Cincinnati’s neighborhoods conjure up too many stereotypes to count. You’ve got hipster areas, preppy places, neighborhoods where college kids thrive, and of course, ghettos.
It seems as if there’s a neighborhood for everyone in Cincinnati.
And while the city consistently ranks as one of the best places to live in Ohio thanks in part to tons of entertainment and jobs, it’s not all rainbows and sunshine in Cincinnati. Some neighborhoods aren’t as safe as others.
So the question arises, which Cincinnati neighborhoods are the most dangerous and which are the safest?
Today, we’ll use Saturday Night Science to determine which Cincinnati hoods need a little tender loving care. We examined 44 of Cincinnati’s neighborhoods to find out the most dangerous places to live.
$23,808 median income
$18,296 median income
$24,568 median income
$34,492 median income
$32,326 median income
$25,626 median income
$45,568 median income
$42,393 median income
$33,441 median income
$27,038 median income
The receipts
Compare the top ten
Pick a metric. The bars rescale. The red line is Ohio’s statewide median.
Ohio statewide median: $242,141
Ohio statewide median: $71,389
Saturday Night Science
Methodology: How we determined the most dangerous Cincinnati neighborhoods in 2026
To figure out how bad a place is to live in, we only needed to know what kinds of things people like and then decide what places have the least amount of those things. We plugged the following criteria into Saturday Night Science to get the worst neighborhoods in Cincinnati:
- High crime (Estimated)
- High unemployment (Less jobs)
- Low median income (Less pay)
- Low population density (No things to do)
- Low home values (No one’s willing to pay to live here)
Then, we ranked each neighborhood in Cincinnati, Ohio for each of these criteria from worst to best.
Next, we averaged the individual rankings for each criterion into a “Worst Score.”
The neighborhood with the lowest “Worst Score” ranks as the most dangerous neighborhood of Cincinnati.
The article is an opinion based on facts and is meant as infotainment. We updated this article for 2026. Skip to the end to see the list of all 44 neighborhoods ranked from worst to best.
The full plate
Most dangerous neighborhoods to live in Cincinnati for 2026
Click any column to sort. Search by neighborhood name.
| Rank | Neighborhood | Population | Home Value | Median Income |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | North Fairmount | 1,783 | $69,800 | $23,808 |
| 2 | South Cumminsville | 3,137 | $43,300 | $18,296 |
| 3 | East Westwood | 4,459 | $99,875 | $24,568 |
| 4 | Lower Price Hill | 928 | $77,850 | $34,492 |
| 5 | South Fairmount | 3,975 | $75,571 | $32,326 |
| 6 | Winton Hills | 7,027 | $92,750 | $25,626 |
| 7 | Sedamsville | 238 | $69,200 | $45,568 |
| 8 | Mount Airy | 8,727 | $117,200 | $42,393 |
| 9 | East Price Hill | 11,509 | $89,640 | $33,441 |
| 10 | Avondale | 7,344 | $117,486 | $27,038 |
| 11 | Camp Washington | 1,145 | $118,667 | $55,156 |
| 12 | Paddock Hills | 1,489 | $157,233 | $39,734 |
| 13 | Riverside | 1,639 | $89,433 | $45,038 |
| 14 | Roselawn | 5,746 | $121,250 | $32,214 |
| 15 | Carthage | 3,112 | $84,100 | $43,823 |
| 15 | Bond Hill | 8,094 | $118,138 | $40,225 |
| 17 | Winton Place | 2,559 | $129,150 | $32,729 |
| 18 | West Price Hill | 17,820 | $86,100 | $44,469 |
| 19 | Corryville | 4,195 | $131,750 | $25,026 |
| 20 | Westwood | 31,273 | $104,526 | $42,904 |
| 21 | Sayler Park | 3,012 | $99,967 | $49,578 |
| 22 | Mount Auburn | 5,547 | $151,978 | $37,168 |
| 23 | Cuf | 15,325 | $146,725 | $34,465 |
| 24 | Hartwell | 4,311 | $87,600 | $52,120 |
| 25 | College Hill | 13,909 | $122,183 | $47,234 |
| 26 | West End | 7,951 | $272,480 | $39,203 |
| 27 | Northside | 7,765 | $173,600 | $54,750 |
| 28 | Kennedy Heights | 4,421 | $156,900 | $61,620 |
| 29 | Mount Washington | 11,430 | $171,933 | $65,156 |
| 30 | North Avondale | 7,653 | $270,986 | $40,508 |
| 31 | Walnut Hills | 6,359 | $201,156 | $40,765 |
| 32 | East End | 1,437 | $262,867 | $75,421 |
| 33 | Madisonville | 8,356 | $160,233 | $61,856 |
| 34 | Clifton | 8,979 | $255,367 | $51,918 |
| 35 | Evanston | 7,673 | $209,300 | $48,874 |
| 36 | Pleasant Ridge | 7,322 | $189,591 | $64,009 |
| 37 | Central Business District | 4,393 | $397,043 | $72,038 |
| 38 | Linwood | 272 | $297,100 | $122,708 |
| 39 | Over-The-Rhine | 6,048 | $297,489 | $65,976 |
| 40 | Columbia-Tusculum | 1,767 | $376,833 | $93,415 |
| 41 | Mount Adams | 2,226 | $362,500 | $89,772 |
| 42 | Oakley | 9,590 | $258,822 | $70,498 |
| 43 | Mount Lookout | 5,949 | $368,071 | $93,019 |
| 44 | Hyde Park | 14,157 | $401,712 | $98,838 |
Source: U.S. Census ACS 2020-2024. All 44 Cincinnati neighborhoods.
Summary
Summary: The worst neighborhoods around Cincinnati
Well, there you have it — the worst of the neighborhoods in Cincinnati with North Fairmount landing at the bottom of the pack.
The worst neighborhoods in Cincinnati are North Fairmount, South Cumminsville, East Westwood, Lower Price Hill, South Fairmount, Winton Hills, Sedamsville, Mount Airy, East Price Hill, and Avondale.
As mentioned earlier, the neighborhoods in Cincinnati aren’t all bad. Hyde Park takes the cake as the best place to live in Cincinnati.
We ranked the neighborhoods from worst to best in the chart below. Not sold on Ohio? Take the two-minute Find Your Place quiz and see which state actually fits you.
Questions and answers
Worst Neighborhoods In Cincinnati FAQs
What is the most dangerous neighborhood in Cincinnati?
North Fairmount ranks as the worst neighborhood in Cincinnati for 2026, according to Saturday Night Science. South Cumminsville and East Westwood are next on the list.
What are the worst neighborhoods in Cincinnati?
The worst-ranked neighborhoods in Cincinnati are North Fairmount, South Cumminsville, East Westwood, Lower Price Hill, South Fairmount, Winton Hills, Sedamsville, Mount Airy, East Price Hill, and Avondale. We scored all 44 neighborhoods in the city.
Why does North Fairmount rank as the worst?
North Fairmount posts the roughest combined numbers in Cincinnati: a median household income of $23,808 and a median home value of $69,800, with crime, unemployment, and density folded into the score.
Are these neighborhoods dangerous everywhere?
No. The scores are neighborhood-wide averages, and conditions change block by block and hour by hour. Plenty of people live in these neighborhoods without incident; the numbers just say the odds run tougher.
How do you rank the worst neighborhoods?
Each neighborhood is scored on crime, unemployment, income, density, and home values, using Census tract and FBI data. The worst combined score tops the list.
