Norwalk, Ohio

Area Profile

17,095 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Norwalk, in Huron County.

62out of 100
Area Score
Top 37% of 4,196 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 13 sources
Opportunity3,076th of 4,199 cities measured45
Schools2,107th of 4,162 cities measured50
Growth2,151st of 4,224 cities measured50
Housing affordabilityTop 10% of 4,218 cities measured81
Climate2,470th of 4,225 cities measured68
Physical resilienceTop 20% of 4,226 cities measured82
Access2,871st of 4,226 cities measured87
Economic stability3,080th of 4,226 cities measured44
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable cities measured: unemployment is 3.6% and the Opportunity signal places Norwalk in the bottom 27%. The unemployment rate is published for Huron County, OH, which contains Norwalk, rather than for Norwalk alone.

In the public schools here, 65% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 18.2 students for every teacher.

Housing is more affordable relative to local incomes than in most cities measured: rent takes 26% of renter income and the median home is 2.1 times what its owners earn.

These sentences are written by fixed rules from the measurements below — a statement appears because a number crossed a stated threshold, and the values behind it are stored with it. No figure anywhere on this site is invented, estimated or inferred to fill a gap. How this works.

At a glance

Population
17,095
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$60,844
Bottom 41% nationally
Density
1,928/sq mi
8.9 sq mi of land
Median age
39.5
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Ohio
Micro area
Nearest major airport
MFD
30 mi · Mansfield Lahm Rgnl
Median home value
$163,300
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment across Huron County, OH, which contains Norwalk, is 3.6%, lower than in 77% of the 4,226 measured US cities.

Employment across Huron County, OH, which contains Norwalk, fell 1.7% over the past year, to 27,589 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsHuron County, OH’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$47,1904th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftHuron County, OH’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$45,3182nd percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$10,7442024 ACS 5-Year$60,844Bottom 41%of 29,2232024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$2,1392024 ACS 5-Year$31,816Bottom 43%of 31,4202024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year16.2%Bottom 31%of 31,7732024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±1.8 min2024 ACS 5-Year22.5 minTop 28%of 31,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year19.4%Bottom 47%of 31,9192024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year79.8%59th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentHuron County, OH’s figureJuly 202627,589Bottom 33%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (3 years)Huron County, OH’s figureJuly 2026−4.1%Bottom 7%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (year over year)Huron County, OH’s figureJuly 2026−1.7%Bottom 30%of 4,226July 2026
Labor forceHuron County, OH’s figureJuly 202628,60532nd percentileof 4,226July 2026
Labor force participation ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year77.9%Bottom 49%of 31,5132024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.3%2024 ACS 5-Year0.0%1st percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)Huron County, OH’s figureJuly 2026−1.9%Top 1%of 4,226July 2026
Unemployment rateHuron County, OH’s figureJuly 20263.6%Top 23%of 4,226July 2026
Worked from home ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year5.0%36th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202461k54k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $60,844 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes city-level labor data only for places of 25,000 or more. This is the figure for Huron County, OH, which contains this city.

65% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 67% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 18.2 students for every full-time teacher across 6 public schools, more than in most measured places.

Public schools
6
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
18.2
across all schools here
Math proficiency
64.7%
Top 41% in Ohio
Reading proficiency
66.8%
Top 49% in Ohio
All 6 public schools on record, largest first.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Norwalk High SchoolNorwalk City69921.855%73%
Maplehurst Elementary SchoolNorwalk City46019.2——
Pleasant Elementary SchoolNorwalk City39518.877%67%
Main Street SchoolNorwalk City37518.859%61%
Norwalk Middle SchoolNorwalk City33211.964%60%
League Elementary SchoolNorwalk City19219.287%67%

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data, placed by ZIP code — which schools are in this place, not which one a particular address is zoned for. A dash in a proficiency column is a gap in the federal file, not a bad result. Proficiency is measured against Ohio’s own standard, so it is ranked within state. How to read school figures.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the non-metropolitan parts of Ohio is up 50% over five years, and up 6.2% over the last year. It follows repeat sales of the same homes, so it measures price change rather than which homes happened to sell.

Homeowners here who pay a tax bill pay a median of $1,773 a year in real estate taxes, about 1.09% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $973, some 16% above the $836 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $973 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $38,900 a year, about 64% of the median household income here of $60,844.

The typical renter household here spends 26% of its income on rent, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $836 a month.

A median home at $163,300 costs 2.1 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $77,334, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Rent as a share of income
26.2%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.1×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$973
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$836
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$163,300
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Norwalk’s median household income of $60,844, which describes the place rather than you. Enter your own and the ratio is recomputed against it. It stays in this browser.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Home price change (1 year)the non-metropolitan parts of Ohio’s figure2026 Q2+6.2%88th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the non-metropolitan parts of Ohio’s figure2026 Q2+50.3%80th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the non-metropolitan parts of Ohio’s figure2026 Q2+100.5%62nd percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.32024 ACS 5-Year2.1Top 37%of 26,8152024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year65.1%28th percentileof 31,7172024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±3652024 ACS 5-Year7,89892nd percentileof 32,1772024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$742Top 3%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,212Top 3%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$973Top 5%of 4,072FY2026
Median gross rent ±$582024 ACS 5-Year$836Top 33%of 23,1202024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$7,6872024 ACS 5-Year$163,30043rd percentileof 29,1112024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$942024 ACS 5-Year$1,77350th percentileof 26,4402024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$9,2222024 ACS 5-Year$77,334Bottom 48%of 27,5482024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.08%2024 ACS 5-Year1.09%57th percentileof 20,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year26.2%Top 38%of 22,9502024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±532024 ACS 5-Year4481st percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year0.6%57th percentileof 31,8952024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year5.3%41st percentileof 31,7692024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±1912024 ACS 5-Year46489th percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year

These measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with. They compare housing cost with local earnings only: transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not in them. How to read affordability, the two rent figures.

Development Momentum

50/ 100
Ranks 2,151 of 4,224 published city profiles
The most recent move in permitting was upward, in a series running from 2020 to 2025. That is the direction of the recent run. The chart below compares the first year with the last, which can point the other way.

An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.

Population has grown 1% since 2020, reaching 17,172 in 2024.

Permitting has turned upward after moving the other way the year before: 36 units authorized in 2025, against 10 the year before.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 40 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes.

Federal tax returns show that people moving in from elsewhere in the US and people moving out roughly balanced across Huron County, which contains Norwalk, in the most recent year. Households that moved in reported an average income of $47,190, close to the $45,318 of households that moved out.

At 2.3 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
40
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
2.3
Bottom 47% nationally
Year over year
+471%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202417k17k
Census Population Estimates Program, July 1 of each year. These annual estimates are designed for year-over-year comparison, unlike the ACS five-year figure shown as this profile's population. It has been holding roughly steady, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
0.0%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
22%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$47,190
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$45,318
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Erie County, OH 488 people · 21% of arrivals
  2. Lorain County, OH 256 people · 11% of arrivals
  3. Richland County, OH 231 people · 10% of arrivals
  4. Sandusky County, OH 192 people · 8.4% of arrivals
  5. Ashland County, OH 82 people · 3.6% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Erie County, OH 443 people · 19% of departures
  2. Lorain County, OH 239 people · 10% of departures
  3. Richland County, OH 219 people · 9.5% of departures
  4. Sandusky County, OH 206 people · 8.9% of departures
  5. Seneca County, OH 102 people · 4.4% of departures

Based on the address on federal tax returns, compared with the same filers a year earlier. It counts people who file, and sees a move only when the address on a return changes. Domestic moves only: people arriving from abroad are left out. This is the figure for Huron County, OH. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

2020202120222023202420251049.0
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2020 (+300%).

Weather & climate

6 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 82°F and January a low of 22°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 34.0 inches.

10°30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station SANDUSKY, 15.3 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND3.8"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals34.0"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals22°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals82°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals61991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals47°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

82 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, tornado and lightning, with inland flooding alone responsible for 57% of it. Inland flooding and lightning are independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large those hazards are.

Overall hazard risk is lower than 80% of measured US cities.

HailModerate
Winter weatherModerate
Strong windElevated
Ice stormModerate
TornadoModerate
Heat waveModerate

Low or minimal exposure: lightning, inland flooding, earthquake, cold wave, landslide, hurricane, wildfire, coastal flooding, drought, tsunami, volcanic activity, avalanche.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. City values are the population-weighted mean of the counties the city overlaps, using AreaProfile place-to-county land-area weights. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

Violent crime
70
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year
Property crime
436
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year

Below these are deaths rather than offenses, published for the county. The two measure different things and are not comparable with each other.

Norwalk's police department reported 70 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, lower than most places with a department reporting. Property crime runs at 436.

Huron County has a modeled homicide rate of about 3.0 per 100,000 residents a year, because the CDC suppresses counts this small, near the middle of counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at about 10.7 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at about 11.1 per 100,000 residents in Huron County.

Homicide
3.0
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
10.7
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Drug overdose
11.1
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Suicide
14.3
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides, so the firearm figure and the homicide figure above it count some of the same deaths twice over. They overlap and should not be added together.

Offenses are reported to the FBI by Norwalk’s own police department and shown only where it reported every month of the year; a partial year is withheld rather than scaled up. Reported crime is what police recorded, which is not the same as what happened. Death rates are crude rates — deaths divided by population, not adjusted for age — except where a count was too small for the CDC to publish and it modeled the rate, which the card marks. They come from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC by county and not below it. So they describe the county around Norwalk (Huron County) rather than Norwalk itself. Neither is part of the Area Score. How to read crime rates and death rates.

What this profile does not cover

Each of these is absent for a reason, not by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them; the weighting is on the methodology page.

Cost of living
Price parities are published for metropolitan areas, and this place lies outside one.
Air quality
The EPA publishes an air-quality index only where a monitor sits. There is none in this county, and a modeled value would be a different kind of number from the measured ones everywhere else on this page.
Taxes
Income and sales taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Property taxes are shown in the housing section but are not part of the score. Cost of living is published where the Bureau of Economic Analysis measures it, though not for this place. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.

Access

6 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Mansfield Lahm Rgnl at 30 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year90.9%Top 45%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle30 miBottom 28%of 4,226NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle6Top 27%of 4,226NASR current cycle
No internet access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year6.1%Top 43%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Mansfield Lahm RgnlMFD30 mi9,001 ft
Cleveland-Hopkins IntlCLE41 mi9,953 ft
Akron-Canton RgnlCAK65 mi8,204 ft

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.

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Area Score
62
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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
SafetyFederal Bureau of Investigation, Crime Data Explorer
Summarized offense counts by law enforcement agency
2025 calendar year
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)
Demographics, IncomeInternal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income Division
U.S. Population Migration Data (county to county)
filing years 2022–2023
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 Normals
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
SafetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
March 2025 to February 2026; May 2025 to April 2026
SchoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2018-19 school year; 2024-25 school year
HousingU.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research
Fair Market Rents
FY2026
HousingU.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency
House Price Index (traditional, all-transactions)
2026 Q2
Current conditionsNOAA National Weather Service
National Weather Service current conditions
Live observation, read when the page opens

Profile recalculated October 8, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology, or every source with how often each updates.

ZIP codes in Norwalk

1 ZIP area

Every ZIP area in Norwalk with census figures of its own, largest first. The ones linked below diverge enough from the city as a whole to carry a full profile; the rest track Norwalk closely, so their figures are here rather than on a page that would repeat this one. An Area Score is calculated for published profiles only, which is why it is blank on those rows.

ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeMedian home valueArea Score
4485723,288$64,297$175,300—