Cleveland, OH — Momentum Score, Home Values & Best-For

All states·Ohio·Cleveland

Cuyahoga County · Cleveland-Elyria · population 365,379

AffordabilityBig-city amenities
Cleveland, OH
Image: Wikipedia · Cleveland
OverviewCost of livingMoving guide
View watchlist →
58
Stable
Momentum score · 0–100

Where Cleveland stands

Steady, no major recent move.

Median home $117,703
1-year -2.1%
5-yr CAGR +3.6%
vs 5-yr peak -2.2%
Population -0.5%/yr

Home value trajectory · last 10 years

Zillow ZHVI · monthly
peak 2025-03$118k$53k$77k$101k$125k201620182020202220242026

Lifestyle scores

🚶
Walkability
52/100
Somewhat walkable
Estimated from population density. Higher = denser, more amenities within walking distance.
🚉
Public transit
60/100
Good transit
Curated list of major US transit systems + population-based estimate. Higher = real subway/rail/bus options.
💻
Remote work fit
77/100
Strong remote-work fit
Composite of city size, housing cost, state tax structure, and region's remote-work track record.

Scores are heuristic estimates from population density, state, and known transit/walkable cities. Not based on a paid Walk Score / Transit Score API — see methodology for the formula.

Rent trajectory · last 5 years

Zillow ZORI · monthly
$1,425/mo$970$1,241$1,512202220242026

Home value vs rent · indexed to 100

Both rebased at first month of ZORI data (~2015)
Home valueRent120138100120140202220242026

Rent vs buy

Price-to-rent ratio: 6.9
Buy

At a 6.9 price-to-rent ratio, buying generally beats renting in Cleveland on a long-enough horizon. The headline math is that one year of mortgage payments approximates 6.9 years of rent — well below the 15+ threshold where ownership starts to dominate.

How the momentum score breaks down

methodology →
Home YoY
39 · w22%
Home 5-yr CAGR
57 · w22%
Distance from peak
77 · w18%
Population growth
38 · w16%
Rent YoY
76 · w12%
Home 10-yr CAGR
78 · w10%
Long thesis

Cleveland offers a $117,703 median home with +3.6% annualized 5-year appreciation. Affordability + positive trend is one of the better risk/reward setups in US residential — small downside, room to compound.

Short thesis

Cleveland's bear case is the boring one: the cycle is real and any market that's run hard can stall. Watch for slowing population growth, rising days-on-market, or builder discounts as the early warning signals.

About Cleveland

Cleveland is a city in Cuyahoga County, Ohio, with an estimated population of 365,379. It anchors the Cleveland-Elyria metro area. The median home value in Cleveland is $117,703 as of 2026-04, down 2.1% over the last 12 months. Over the last five years, home values have averaged +3.6% annual growth (-2.2% from the 5-year peak). Rents in Cleveland average $1,425 per month, up 4.6% year-over-year. The composite momentum score is 58 of 100 (Stable). Conditions are neither hot nor cold, so the local fit matters more than market timing.

▲ Bull case

●Held the highs: currently -2.2% from the 5-year peak — this market refused to give back gains.
●Cheap entry point: $117,703 median home is well below the US median of $355k — room to grow without overpaying.

▼ Bear case

●Cooling: -2.1% over the trailing year — momentum has stalled.
●Flat or shrinking population: -0.5% per year. Housing demand has to come from somewhere — verify the source.

About Cleveland (Wikipedia)

Cleveland is a city in the U.S. state of Ohio and the county seat of Cuyahoga County. Located along the southern shore of Lake Erie, it is situated across the lake from Ontario, Canada, and is approximately 60 miles west of the Ohio–Pennsylvania state line. Cleveland is the most populous city on Lake Erie and second-most populous city in Ohio, with a population of 372,624 at the 2020 census. The Greater Cleveland metropolitan area, with an estimated 2.17 million residents, is the 34th-largest metropolitan area in the U.S.

Source: Wikipedia · this summary is contributed and licensed under CC-BY-SA.

City facts

MayorJustin Bibb
Area82.48 sq mi
Elevation653 ft
MottoProgress & Prosperity
Density4793.52/sq mi
Named forMoses Cleaveland

Extracted from the Wikipedia infobox. Values may be slightly out of date relative to the latest sources.

Playbook

Buyer

Lifestyle fit matters more than market timing in a Stable market. Take your time on the home and neighborhood; the macro trend isn't urgent. Negotiate normally.

Seller

Price competitively from day one or risk a 60+ day listing. Staging, photography, and presentation matter more in Stable markets than in Hot ones.

Investor

Stable cap rates, no big appreciation story to lean on. Underwrite this as a pure cash-flow play — the math has to work on rent alone.

Local safety & alerts

No active National Weather Service alerts for Cuyahoga County right now.

NWS active alerts (OH)Ohio Emergency ManagementHow to prepare (NWS)

Public-safety links are official .gov sources, not curated by us. Cuyahoga County routes NWS alerts; check the state EM portal for non-weather emergencies.

Neighborhoods of Cleveland

35 tracked · ranked by median home value
1Tremont$348,564+0.2%
2Ohio City$310,659-0.8%
3Downtown$292,479-3.7%
4University District$263,509-6.1%
5Detroit Shoreway$248,864-2.4%
6Kamm's Corner$225,996+5.4%
7Riverside$179,766+5.1%
8Edgewater$177,692+2.0%
9Old Brooklyn$160,187+3.7%
10Jefferson$142,457-0.3%
11Puritas-Longmead$137,287+5.1%
12Central$130,992+7.7%
13West Boulevard$124,179-1.8%
14Buckeye Shaker$124,109-5.2%
15North Collinwood$115,857+2.5%
16Cudell$113,221-0.3%
17Brooklyn Centre$112,623+5.0%
18Lee Miles$104,931+4.4%
19Clark Fulton$102,390+3.5%
20Fairfax$99,016-11.2%
21Hough$89,231-9.0%
22Euclid Green$85,598-0.5%
23Stockyards$83,393-14.8%
24Kinsman$82,122-17.3%

See the full neighborhood ranking →

Cities like Cleveland

Columbus, OH65 · RisingNorwood, OH64 · RisingDayton, OH67 · RisingCincinnati, OH68 · Rising

Run the numbers for Cleveland

ToolCan I afford Cleveland?Income → city shortlistToolROI on a Cleveland rentalCap rate, cash-on-cash, DSCRToolCompare Cleveland to anywhereSide-by-side up to 3 citiesToolCleveland cost-of-livingEquivalent income elsewhere

Sources: Zillow ZHVI (home values), Zillow ZORI (rents), US Census ACS + place population. Updated when source agencies publish revisions.

Climate & natural-disaster risk

Winter (Jan)
36° / 21°
avg high / low
Summer (Jul)
83° / 64°
avg high / low
Sunny days/yr
178
~49% of year
Annual precip
39″ rain
28″ snow
Disaster risk (1=very low, 5=very high)
Hurricane
Very low
Tornado
High
Wildfire
Very low
Earthquake
Low
Flood
Moderate

State-level averages from NOAA Climate Normals (1991-2020) and FEMA National Risk Index. City-level conditions can vary significantly within a state.

Local sports teams

Major professional teams the Cleveland-Elyria area cheers for. Detailed stats, schedules, and player pages on intherafters.com.

Current weather

Loading current conditions…

7-day forecast on weather.gov →

Find rentals & listings

Open current Cleveland listings on the major real-estate sites.

Links open the live search on the destination site — results are always current.

Local news & community

Updated 2026-05-21 from Google News + Reddit RSS. Headlines link to original sources.

Local economy & environment

Humidity
72%
Humid climate
Median household income
$67,800
Ohio state median
Top industries (state-level)
ManufacturingHealthcareFinance

Humidity is annual average relative humidity (NOAA). Income is Census ACS 5-year estimate. Industries are largest employment sectors statewide (BLS); the local mix in a given city may vary.

Cities similar to Cleveland

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