Ohio is a classic state of the “Old Midwest”, with major centers of industry and manufacturing having diminished over the last half-century and new sectors and occupations emerging to replace them. While the state has seen deindustrialization resulting in a decline in population declines in cities like Cleveland and Cincinnati, the state capital of Columbus is flourishing. Meanwhile, Ohio is also a heavily agricultural state, making it quite diverse economically.
In a series of recent studies, we analyzed and identified the 50 richest cities in Michigan as well as the richest cities in Texas. This time around we’re going to identify and focus on the richest cities in Ohio.
Read on to find out what the richest city in Ohio is, as well as the top 50 wealthiest cities in the state.
What Is the Richest City in Ohio?
In order to identify the richest cities in Ohio, we sourced multiple datasets from the Census Bureau’s 2021 American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (which is the latest data available), including median household income, mean household income, median home value, and median property taxes paid. Taking these four metrics together, we analyzed and compiled a list of the top 50 richest cities in Ohio.
It is essential to note, however, some important quirks when it comes to Census data. For example, the Census Bureau measures median household incomes up to $250,000, with households earning more being designated as “$250,000+”. Furthermore, the Census does this with median home value, which goes up to $2 million and anything above that being denoted as “$2,000,000+”. Finally, the same parameters apply to tracking median property taxes paid by owner-occupied households, which go up to $10,000 and any amount above that is expressed as “$10,000+”.
As a result, mean (average) household income was particularly useful in our analysis because, unlike median household income, mean household income has exact values for every city in Ohio. All four of these metrics were scored, added up, and then ranked by the cities’ combined scores.
Below you’ll find a table displaying the top 50 richest cities in Ohio and their respective dollar amounts for each metric:
Using our four-factor metric of median household income, average household income, median home value, and median property taxes paid, the richest city in Ohio is Hunting Valley. This is a village with a population of just over 760 people and only 306 households. Located in Cuyahoga and Geauga counties, Hunting Valley is about 26 miles east of Cleveland. Although the median household income in Hunting Valley is only $163,333, with many other Ohio cities having higher incomes, the city’s average household income of $355,075 is the third-highest in Ohio. What’s more, what makes Hunting Valley the wealthiest city in Ohio is its median home value of over $1.46 million — the highest in Ohio — and the fact that its median property taxes paid exceeds $10,000. No other Ohio city’s median home value comes close to that of Hunting Valley’s. Perhaps not surprisingly, the largest occupational group in Hunting Valley is Management Occupations (30.7% of the workforce), according to Data USA, hence the high incomes.
The No. 2 richest city in Ohio is Coldstream, having a total of 450 households and comparable in size to No. 1 Hunting Valley. Coldstream is located in Hamilton County, southeast of Cincinnati, along the banks of the Ohio River. The median household income in Coldstream is in excess of $250,000 and its average household income is $371,209 — the highest in the state. And while the median property taxes paid is in excess of $10,000 a year, what brings Coldstream down to the No. 2 wealthiest city in Ohio is the fact that its median home value is $623,000, which is less than half that of Hunting Valley’s corresponding value.
No. 3 is the Village of Indian Hill (often just called Indian Hill), which has a population of roughly 6,080 and 2,364 total households. Also located in Hamilton County like Coldstream, Indian Hill is northeast of Cincinnati. Indian Hill’s average household income of $361,102 is the third-highest in Ohio. Meanwhile, the city’s median home value of $918,800 is second only to Hunting Valley’s $1.46 million.
The No. 4 richest city in Ohio is Bentleyville, a city of only 274 households located in Cuyahoga County, about 20 miles to the southeast of Cleveland. The median household income in Bentleyville is $224,286, which is the third-highest in Ohio, behind No. 2 Coldstream and No. 5 Concord Hills. Additionally, Bentleyville’s average household income of $351,045 is the fourth-highest in the state. The median property taxes paid by homeowners in Bentleyville is in excess of $10,000, while the median home value is $626,300. The two biggest occupational groups by employment are Management Occupations, accounting for 25.2% of the workforce, and Business & Financial Operations Occupations, accounting for 17.2%, according to Data USA.
The No. 5 richest city in Ohio — Concorde Hills — is a Census-Designated Place (CDP) located in Sycamore Township, northeast of Cincinnati. Concorde Hills is one of two places in Ohio to have a median household income in excess of $250,000. Interestingly, though, its mean household income is actually less than the median income — $233,785. A full 47.2% of the workforce are employed in Management Occupations and 32.3% are employed in the Professional, Scientific, & Technical Services sector, according to Data USA.
Looking at the top 50 richest cities in Ohio, the biggest city is No. 18 Dublin, with 17,344 total households and a population of more than 49,000 people. Spread across Franklin, Delaware and Union counties, Dublin is a wealthy suburb of Columbus. Its median household income of $145,828 is impressively high for such a large town.