Three numbers set the terms here. Crime is the dominant one: Cincinnati sits in the 3rd percentile of the 13,216 jurisdictions SafeNest grades, with violent crime 123% above the national rate and property crime 96% above it, and the 2024 direction is worsening, up 16.3% year over year. Schools cut both ways. The 4.6/10 average across 173 rated schools sits below the midpoint of the scale, yet Sycamore High School scores 10.0/10, so the citywide figure describes a spread, not a ceiling. Flood risk is the least specific of the three: 17 federal declarations for Ohio between 1959 and 2019 establish that the state floods, nothing about a given parcel. Each of these is an average across a whole city. The block you are buying on can sit anywhere inside it, which is why the address-level report exists.
Crime in Cincinnati vs. the national average
Cincinnati reports 848 violent crimes per 100,000 residents, 123% above the U.S. average of 381, and 3,829 property crimes per 100k versus a national 1,954 (96% above). In the most recent FBI reporting year (2024), the violent crime rate rose 16.3% year over year, a pattern SafeNest classifies as worsening.
| Cincinnati | US average | |
|---|---|---|
| Violent crime (per 100k) | 848 | 381 |
| Property crime (per 100k) | 3829 | 1954 |
City-wide averages hide block-by-block variation — the safest and least safe neighborhoods in Cincinnati can differ dramatically. For a specific address, a SafeNest report covers it directly — or search free in the iPhone app.
Flood & natural hazard risk
Federal disaster records for Ohio — the state SafeNest uses for Cincinnati's flood context — list 17 FEMA flood disaster declarations between 1959 and 2019, most recently "Severe Storms, Flooding, And Landslides". Ohio has also seen 2 hurricane or tropical-storm declarations, events that frequently drive flooding. These are state-level federal declarations, not a parcel-level flood-zone determination — a specific Cincinnati address may sit inside or well outside a FEMA flood zone, which SafeNest does not determine; check FEMA's flood maps and flood-insurance requirements for that address.
Schools in Cincinnati
Public schools in Cincinnati average 4.6/10 on the SafeNest School Score across 173 rated schools. By level, high schools rate strongest at 5.3/10 on average, while elementary schools average 4.4/10. The highest-scoring is Sycamore High School at 10.0/10.
Registered offenders
Registered-offender data is meaningful only at the address level, so SafeNest does not publish a city-wide figure for Cincinnati: a single citywide number would blend blocks with very different profiles and mislead more than it informs. Registered offender counts by distance band for any specific Cincinnati address are included in a SafeNest report, drawn directly from the state's public registry. The iPhone app shows that count free for any address, and maps each registrant with Premium.
Check a specific Cincinnati address
City averages are a starting point. A SafeNest report covers one specific address — crime, registered offender counts, flood and disaster history, schools, air quality, taxes — delivered by email as a PDF for $6.99.
Or search any Cincinnati address free in the iPhone app.
Common questions about safety in Cincinnati
Is Cincinnati, OH safe?
Cincinnati records 848 violent crimes per 100,000 residents, 123% above the US national average of 381. Overall SafeNest grade: D, a city-wide average of reported crime. It does not describe a specific street or address.
What is the crime rate in Cincinnati?
Cincinnati reports approximately 848 violent crimes and 3829 property crimes per 100,000 residents in 2024, the most recent FBI reporting year in our data.
Does Cincinnati have flood risk?
SafeNest reports federal disaster declaration history for the area. For Cincinnati, federal records show 17 FEMA flood disaster declarations for Ohio, most recently in 2019; a specific address may still sit inside or outside a FEMA flood zone, which SafeNest does not determine — check FEMA's flood maps for that address.
How this page was built
Every figure here comes from the same public records behind SafeNest's grading. We published the full method and what it does and doesn't support in We graded 13,216 American cities with FBI data — including where a letter grade means almost nothing. City comparisons: safest cities in Ohio.
Other city safety reports
Data compiled from public sources including FBI crime statistics, FEMA disaster declarations and the FEMA National Risk Index, NCES education data, and state registries. Last updated 2026-08-17. Figures are city-level estimates; verify with primary sources before making decisions. SafeNest is not a consumer reporting agency (see Terms).