Cleveland 2026The independent atlas report on Cleveland, Ohio.

Cleveland in 200 numbers. Read this before you read anything else.

A humid continental city, 2,069,000 people across the metro, the city profile in one stat grid.

Cleveland scored 6.8 on the everycity index. A single person spends $1,920 a month here including rent, groceries, transport and utilities. A working couple spends $2,880. Internet runs at a median 192 Mbps per OOKLA Speedtest April 2026. The average reported salary is $4,980 a month before tax. The federal top marginal income tax rate is 37 percent, Ohio state income tax tops out at 3.5 percent, and the City of Cleveland layers a 2.5 percent municipal income tax on residents. Safety reads 5.8 on a 0 to 10 scale, with the night safety subindex at 5.0, the female solo subindex at 5.6, and the family subindex at 6.4. The metro area sits at 41.499321 degrees, negative 81.694361 degrees. The summer high lands at 28 Celsius, the winter low at negative 7. The city averages 2,180 sunshine hours a year, partly limited by the Lake Erie cloud cover that drives Cleveland's reputation for gray winters.

Compared with peer cities, Cleveland sits 4 percent below Cincinnati on monthly outlay and is the cheapest Ohio metro. See Cincinnati vs Cleveland for the head to head. The methodology page covers the full index method.

Risk, by the subindex.

No moral panic, no rose tint. Four subindices, referenced to FBI UCR 2024 and Numbeo's panel.

Cleveland's overall safety score lands at 5.8, in the demanding band, the lowest US safety score on any city profile in this atlas so far. The night walk subindex at 5.0 reflects the high violent crime rate in the city of Cleveland: 1,580 incidents per 100,000 residents per the FBI UCR 2024 release. The suburban Cuyahoga County (Shaker Heights, Beachwood, Solon, Westlake) and Lake County (Mentor, Willoughby) sit well below the national rate; the city itself is one of the more challenging US metros on the violent crime axis. The east side of Cleveland (Glenville, Kinsman, Mount Pleasant) and parts of the near west side (Stockyards, Clark Fulton) draw the bulk of incident reports. The west side neighborhoods of Tremont, Ohio City, Detroit Shoreway, and Edgewater have rapidly gentrified since 2015 and now sit at or below the US national rate. SafetyWing covers expat short term insurance.

The areas that draw the fewest incidents are Shaker Heights, Cleveland Heights, University Heights, Beachwood, Solon, Westlake, Rocky River, and Bay Village. See Cincinnati vs Cleveland for the head to head safety read.

Who pays, and how much.

Salaries are gross monthly figures, blended from US BLS OEWS 2024 and local market data.

Largest employers in metro Cleveland

1. The Cleveland Clinic (one of the most respected hospitals in the world, the largest single employer in northern Ohio)
2. University Hospitals (the second major academic medical system)
3. MetroHealth System
4. Sherwin Williams (Fortune 200 paint company, headquartered downtown)
5. KeyBank (Fortune 500, headquartered in the Key Tower)
6. Progressive Corporation (auto insurance, headquartered in Mayfield Village)
7. The Eaton Corporation (industrial conglomerate, dual headquartered in Dublin Ireland and Beachwood)

The Cleveland Clinic is the structural strength of the metro: one of the most respected hospitals in the world, the largest employer in northern Ohio, and a key part of the city's medical tourism economy. The metro's manufacturing base has shrunk since the 1970s but the healthcare and insurance anchors have grown to fill the gap. For an after tax estimate, run the tax calculator.

Seven quarters, one verdict each.

A working map of where to live in Cleveland in 2026.

The full walk through is in the Cleveland neighborhoods longform, scheduled for Q3 2026.

For the kids, and the postgrads.

School and university density.

Top public districts and private schools

• Shaker Heights City School District
• Cleveland Heights University Heights City School District
• Beachwood City Schools
• Solon City School District
• Hawken School (independent, PreK to 12)
• University School (independent, all boys, PreK to 12)

Universities

• Case Western Reserve University (R1 research)
• Cleveland State University
• John Carroll University (Jesuit, University Heights)
• Cuyahoga Community College (Tri C)
• Kent State University (60 kilometers south)

The United States country page covers the broader context.

What makes the city itself.

Food signatures, nightlife rating, and the cultural through line.

The food signatures of Cleveland include polish boy (the kielbasa sandwich with fries, coleslaw, and barbecue sauce), pierogi (the Polish heritage carries through), the Cleveland kielbasa, Sokolowski's University Inn (the legendary Polish American cafeteria, since 1923), the West Side Market (the historic public market since 1912, one of the oldest in the US), and the Slyman's corned beef sandwich. The Cleveland Indians (now Guardians) baseball game ballpark food culture is a regional tradition. For longer reads, the best food cities ranking places Cleveland in the US top 25. Nightlife sits at a 6.2 rating.

The cultural calendar runs through the Cleveland International Film Festival (March to April, the largest in the Great Lakes region), the Cleveland Air Show (Labor Day weekend), and the Cleveland Marathon (May). The Cleveland Orchestra (consistently ranked among the top 5 orchestras in the United States), the Cleveland Museum of Art (one of the most respected encyclopedic art museums in the US, with free general admission), the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, and the Playhouse Square (the largest performing arts center in the US outside New York City) anchor the high arts ecosystem.

Keep going.