Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Public schools that outperform most of Ohio. The town, incorporated in 1923, counts 3,913 residents.
Trash & recyclingThe everyday basics are strong; the price of a home is the catch. On schools it is strong: its public schools beat 98% of Ohio towns on state tests and graduation. Taken together, its subjects give South Russell an A overall, better than 94% of U.S. towns. That places it 62nd of 987 in Ohio. What holds it back is cost of living: the typical home is worth about $433K, 6.1 years of the Cleveland metro’s $71K median household income. Only 37 of Ohio’s 1,718 towns score lower on history. The biggest place to walk is South Russell Village Park, 85 acres with 2.7 miles of trail. 72% of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more here, against 24% in Ohio’s towns and 29% across U.S. towns.
Figures: schools, state test and graduation results · home values, Zillow · incomes, Census ACS, 2020–24 · National Register of Historic Places · OpenStreetMap.
Where South Russell beats most towns.
| School | Grades | Students |
|---|---|---|
| Gurney Elementary School | PK–3 | 478 |
| Widest gap | South Russell | OH |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 5.5% | 14.1% |
Where South Russell’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Ohio), ordered by how far South Russell is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 141 in 1930, 3,972 in 2020. The archive holds 2 old photos and papers going back to 2004 and 5 maps from 1906 on.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around South Russell. Close and well known come first.
Big draw20 mi MuseumRock and Roll Hall of Fame580K visitors a year
Big draw19 mi Stadium & arenaProgressive Field
20 mi Stadium & arenaHuntington Bank Field
11 mi National ParkCuyahoga Valley National Park3.0M visitors a year
6 mi Theme parkSeaWorld Ohio
19 mi Stadium & arenaRocket ArenaRock 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 · SeaWorld Ohio: Jeremy Thompson from Los Angeles, California, CC BY 2.0 · Rocket Arena: Cards84664, CC BY-SA 4.0
Who provides power, water and the rest in South Russell, 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 South Russell.
South Russell has schools in the top 5% of Ohio, gets more snow than nearly all U.S. towns and has less food insecurity than most of Ohio.
There are 3.3 miles of trail across 1 park or preserve. South Russell’s concentration of trails stands at 0.9 miles per square mile.
| South Russell | Ohio towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.9 miles per square mile | 0.2 | 0.4 |
| Conserved land | 9.5% | 3.7% | 4.3% |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. South Russell Village Park | 2.7 mi | 85 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
That grade ranks #6 of the 993 Ohio towns we grade for schools.
Its public schools are run by the Chagrin Falls Exempted Village school district. South Russell’s only public school teaches 478 students.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gurney Elementary SchoolLargest public elementary schoolGrades PK–3 | Grades PK–3 | 478 | A+ |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within OH on state tests and graduation
Its widest gap with Ohio is food insecurity: 5.5% of its 2,997 adults worry about having enough food, against 14.1% statewide. Against the 1,635 U.S. towns with household incomes like South Russell’s, it is healthier than 55%, a smaller edge than it has nationally: part of it comes with its incomes.
In South Russell, 17% of adults get no exercise outside work. CDC measures, 32 in all: South Russell beats Ohio on 22 and trails on 1.
| South Russell | Ohio towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 13% | 18% | 17% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 8.5% | 16% | 14% |
| Frequent physical distress (CDC PLACES) | 10% | 15% | 14% |
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 17% | 28% | 25% |
| What stands out | South Russell | OH |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer adults facing food insecurity | 5.5% | 14.1% |
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 6.2% | 15.3% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 10.9% | 8.7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
5 flood insurance claims have been paid in South Russell since 1994. Storm and flood damage is expected to run lower than in 79% of U.S. communities. FEMA puts just over three quarters of the town’s expected hazard losses down to inland flooding, and 7% to strong winds.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The share of residents in South Russell who live below the poverty line: 2.1%. Employers in South Russell added 88 jobs between 2013 and 2023, to 842. In South Russell, the average trip to work is 28 minutes. Just 5% of the town’s working residents have a job in town.
| South Russell | Ohio towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median household income | $172,000 | $75,000 | $80,000 |
| Work from home | 20% | 9.7% | 11% |
| Below the poverty line | 2.1% | 9.1% | 9.6% |
| Average trip to work | 28 minutes | 24 minutes | 25 minutes |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
The Chardon weather station, 13 miles away, records that 114 inches of snow fall in a normal winter, more than in 98% of U.S. towns.
The midsummer high is 81°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
At 6.1 years of the Cleveland metro’s $71K median household income, the typical home costs more against local pay than in 94% of Ohio towns; that ratio is one input to its C− for cost of living. The median property tax bill is $8,327, against $2,822 across Ohio, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
99% of households own their home in South Russell.
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
8 within 15 miles of the center of South Russell
About 7 of every 100 South Russell residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Ohio.
Village in Ohio, United States
South Russell is a village in Geauga County, Ohio, United States. The population was 3,972 at the 2020 census. It is part of the Cleveland metropolitan area.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
4 towns share a border with South Russell.
| Town | OH rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| South Russell | #62 | A | C− | — | A+ | A |
| Russell Township | #213 | A− | D | — | A+ | A− |
| Bainbridge Township | #153 | A | D | B+ | A | A |
| Bainbridge | #187 | A− | D | — | A | A |
| Newbury Township | #59 | A | B− | — | A+ | B+ |
South Russell, Russell Township, Bainbridge and Newbury Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare South Russell with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Yes, by almost any measure. South Russell grades A overall, better than 94% of U.S. towns and #62 of 987 in Ohio. It grades A for health and A+ for schools. Cost of living is its weak spot, with a C−.
Yes. The typical home is worth about $433,000, 76% above 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 C−.
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