Each edition grades its towns against each other only.
Willoughby Hills grades C overall, ranked 771st of 987 in Ohio, with clear strengths and some subjects that lag. It has 21 miles of trail and natural-hazard risk is low. On the other side, homes are expensive, about $364K for a typical one and 5.2 times the Cleveland metro’s $71K median household income. Willoughby Hills’ trail density is 1.9 miles per square mile, where Ohio’s towns sit at 0.2 and U.S. towns at 0.4. On civic life, just 20 of Ohio’s 1,560 towns do worse. North Chagrin Reservation, at 804 acres with 13.1 miles of trail, is the biggest park or preserve.
Where Willoughby Hills beats most towns.
18.7% of the town is conserved land, across 8 parks and preserves.
Each subject compared with towns across the country (schools within Ohio), ordered by how far Willoughby Hills is from typical.
How TownRatings grades towns →
Census counts: 4,241 in 1960, 10,019 in 2020. The archive holds 2 old photos and papers going back to 1912 and 6 maps from 1905 on.
1 place on the National Register of Historic Places.
Museums, parks, gardens and other places to visit around Willoughby Hills. Close and well known come first.
Big draw15 mi MuseumRock and Roll Hall of Fame580K visitors a year
Big draw14 mi Stadium & arenaProgressive Field
15 mi Stadium & arenaHuntington Bank Field
14 mi National ParkCuyahoga Valley National Park3.0M visitors a year
15 mi Stadium & arenaRocket Arena
11 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 Willoughby Hills, 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 Willoughby Hills.
Willoughby Hills gets more snow than nearly all U.S. towns and is healthier than towns with similar incomes, but it has a long record of flood insurance claims.
| Biggest places to walk | Trails | Acres |
|---|---|---|
| 1. North Chagrin Reservation | 13.1 mi | 804 |
| 2. Hach-Otis State Nature Preserve | 1.4 mi | 127 |
| 3. Pleasant Valley Park | 0.8 mi | 122 |
Trails & parks © OpenStreetMap contributors · Conserved land: USGS PAD-US
Its public schools are run by the Willoughby-Eastlake City school district. Its two schools are below.
| School | Level | Students | Letter |
|---|---|---|---|
| School of InnovationLargest public middle schoolGrades 3–8 | Grades 3–8 | 448 | A+ |
| Cornerstone Christian Academy PrivateLargest high schoolGrades PK–12 | Grades PK–12 | 483 | – |
NCES · EDFacts · graded within OH on state tests and graduation
The median property tax bill is $5,574, against $2,822 across Ohio, another input to its cost-of-living grade.
42% of households own their home in Willoughby Hills, below both the Ohio town median (77%) and the median of U.S. towns (73%). Typical home values rose 4.6% in the year to September 2026.
| Willoughby Hills | Ohio towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Households that own their home | 42% | 77% | 73% |
| Median rent | $1,116 a month | $943 a month | $1,185 a month |
Census ACS, 2020–24 · Zillow Home Value Index · Redfin Data Center
Most working residents leave Willoughby Hills for work: only 4% work in town. 21% of Willoughby Hills workers work from home. Jobs based in Willoughby Hills grew to 2,287 in 2023, 393 more than in 2013.
| Willoughby Hills | Ohio towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Work from home | 21% | 9.7% | 11% |
| Average trip to work | 21 minutes | 24 minutes | 25 minutes |
| Below the poverty line | 5.6% | 9.1% | 9.6% |
| Working residents who work in town | 3.6% | 6.9% | 8% |
Census LEHD 2023 · ACS
102 flood insurance claims have been filed here, and 12 properties have flooded more than once.
Expected storm and flood damage is lower than in 78% of U.S. communities. Since 1978, 102 flood insurance claims have been paid out in Willoughby Hills.
FEMA flood insurance claims · FEMA National Risk Index · OpenFEMA
The Chardon weather station, 12 miles away, records that 114 inches of snow fall in a normal winter, more than in 98% of U.S. towns.
Willoughby Hills has chilly, snowy winters and pleasant summers. Willoughby Hills’ July high is 82°F.
NOAA U.S. Climate Normals, 1991–2020
Only 42.2% of households own their home, against 67.2% across Ohio.
Children under 18 are 18% of residents (22% statewide). 41% of adults 25 and older hold a bachelor’s degree or more in Willoughby Hills.
| Willoughby Hills | Ohio towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bachelor’s degree or more, 25+ | 41% | 24% | 29% |
| Under 18 | 17% | 22% | 22% |
| Aged 65 or older | 20% | 20% | 18% |
55% women, 45% men
About 83 men for every 100 women (the survey’s margin: ±2.7 points). Across Ohio, 50.7% of residents are women.
| Willoughby Hills | OH | U.S. | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Under 10 | 8.6% | 11.7% | 11.6% |
| 10 to 17 | 8.9% | 10.3% | 10.3% |
| 18 to 24 | 9.6% | 8.9% | 9.1% |
| 25 to 34 | 13% | 13.2% | 13.7% |
| 35 to 44 | 17.2% | 12.5% | 13.2% |
| 45 to 54 | 9.5% | 12% | 12.2% |
| 55 to 64 | 13.3% | 13.2% | 12.7% |
| 65 to 74 | 11.1% | 10.9% | 10.2% |
| 75 and older | 8.8% | 7.3% | 7% |
| No diploma | 5.4% | 8.2% | 10.4% |
| High school | 24% | 32.1% | 26% |
| Some college | 19.6% | 19.3% | 19.1% |
| Associate’s | 9.6% | 9% | 8.8% |
| Bachelor’s | 26.3% | 19.3% | 21.6% |
| Graduate | 15% | 12.2% | 14.1% |
U.S. Census Bureau · ACS 2020-2024 5-year estimates
Willoughby Hills's reported crime rate is below Ohio's. Most reported incidents are property crimes, mainly thefts. 11 violent crimes were reported in 2023.
| Willoughby Hills | Ohio towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Violent crimes per 1,000 (2023) | 1.1 per 1,000 residents | 1.4 | 1.8 |
| Property crimes per 1,000 (2023) | 10.5 per 1,000 residents | 11.7 | 13.1 |
FBI crime data, 2023 · crimes reported to police
Against the 10,235 U.S. towns with household incomes like Willoughby Hills’s, it is healthier than 72%, so its B− isn’t only a matter of income. Its widest gap with Ohio is tooth loss: 9% of those 65+ have lost all their teeth, against 15.3% statewide.
Willoughby Hills beats the Ohio average on 5 of 32 CDC measures and trails it on 1.
| Willoughby Hills | Ohio towns | U.S. towns | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Yearly checkup (CDC PLACES) | 83% | 80% | 79% |
| Binge drink (CDC PLACES) | 15% | 17% | 16% |
| Frequent mental distress (CDC PLACES) | 16% | 18% | 17% |
| High blood pressure (CDC PLACES) | 39% | 38% | 35% |
| What stands out | Willoughby Hills | OH |
|---|---|---|
| Fewer older adults who have lost all their teeth | 9% | 15.3% |
| Fewer uninsured adults | 6.5% | 8% |
| More adults who have had cancer | 9.8% | 8.7% |
CDC PLACES 2025 · modeled estimates for adults · CMS · HRSA
12 within 15 miles of the center of Willoughby Hills
About 5 of every 100 Willoughby Hills residents are enrolled in college, about the same as Ohio.
Where Willoughby Hills’s working residents go each day. Line width shows the share.
Census LEHD 2023
City in Ohio, United States
Willoughby Hills is a city in Lake County, Ohio, United States, along the Chagrin River. The population was 10,019 at the 2020 census. A suburb of Cleveland, it is part of the Cleveland metropolitan area.
From Wikipedia, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0 · facts via Wikidata (CC0)
8 towns share a border with Willoughby Hills.
Richmond Heights next door grades lower for schools (C− to Willoughby Hills’s B−) and higher for cost of living (C to D).
| Town | OH rank | Overall | Cost | Safety | Schools | Health |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Willoughby Hills | #771 | C | D | — | B− | B− |
| Waite Hill | — | — | — | — | — | — |
| Willoughby | #491 | B | C | B | B− | B |
| Wickliffe | #200 | A− | B− | B+ | B | B− |
| Mayfield | #302 | B+ | D | — | A− | A |
| Kirtland | #56 | A+ | C+ | A+ | A | A− |
| Gates Mills | — | — | D | — | A− | A |
| Richmond Heights | #792 | C | C | B | C− | B− |
Gates Mills has fewer than 2,500 residents, so it gets subject grades but no overall grade. Willoughby Hills, Mayfield and Gates Mills report no FBI crime data of their own. Waite Hill isn’t graded (fewer than 1,000 residents, or not enough data). Compare Willoughby Hills with a neighbor →
Short answers, built from the data on this page.
Willoughby Hills grades C overall, better than 35% of U.S. towns and #771 of 987 in Ohio. It grades B− 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.
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