Is Salem Heights a good place to live?
A town without an obvious weak point. Its best grade is for schools (A) — its schools outperform 93% of the state's. It is strong on health as well: CDC estimates put its residents' health ahead of 90% of the country. Homes run about $245K for a typical one, 3 times the Cincinnati metro’s $81K median household income. The overall grade comes out at A+, better than almost every U.S. town. That places it 3rd of 987 in Ohio. On walkability, just 65 of Ohio’s 1,718 towns do better. The median household earns $94K.
Figures: schools, state test and graduation results · health, CDC PLACES · home values, Zillow · incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24.
How Salem Heights grades
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Ohio), ordered by how far Salem Heights is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
What makes Salem Heights stand out
Where Salem Heights beats most towns.
99% of working residents leave Salem Heights for work
Where Salem Heights’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
The data
Ordered by what stands out in Salem Heights.
Salem Heights has less food insecurity than most of Ohio and sends most of its workers to Cincinnati and beyond.
Salem Heights stands out in Ohio and nationally, with fewer of its adults who feel lonely
Its widest gap with Ohio is food insecurity: 7.1% of its 2,923 adults worry about having enough food, against 14.1% statewide.
In Salem Heights, 18% of adults get no exercise outside work, against 28% in Ohio’s towns and 25% across U.S. towns. For adults here, the share who report frequent physical distress is 11%. Of 32 CDC measures, Salem Heights beats the Ohio average on 23 and trails it on 1.
| Salem Heights | Ohio towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 11% | 15% | 14% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 28% | 25% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 19% | 17% | 16% |
| Feel lonely (CDC PLACES) | 29% | 34% | 33% |
| What stands out | Salem Heights | OH |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 7.1% | 14.1% |
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 8.7% | 15.3% |
| More binge drinkers | 19.4% | 16.6% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The biggest natural risk in Salem Heights is inland flooding, at a low overall level
On expected storm and flood damage, Salem Heights sits below 80% of U.S. communities. 49% of the town’s expected losses from natural hazards come from inland flooding, followed by tornadoes at 23%. Flood insurance has paid out on 4 claims locally since 1978.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
About one in three of Salem Heights’ working residents commute to Cincinnati
Salem Heights has 269 jobs for its 1,775 working residents: even if every job went to a resident, most would still commute out. Jobs based here fell from 370 in 2013 to 269.
Salem Heights: 0.9% of working residents work locally. Since 2013, Salem Heights has lost 101 jobs, to 269 in 2023. The average commute for Salem Heights comes to 21 minutes, where Ohio’s towns sit at 24 minutes and U.S. towns at 25 minutes. The top destinations are Cincinnati (33%), Blue Ash (4%) and Forestville (4%).
| Salem Heights | Ohio towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Working residents who work in town | 0.9% | 6.9% | 8% |
| Average trip to work | 21 minutes | 24 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Median household income | $94,000 | $75,000 | $80,000 |
| Below the poverty line | 7.3% | 9.1% | 9.6% |
Where working residents work
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
Salem Heights has four seasons and pleasant summers
The July high here is 87°F.
Typical low → high °F
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Homes in Salem Heights sell for about $297K
93% of households live in a home they own in Salem Heights.
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Everything we know about Salem Heights
Paycor Stadium and 53 more within 40 miles
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Salem Heights. Close and well known come first.
7 mi Stadium & arenaPaycor Stadium
Big draw20 mi Theme parkKings Island3.2M visitors a year
7 mi Stadium & arenaGreat American Ball Park
Big draw33 mi Theme parkArk Encounter
8 mi Stadium & arenaNippert Stadium
8 mi Stadium & arenaTQL StadiumPhoto credits
Paycor Stadium: JonRidinger, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Kings Island: Eli Duke from Portland, OR, USA, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Great American Ball Park: Eric Kilby profile at Flickr website, CC BY-SA 2.0 · Ark Encounter: OlinEJ, CC0 · Nippert Stadium: Ben Levin, CC BY-SA 4.0 · TQL Stadium: Cornfield948, CC BY-SA 3.0
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Moving to Salem Heights: who provides what
Salem Heights is unincorporated, so Hamilton County and regional agencies provide most services.
EPA SDWIS (Oct 9, 2026) · HIFLD + EIA-861 2025 · Census 2020 ZCTAs · NCES 2024–25 · registration: vote.gov, updated Aug 3, 2026.
Colleges nearby
16 within 15 miles of the center of Salem Heights
About 5 of every 100 Salem Heights residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Ohio.
About Salem Heights
Census-designated place in Ohio, United States
Salem Heights is a census-designated place (CDP) in Anderson Township, Hamilton County, Ohio, United States, adjacent to the city of Cincinnati. The population of Salem Heights was 3,862 at the 2020 census.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
- Area
- 1.6 sq mi
- Elevation
- 725 ft
Salem Heights’s neighbors
4 towns share a border with Salem Heights.
At #3 in OH, it grades higher overall than all 4 graded towns on its borders; Fruit Hill (A+) comes closest.
| Town | OH rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Salem Heights | #3 | A+ | B | — | A | A |
| Anderson Township | #94 | A | C− | — | A | A− |
| Cincinnati | #957 | D | C+ | D− | C | C |
| Fruit Hill | #51 | A+ | C | — | A | A |
| Forestville | #112 | A | D | — | A | A |
Salem Heights, Anderson Township, Fruit Hill and Forestville report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Salem Heights with a neighbor →
Questions about Salem Heights
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Is Salem Heights, OH a good place to live?
Yes, by almost any measure. Salem Heights grades A+ overall, among the top 2% of U.S. towns and #3 of 987 in Ohio. It grades A for health and A for schools.
Is Salem Heights, OH expensive?
The typical home is worth about $245,000, 0% below the Ohio typical home. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades B.
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