Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Van Wert gives you more for your money than most places: a typical home costs about $184K, 2.7 years of the Van Wert area’s $68K median household income. It grades C+ overall, ranked 659th of 987 in Ohio. The low prices come with trade-offs. CDC estimates put its residents' health behind 80% of the country, and its crime rate is higher than 80% of U.S. towns, with 26 violent crimes reported to the FBI in 2024. On the plus side, 8% of its land is conserved. History is its standout character grade: an A+, better than 96% of U.S. towns, with 5 places on the National Register. 39% of working residents work locally in Van Wert, against 6.8% in Ohio’s towns and 8% across U.S. towns. On history, just 74 of Ohio’s 1,718 towns do better. The biggest park or preserve is Van Wert County Fairgrounds, at 83 acres.
Where Van Wert beats most towns.
Van Wert County Courthouse
Census counts: 268 in 1850, 11,092 in 2020. The archive holds 18 old photos and papers going back to 1868 and 5 maps from 1914 on.
5 places on the National Register of Historic Places.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Ohio), ordered by how far Van Wert is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Who provides power, water and the rest in Van Wert, 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 Van Wert.
Van Wert is healthier than towns with similar incomes, has seen reported crime fall by a third or more and has commutes shorter than most of Ohio.
| Van Wert | Ohio towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Conserved land | 8.2% | 3.7% | 4.3% |
| Miles of trail per square mile | 0.3 miles per square mile | 0.2 | 0.4 |
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. Smiley Park | 0.5 mi | 55 |
| 2. Van Wert County Fairgrounds | — | 83 |
| 3. Hiestand Park | — | 17 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Against the 7,446 U.S. towns with household incomes like Van Wert’s, it is less healthy than 63%, so its C− isn’t only a matter of income.
32% of adults get no exercise outside work in Van Wert. Van Wert beats the Ohio average on 0 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 7. 40% of adults have high blood pressure in Van Wert.
| Van Wert | Ohio towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Get no exercise (CDC PLACES) | 32% | 28% | 25% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 40% | 38% | 35% |
| Smoke cigarettes (CDC PLACES) | 18% | 16% | 14% |
| Diabetes (CDC PLACES) | 14% | 13% | 12% |
| What stands out | Van Wert | OH |
|---|---|---|
| More adults with COPD | 9.9% | 8% |
| More older adults who have lost all their teeth | 18.9% | 15.3% |
| More adults who get no exercise | 31.9% | 26.9% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
Reported crimes fell from 330 to 195 over the last three FBI years, a drop beyond ordinary year-to-year swings.
Van Wert’s property crime rate is 32.5 per 1,000 residents. Van Wert reports more crime per resident than most U.S. towns we grade: about 80% report less. Van Wert’s violent crime rate is 2.4 per 1,000 residents.
| Van Wert | Ohio towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2024) | 32.5 per 1,000 residents | 10.6 | 11.5 |
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2024) | 2.4 per 1,000 residents | 1.2 | 1.7 |
FBI crime data, 2024 · crimes reported to police
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 77% of U.S. communities. Since 1978, 12 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Van Wert.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The median property tax bill is $1,231, against $2,822 across Ohio, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
The median rent in Van Wert is $765 a month. The typical Van Wert home is worth about $184,000, up 3.7% in a year, 25% below the Ohio typical home.
| Van Wert | Ohio towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Median rent | $765 a month | $944 a month | $1,185 a month |
| Households that own their home | 71% | 77% | 73% |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Van Wert has chilly winters and warm summers. July afternoons reach 84°, January nights drop to 19° and about 17 inches of snow falls in a winter.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
The average commute for its 5,299 working residents takes 15.9 minutes, against 23.4 across Ohio.
About one in 3 of Van Wert’s working residents works in town. 14% of Van Wert residents live below the poverty line. Since 2013, Van Wert has added 630 jobs, to 7,439 in 2023.
| Van Wert | Ohio towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Average trip to work | 16 minutes | 24 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 14% | 9.1% | 9.6% |
| Median household income | $55,000 | $75,000 | $80,000 |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
None within 15 miles of Van Wert; the nearest are
About 3 of every 100 Van Wert residents are enrolled in college, against 6 across Ohio.
5 places in Van Wert on the National Register of Historic Places.
17 notable people were born in Van Wert.
City in Ohio, United States
Van Wert is a city in Van Wert County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. It is located in northwestern Ohio approximately 77 miles (124 km) southwest of Toledo and 34 miles (55 km) southeast of Fort Wayne, Indiana. The population was 11,092 at the 2020 census. It is the principal city of the Van Wert micropolitan area, which is included in the Lima–Van Wert–Wapakoneta combined statistical area. Van Wert is named for Isaac Van Wart, one of the captors of Major John André in the American Revolutionary War. A center of peony cultivation, Van Wert has hosted the annual Van Wert Peony Festival on and off since 1902. Van Wert is home to the first county library in the United States, the B…
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
2 towns share a border with Van Wert.
| Town | OH rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Van Wert | #659 | C+ | A+ | C− | B | C− |
| Pleasant Township | #351 | B+ | A+ | — | B | C |
| Ridge Township | #125 | A | A | — | A− | C |
Pleasant Township and Ridge Township report no FBI crime data of their own. Compare Van Wert with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Van Wert grades C+ overall, better than 44% of U.S. towns and #659 of 987 in Ohio. It grades C− for health, C− for safety and B for schools. Health is its weak spot, with a C−.
Not for the area. Cost of living, which also weighs rents, property taxes and how many households pay 30% or more of their income for housing, grades A+.
17 notable people were born here, including Kory Lichtensteiger and John Randolph Spears.
