Cleveland’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 Cleveland.
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 Cleveland. Some neighborhoods aren’t as safe as others.
So the question arises, which Cleveland neighborhoods are the most dangerous and which are the safest?
Today, we’ll use Saturday Night Science to determine which Cleveland hoods need a little tender loving care. We examined 36 of Cleveland’s neighborhoods to find out the most dangerous places to live.
$13,967 median income
$24,205 median income
$21,081 median income
$28,838 median income
$33,454 median income
$27,387 median income
$25,707 median income
$26,400 median income
$32,903 median income
$16,742 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 Cleveland 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 Cleveland:
- 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 Cleveland, 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 Cleveland.
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 36 neighborhoods ranked from worst to best.
The full plate
Most dangerous neighborhoods to live in Cleveland for 2026
Click any column to sort. Search by neighborhood name.
| Rank | Neighborhood | Population | Home Value | Median Income |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Kinsmith | 3,270 | $36,114 | $13,967 |
| 2 | Indurstrial Valley | 1,068 | $10,633 | $24,205 |
| 3 | Saint Claire-Superior | 5,828 | $45,892 | $21,081 |
| 4 | North Broadway | 4,883 | $46,050 | $28,838 |
| 5 | Union Miles Park | 8,776 | $42,810 | $33,454 |
| 5 | Goodrich-Kirkland | 3,969 | $44,550 | $27,387 |
| 7 | Forest Hills | 8,286 | $44,817 | $25,707 |
| 8 | South Collinwood | 7,382 | $56,229 | $26,400 |
| 9 | South Broadway | 13,588 | $50,250 | $32,903 |
| 10 | Central | 12,884 | $88,040 | $16,742 |
| 10 | Fairfax | 3,871 | $55,000 | $24,387 |
| 12 | Cudell | 9,419 | $59,689 | $24,520 |
| 13 | Glenville | 13,436 | $52,194 | $31,752 |
| 14 | Brooklyn Center | 8,550 | $59,609 | $27,133 |
| 15 | Corlett | 7,859 | $47,917 | $29,066 |
| 16 | Stockyards | 5,485 | $45,975 | $27,959 |
| 17 | Woodland Hills | 6,510 | $64,625 | $23,171 |
| 18 | Lee Miles | 9,602 | $61,533 | $37,716 |
| 19 | Euclid Green | 3,771 | $56,267 | $28,672 |
| 19 | Puritas Longmead | 17,093 | $64,674 | $33,765 |
| 21 | Mt Pleasant | 14,229 | $52,053 | $31,062 |
| 22 | Hough | 11,820 | $92,915 | $28,564 |
| 23 | North Collinwood | 14,552 | $60,687 | $31,474 |
| 23 | Clark Fulton | 10,044 | $58,340 | $32,157 |
| 25 | University District | 7,515 | $100,750 | $23,989 |
| 26 | West Boulevard | 13,423 | $71,050 | $33,639 |
| 27 | Ohio City-West Side | 9,075 | $124,250 | $34,090 |
| 28 | Riverside | 1,289 | $92,300 | $78,190 |
| 29 | Old Brooklyn | 32,541 | $88,530 | $43,059 |
| 30 | Buckeye Shaker | 10,806 | $97,667 | $35,140 |
| 31 | Tremont | 6,903 | $180,380 | $52,883 |
| 32 | Jefferson | 18,226 | $77,712 | $44,569 |
| 33 | Detroit Shoreway | 13,815 | $120,920 | $36,792 |
| 34 | Downtown | 11,655 | $176,162 | $47,826 |
| 35 | Kamm’s Corner | 20,271 | $131,160 | $62,576 |
| 36 | Edgewater | 7,297 | $124,033 | $40,547 |
Source: U.S. Census ACS 2020-2024. All 36 Cleveland neighborhoods.
Summary
Summary: The worst neighborhoods around Cleveland
Well, there you have it — the worst of the neighborhoods in Cleveland with Kinsmith landing at the bottom of the pack.
The worst neighborhoods in Cleveland are Kinsmith, Indurstrial Valley, Saint Claire-Superior, North Broadway, Union Miles Park, Goodrich-Kirkland, Forest Hills, South Collinwood, South Broadway, and Central.
As mentioned earlier, the neighborhoods in Cleveland aren’t all bad. Edgewater takes the cake as the best place to live in Cleveland.
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 Cleveland FAQs
What is the most dangerous neighborhood in Cleveland?
Kinsmith ranks as the worst neighborhood in Cleveland for 2026, according to Saturday Night Science. Indurstrial Valley and Saint Claire-Superior are next on the list.
What are the worst neighborhoods in Cleveland?
The worst-ranked neighborhoods in Cleveland are Kinsmith, Indurstrial Valley, Saint Claire-Superior, North Broadway, Union Miles Park, Goodrich-Kirkland, Forest Hills, South Collinwood, South Broadway, and Central. We scored all 36 neighborhoods in the city.
Why does Kinsmith rank as the worst?
Kinsmith posts the roughest combined numbers in Cleveland: a median household income of $13,967 and a median home value of $36,114, 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.
