Photo: w_lemay · CC BY-SA 2.0University Heights reports less crime per resident than 67% of U.S. towns
On the record of crimes University Heights’ police reported from 2023 to 2025, it takes B+ for safety: #104 of 296 graded towns in Ohio. What’s more, its two neighbors with figures both record more crime per resident. Each year brought 1.1 violent crimes and 8.0 incidents of property crime for every 1,000 residents (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 University Heights
University Heights reports less crime than every graded town next door
Of the 3 Ohio towns on University Heights’ borders, 2 have a Safety Grade: Cleveland Heights (C+), Beachwood (C+). Shaker Heights reported to the FBI for 2025 but not 2023 or 2024. Neighbors ↓
A college town
University Heights is home to John Carroll University, with 2,614 students taking classes on campus (federal college data), and 16% of residents are enrolled in college (Census). Students who live in town count as residents, so they are part of the per-resident rate. How to read it ↓
Written from the FBI data on this page. Figures are crimes reported to police, not convictions.
What’s behind University Heights’ 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 | University Heights | Rest of Ohio | U.S. (FBI national estimate) |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 1.4 | 4.0 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 1.4 | 3.7 | 3.9 |
| 2024 | 1.3 | 3.9 | 3.6 |
| 2025 | 0.5 | 3.5 | 3.3 |
Violent crimes per 1,000 residents
By type 2023–2025, counts
University Heights’ police reported 43 violent crimes to the FBI over 2023–2025, about 1.1 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 University Heights 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 about 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 | University Heights property | Rest of Ohio property | University Heights violent | Rest of Ohio violent |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2022 | 8.0 | 22.6 | 1.4 | 4.0 |
| 2023 | 5.5 | 21.1 | 1.4 | 3.7 |
| 2024 | 10.8 | 19.8 | 1.3 | 3.9 |
| 2025 | 7.8 | 17.9 | 0.5 | 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.
109 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 102 property, as reported to the FBI by University Heights’ police.
Three people died in crashes on University Heights’s roads in 2019–2023
University Heights had 2 fatal crashes in five years, in which three people died; 1 was a pedestrian.
That is about what 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 University Heights’s size would see about 5 in five years. With numbers this small, a death or two either way changes the picture, so University Heights’s own rate (4.5) 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.
University Heights and its neighbors
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| University Heights | B+ | 1.1 | 8.0 |
| Cleveland Heights | C+ | 2.3 | 11.8 |
| Beachwood | C+ | 0.6 | 20.9 |
| Shaker Heights | — | — | — |
Crimes reported to the FBI per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025. Shaker Heights reported to the FBI for 2025 but not 2023 or 2024.
Ohio towns of a similar size
| Town | Grade | Violent | Property |
|---|---|---|---|
| University Heights | B+ | 1.1 | 8.0 |
| Loveland | A− | 0.9 | 4.5 |
| Amherst | B | 1.2 | 8.8 |
| Clayton | B | 1.1 | 10.8 |
| Englewood | C− | 1.6 | 26.8 |
| East Cleveland | D− | 15.8 | 29.2 |
The five graded Ohio towns closest to University Heights’ population (13,200), 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 University Heights. 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 University Heights’ residents, which raises the per-resident rate.
- Whose population. Rates use the FBI’s population for the department (13,111 in 2025); our figure for University Heights is 13,200 (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 University Heights
Is University Heights, OH safe?
On crimes reported to the FBI in 2023–2025, University Heights reports less crime per resident than 67% of U.S. towns, a B+ Safety Grade and #104 of 296 in Ohio. Its police reported 1.1 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 University Heights?
1.1 violent and 8.0 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 University Heights safer than Cleveland Heights?
Cleveland Heights reports more crime per resident than University Heights: Cleveland Heights grades C+ for safety and University Heights B+. Cleveland Heights’s police reported 2.3 violent and 11.8 property crimes per 1,000 residents a year, 2023–2025.
Who polices University Heights?
University Heights’s own police department, which reports to the FBI as “University Heights”. 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 University Heights.
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.