Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Shaker Heights grades B+ overall, ranked 331st of 987 in Ohio. It is easier to get around on foot or by transit than 93% of U.S. towns. It is healthier than 92% of U.S. towns and the median household earns $104K. The trade-off is money: homes are expensive, about $352K for a typical one and 5 times the Cleveland metro’s $71K median household income. 69% of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more in Shaker Heights, above both Ohio’s towns (24%) and U.S. towns (29%). Only 104 of Ohio’s 1,718 towns score higher on the outdoors. Shaker Heights has 6 places on the National Register of Historic Places, among them Tower East and Shaker Village Historic District (Boundary Increase).
Where Shaker Heights beats most towns.
| Widest gap | Shaker Heights | OH |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 8.4% | 15.3% |
9.6% of the town is conserved land, across 13 parks and preserves.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Ohio), ordered by how far Shaker Heights is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 1,616 in 1920, 29,439 in 2020. The archive holds 6 old photos and papers going back to 1906 and 5 maps from 1903 on.
6 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Shaker Heights. Close and well known come first.
Big draw8 mi MuseumRock and Roll Hall of Fame580K visitors a year
Big draw7 mi Stadium & arenaProgressive Field
8 mi Stadium & arenaHuntington Bank Field
6 mi National ParkCuyahoga Valley National Park3.0M visitors a year
7 mi Stadium & arenaRocket Arena
4 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 · Cuyahoga Valley National Park: Unknown, Public domain · Rocket Arena: Cards84664, CC BY-SA 4.0 · Cleveland Museum of Art: zenbikescience, CC BY 2.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in Shaker Heights, 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 Shaker Heights.
Shaker Heights has a longer frost-free season than almost anywhere else in Ohio, trades workers with Cleveland and other neighbors and has less tooth loss than most of Ohio.
The trail density in Shaker Heights is 1.2 miles per square mile. In 13 parks and preserves, walkers have 7.7 miles of trail. The biggest place to walk is Shaker Lakes Park, 81 acres with 2.8 miles of trail.
| Shaker Heights | Ohio towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 1.2 miles per square mile | 0.2 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 9.6% | 3.7% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Shaker Lakes Park | 2.8 mi | 81 |
| 2. Horseshoe Lake Park | 0.7 mi | 39 |
| 3. Southerly Park | 0.6 mi | 25 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Below: Three of its 11 schools, each with why it was picked. The Shaker Heights City school district runs its public schools. Also worth knowing: 4 public schools serve Shaker Heights, with 1,651 students in all.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Shaker Hts Middle SchoolLargest public middle schoolGrades 6–8 | Grades 6–8 | 939 | B− |
| Shaker Hts High SchoolLargest public high schoolGrades 9–12 | Grades 9–12 | 1,418 | B− |
| Fernway Elementary SchoolTop results in townGrades K–5 | Grades K–5 | 326 | A |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within OH on state tests and graduation
Its widest gap with Ohio is tooth loss: 8.4% of those 65+ have lost all their teeth, against 15.3% statewide.
Among adults in Shaker Heights, 21% have been diagnosed with depression. In Shaker Heights, 8.5% of adults smoke cigarettes.
| Shaker Heights | Ohio towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 18% | 17% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 9.9% | 15% | 14% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 8.5% | 16% | 14% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 28% | 25% |
| What stands out | Shaker Heights | OH |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 8.4% | 15.3% |
| Fewer uninsured adults | 4.4% | 8% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
The median property tax bill is $9,168, against $2,822 across Ohio, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
The typical Shaker Heights home is worth about $352,000, up 2.4% in a year, 43% above the Ohio typical home. For households locally, the share who live in a home they own is 60%. Homes sold in Shaker Heights spent a median 21 days on the market.
| Shaker Heights | Ohio towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 60% | 77% | 73% |
| Renters paying 30%+ of income on rent | 38% | 42% | 48% |
| Median rent | $1,168 a month | $943 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
The Cleveland weather station, 17 miles away, records that the frost-free season runs about 198 days, the highest of 2,573 Ohio places with climate records.
Shaker Heights’ July high is 82°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Shaker Heights has about as many jobs (11,973) as working residents, but only 941 people both live and work here. Jobs based here grew from 6,354 in 2013 to 11,973.
The share of workers in Shaker Heights who do their job from home: 23%. Most working residents leave Shaker Heights for work: only 8% work in town. Jobs based in Shaker Heights grew to 11,973 in 2023, 5,619 more than in 2013. The average trip to work for Shaker Heights comes to 22 minutes.
| Shaker Heights | Ohio towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 23% | 9.7% | 11% |
| Median household income | $104,000 | $75,000 | $80,000 |
| Average trip to work | 22 minutes | 24 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
For Shaker Heights, the property offense rate is 4.6 per 1,000 residents. Shaker Heights's reported crime rate is well below Ohio's. Most reported incidents are property crimes, mainly thefts. 4 violent crimes were reported in 2025.
| Shaker Heights | Ohio towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 0.1 per 1,000 residents | 1.2 | 1.6 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2025) | 4.6 per 1,000 residents | 9.4 | 9.9 |
FBI crime data, 2025 · crimes reported to police
Federal disaster aid has reached households in Shaker Heights after 3 declared disasters, most recently in 2006. Expected damage from storms and floods is lower here than in 58% of U.S. communities. Of the losses FEMA expects here, 69% come from inland flooding and 14% from cold waves. Since 1978, 26 flood insurance claims have been paid out locally.
FEMA disaster declarations and aid · FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
12 within 15 miles of the center of Shaker Heights
About 5 of every 100 Shaker Heights residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Ohio.
6 places in Shaker Heights on the National Register of Historic Places.
16 notable people were born in Shaker Heights.
City in Ohio, United States
Shaker Heights is a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, United States. The population was 29,439 at the 2020 census. Shaker Heights is an inner-ring streetcar suburb of Cleveland, abutting the eastern edge of the city's limits. It is a planned community developed by the Van Sweringen brothers, railroad moguls who envisioned the community as a suburban retreat from the industrial inner city of Cleveland.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
5 towns share a border with Shaker Heights.
Cleveland next door grades lower for schools (C− to Shaker Heights’s B) and higher for cost of living (B+ to D).
| Town | OH rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shaker Heights | #331 | B+ | D | — | B | A |
| Cleveland | #978 | D | B+ | D− | C− | D |
| Cleveland Heights | #689 | C+ | C− | C+ | C+ | A− |
| Beachwood | #232 | A− | D− | C+ | A | A+ |
| Highland Hills | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| University Heights | #438 | B | D | B+ | C+ | A |
Shaker Heights reports no FBI crime data of its own. Highland Hills isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Shaker Heights with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
For most people who can afford it, yes. Shaker Heights grades B+ overall, better than 71% of U.S. towns and #331 of 987 in Ohio. It grades A for health and B 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.
16 notable people were born here, including Molly Shannon and Roger Penske.
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