colored dot is one reported crime.
Reported crime is steady
Show as a table
| Year | Rocky River property | Rest of Ohio property | Rocky River violent | Rest of Ohio violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 7.1 | 22.6 | 0.8 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 4.9 | 21.1 | 0.5 | 3.8 |
| 2024 | 4.2 | 19.9 | 0.2 | 3.9 |
| 2025 | 5.7 | 17.9 | 0.3 | 3.5 |
Crimes per 1,000 residents
Reported crime per resident was steady from 2023 to 2025: the change is within ordinary year-to-year swings. Per 1,000 residents, 2022–2025, against the rest of Ohio.
128 crimes reported in 2025
2025 offenses reported
Offenses reported to police, not convictions. FBI Uniform Crime Reporting. The last row is counted outside the property total.
7 violent and 121 property, as reported to the FBI by Rocky River’s police.
No one died in a crash on Rocky River’s roads in 2019–2023
That is fewer than is typical for Ohio towns of 5,000–25,000 people: at their median rate (6.9 deaths per 100,000 residents a year), a town of Rocky River’s size would see about 7 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so Rocky River’s own rate (0.0) is context, not a ranking.
Deaths are counted where the crash happened, not where the people lived: a highway through town adds through-traffic deaths, and residents’ own risk on roads elsewhere isn’t here. Town rates sit below state and U.S. rates because a third of fatal crashes happen outside any town. Road safety is described here and is not part of the Safety Grade. Source: NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), 2019–2023.
Rocky River and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rocky River | A | 0.3 | 4.9 |
| Lakewood | B− | 1.2 | 12.1 |
| Fairview Park | — | — | — |
| Bay Village | A | 0.3 | 3.3 |
| Westlake | — | — | — |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Fairview Park reported to the FBI for 2024 and 2025 but not 2023. Westlake reported to the FBI for 2024 but not 2023 or 2025.
Ohio towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| Rocky River | A | 0.3 | 4.9 |
| Lebanon | B | 1.1 | 10.6 |
| South Euclid | C+ | 1.8 | 17.0 |
| Alliance | C− | 3.2 | 20.5 |
| Piqua | D | 4.1 | 27.5 |
| Chillicothe | D | 2.1 | 43.5 |
The five graded Ohio towns closest to Rocky River’s population (21,397), by grade.
How reported crime compares across the town line. Tap a town to see its safety page.
What this data can and can’t tell you
- It’s reported crime. Only incidents reported to and recorded by police appear here. Many crimes are never reported to police.
- One number for all of Rocky River. A town-wide rate doesn’t show where incidents happen, and that can differ a lot from one part of town to another.
- Visitors count too. Incidents involving people who work, shop or visit are counted against Rocky River’s residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (21,397 in 2025); our figure for Rocky River is 21,397 (2025 Census estimate).
- Gaps are real gaps. A missing year means the department didn’t report a full year, not that nothing happened.
How the grade is calculated, for every town: How TownRatings grades safety →
Questions about safety in Rocky River
Is Rocky River, OH safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, Rocky River reports less crime per resident than 87% of U.S. towns, an A Safety Grade and #37 of 296 in Ohio. Its police reported 0.3 violent crimes per 1,000 residents a year, against 3.7 in the rest of Ohio and the FBI’s national estimate of 3.6.
What is the crime rate in Rocky River?
0.3 violent and 4.9 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025, as reported to the FBI. The rest of Ohio reports 3.7 and 19.6; the FBI’s national estimate is 3.6 and 17.6.
Is Rocky River safer than Lakewood?
Lakewood reports more crime per resident than Rocky River: Lakewood grades B− for safety and Rocky River A. Lakewood’s police reported 1.2 violent and 12.1 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices Rocky River?
Rocky River’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “Rocky River”. Its figures are the ones on this page.
Heads-up board
Your answer becomes a post in Town Square.
Please don’t name or describe individuals. In an emergency, call 911.
Neighbors looking out for each other in Rocky River.
Crime: FBI Uniform Crime Reporting Program, Crime Data Explorer: offenses known to law enforcement by city, 2025, and state and national rates. Counts are crimes reported to police, not convictions. The Safety Grade is our own summary of that data, not an official rating. Road deaths: NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System (FARS), 2019–2023. This isn’t an official statement of public safety. In an emergency, call 911.