We used data and science to identify the most dangerous cities in the Buckeye State for 2020.

This article is an opinion based on facts and is meant as infotainment. It is our fifth time ranking the most dangerous places to live in Ohio and is updated for 2020.

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Where are you moving to next? If it happens to be Ohio, then this is the article for you. Ohio is a state filled with many exciting cities, but the state does have a relatively dangerous city or two.

If you enjoy beautiful state parks, walking through large cities, and fields upon fields of corn, then Ohio is a great choice. But there are the dangerous places to avoid living as a newcomer. Luckily for you, RoadSnacks has figured out that answer for you. We used the most recent FBI crime data on property and violent crimes per capita to determine which cities in Ohio stick out like a sore thumb when it comes to danger. And while these places might be dangerous as a whole, there are always better and worse places even at the city level.

And it’s hard to fault the people living in these cities for the crime that occurs there. Ohio has seen a decrease in the relevance of its most prominent industries over the past several decades. People have been leaving cities like Cleveland and Columbus for coastal cities or Chicago with higher tech job prospects. Not to mention the Opioid Epidemic that finds its ground zero almost directly in the center of Ohio.

So with that in mind, grab some Skyline Chili with a side of Buckeyes for dessert as we walk you through our analysis of dangerous cities in Ohio.

The 10 Most Dangerous Cities In Ohio For 2020 Canton Whitehall Chillicothe Dayton Cleveland Cincinnati Springfield Portsmouth Logan Lima

We analyzed 236 cities in Ohio using the latest FBI crime data to determine which cities in Ohio were the most likely to make you double check your doors are locked.

The winner of the most dangerous place in Ohio for 2020? Canton, Ohio is the most dangerous city in Ohio.

The larger cities didn’t fare much better. Cleveland, Dayton, and Cincinnati all ranked in our top ten most dangerous cities list.

Interested to see how your favorite cities stacked up? Read on to learn more about our methodology and to see what makes each of these cities so dangerous.

Learn more about the safest places in Ohio.

If you’re looking for something more national, check out the most dangerous cities in America or the most dangerous states in America.

For more Ohio reading, check out:

Next 10 Cities

Graphing The Most Dangerous And Safest Places In Ohio

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How we determined the most dangerous cities in Ohio for 2020?

Every year the FBI release two crime datasets, a preliminary dataset limited to the biggest cities in the country, followed by a more detailed release at the end of the year.

For our analysis, we focused on the JUST released 2018 data, specifically the 2018 Crime In The United States Report. We will update the results when data becomes available in September 2020.

So what criteria did we use? Have a look:

Violent Crimes Per Capita

Property Crimes Per Capita

In order to make the analysis as apples to apples as possible, we only considered Ohio cities over 5,000 in population. That left us with 236 cities in Ohio.

We then ranked each city from 1 to 236 for the two criteria with a #1 ranking being the most dangerous for the particular criteria.

Next, we averaged the two rankings into one “Dangerous Index”.

Finally, we ranked every city on the “Dangerous Index” with the lowest index being the most dangerous in Ohio — Canton. Any ties went to the smaller city. You can download the data here.

Read on for a detailed look at the 10 most dangerous cities in Ohio.

Locking It All Up In Ohio

The latest FBI crime data shows that Canton ranks as the most dangerous city in Ohio for 2020.

We want to point out again that there’s still safes places in Canton and that this isn’t a comment on the people that live there. So please don’t beat us up.

If you’re curious enough, here are the safest cities in Ohio:

Broadview Heights (Pop. 19,236) Olmsted Falls (Pop. 8,912) Russell Township (Pop. 5,216)

For more Ohio reading, check out:

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