Painesville, Ohio

Area Profile

20,548 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Painesville, in Lake County.

64out of 100
Area Score
Top 33% of 4,203 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 16 sources
OpportunityTop 44% of 4,206 cities measured59
Schools2,785th of 4,162 cities measured37
Growth2,773rd of 4,224 cities measured43
Housing affordabilityTop 38% of 4,225 cities measured71
Climate2,278th of 4,225 cities measured69
Physical resilienceTop 1% of 4,226 cities measured97
Access3,257th of 4,226 cities measured81
Economic stability3,370th of 4,226 cities measured39
The quick read

Unemployment is 2.8% and median household income $51,516, putting employment conditions in the middle range of cities measured. The unemployment rate is published for Lake County, OH, which contains Painesville, rather than for Painesville alone.

In the public schools here, 57% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 18.7 students for every teacher.

Residential permitting has slowed: 65 units authorized over the past twelve months, 65% below the prior year.

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
20,548
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$51,516
Bottom 25% nationally
Density
3,011/sq mi
6.8 sq mi of land
Median age
34.5
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Ohio
Metro area
Cleveland, OH
Nearest major airport
CLE
38 mi · Cleveland-Hopkins Intl
Median home value
$158,800
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment across Lake County, OH, which contains Painesville, is 2.8%, lower than in 96% of the 4,226 measured US cities.

Employment across Lake County, OH, which contains Painesville, fell 1.2% over the past year, to 123,806 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsLake County, OH’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$62,76032nd percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftLake County, OH’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$63,87133rd percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$5,9352024 ACS 5-Year$51,516Bottom 25%of 29,3262024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$2,7632024 ACS 5-Year$30,181Bottom 37%of 31,4202024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±5%2024 ACS 5-Year25.1%Bottom 15%of 31,7732024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±1.3 min2024 ACS 5-Year21.8 minTop 25%of 31,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year22.7%Top 45%of 31,9192024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±5%2024 ACS 5-Year71.4%32nd percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentLake County, OH’s figureJuly 2026123,806Top 40%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (3 years)Lake County, OH’s figureJuly 2026+0.3%Top 42%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (year over year)Lake County, OH’s figureJuly 2026−1.2%Bottom 40%of 4,226July 2026
Labor forceLake County, OH’s figureJuly 2026127,43360th percentileof 4,226July 2026
Labor force participation ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year75.4%Bottom 40%of 31,5132024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wageCleveland, OH Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$66,310Bottom 36%of 3,7292025 OEWS
Median annual wageCleveland, OH Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$50,140Bottom 43%of 3,7292025 OEWS
Public transit to work ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year1.5%87th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)Lake County, OH’s figureJuly 2026−1.2%Top 7%of 4,226July 2026
Unemployment rateLake County, OH’s figureJuly 20262.8%Top 4%of 4,226July 2026
Worked from home ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year8.3%53rd percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202452k48k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $51,516 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.

Largest occupations — Cleveland, OH

OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
General and Operations Managers29,510$97,750
Registered Nurses28,240$83,940
Fast Food and Counter Workers28,010$28,750
Retail Salespersons24,650$31,000
Stockers and Order Fillers22,660$36,290
Home Health and Personal Care Aides19,400$34,520

Searches the 40 largest occupations here that have a published wage.

Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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

57% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 63% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 18.7 students for every full-time teacher across 14 public schools, more than in most measured places.

Public schools
15
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
18.7
across 14 of them
Math proficiency
57.2%
Bottom 38% in Ohio
Reading proficiency
62.8%
Bottom 44% in Ohio
The 12 largest of 15 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Riverside Jr/Sr High SchoolRiverside Local1,57821.060%71%
Harvey High SchoolPainesville City Local84718.819%49%
Henry F Lamuth Middle SchoolRiverside Local70319.576%73%
Riverview Elementary SchoolRiverside Local61520.582%77%
Heritage Middle SchoolPainesville City Local60215.432%33%
Parkside Elementary SchoolRiverside Local55121.287%82%
Maple Elementary SchoolPainesville City Local43216.053%48%
Elm Street Elementary SchoolPainesville City Local42917.232%34%
Chestnut Elementary SchoolPainesville City Local42517.052%52%
Buckeye Elementary SchoolRiverside Local36620.382%77%
Melridge Elementary SchoolRiverside Local29921.477%77%
Fairport Harding High SchoolFairport Harbor Exempted Village29117.131%49%

35.0% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with, not how the schools perform, so it is shown and not scored.

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.

Prices for everything a household buys run about 7% below the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 92.9, against 100 for the nation. Nationally, housing drives most of the spread between places in this index; other goods vary far less.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the Cleveland, OH Metro Area is up 48% over five years, and up 4.4% 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 $2,458 a year in real estate taxes, about 1.55% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,170, some 13% above the $1,036 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,170 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $46,800 a year, about 91% of the median household income here of $51,516.

The typical renter household here spends 31% of its income on rent, above the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,036 a month.

A median home at $158,800 costs 2.0 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $77,574, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Cost of living
92.9

Prices here run about 7% below the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Published for the Cleveland, OH Metro Area as a whole. Prices are regional — people shop, commute and rent across a metropolitan area rather than within a city boundary — so this describes the cost of living around this place better than a figure drawn to its own limits would.

Rent as a share of income
30.9%
Above the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.0×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,170
what a new lease costs · FY2025
Median gross rent
$1,036
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$158,800
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Painesville’s median household income of $51,516, 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
Cost of living indexthe Cleveland, OH Metro Area’s figure202392.9Top 16%of 3,7002023
Home price change (1 year)the Cleveland, OH Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+4.4%71st percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Cleveland, OH Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+48.1%74th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Cleveland, OH Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+99.8%61st percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.32024 ACS 5-Year2.0Top 34%of 26,9012024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±4%2024 ACS 5-Year51.1%10th percentileof 31,8402024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±5072024 ACS 5-Year8,61793rd percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2025$960Top 19%of 4,072FY2025
Market rent, three bedroomFY2025$1,500Top 18%of 4,072FY2025
Market rent, two bedroomFY2025$1,170Top 18%of 4,072FY2025
Median gross rent ±$532024 ACS 5-Year$1,036Bottom 44%of 23,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$8,7572024 ACS 5-Year$158,80041st percentileof 29,1112024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$1742024 ACS 5-Year$2,45865th percentileof 26,4402024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$10,7692024 ACS 5-Year$77,574Bottom 48%of 27,5482024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.14%2024 ACS 5-Year1.55%80th percentileof 20,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±5%2024 ACS 5-Year30.9%Bottom 37%of 23,0522024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±602024 ACS 5-Year5283rd percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year0.6%58th percentileof 31,8952024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year2.5%24th percentileof 31,8952024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±1372024 ACS 5-Year26982nd 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 and the cost-of-living index.

Development Momentum

43/ 100
Ranks 2,773 of 4,224 published city profiles
The most recent move in permitting was downward, in a series running from 2020 to 2021.

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 2% since 2020, reaching 20,660 in 2024.

Federal tax returns show Lake County, which contains Painesville, gained about 0.3% of its residents through moves within the US in the most recent year, counting those who arrived against those who left. Households that moved in reported an average income of $62,760, close to the $63,871 of households that moved out.

At 3.2 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
65
2021 calendar year
Per 1,000 residents
3.2
Top 43% nationally
Year over year
−65%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
35.4%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202421k20k
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
+0.3%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
27%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$62,760
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$63,871
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Cuyahoga County, OH 3,175 people · 40% of arrivals
  2. Geauga County, OH 758 people · 9.6% of arrivals
  3. Ashtabula County, OH 630 people · 8.0% of arrivals
  4. Summit County, OH 254 people · 3.2% of arrivals
  5. Portage County, OH 123 people · 1.6% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Cuyahoga County, OH 2,356 people · 32% of departures
  2. Geauga County, OH 694 people · 9.5% of departures
  3. Ashtabula County, OH 628 people · 8.6% of departures
  4. Summit County, OH 309 people · 4.2% of departures
  5. Lorain County, OH 170 people · 2.3% 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 Lake County, OH. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Weather & climate

6 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 81°F and January a low of 24°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 33.3 inches.

Air quality measures a median index of 41, in the Good band, and about 4 days a year pass 100, the threshold at which the air is unhealthy for sensitive groups.

10°30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station CLEVELAND BURKE AP, 26.1 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND3.7"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year612024 calendar year
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals33.3"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals24°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals81°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals61991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year42024 calendar year
Median air quality index2024 calendar year412024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals45°F1991-2020 Normals

Air quality

Median air quality index
41
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
61
90th percentile index
Days above 100
4
unhealthy for sensitive groups

A comfortable median and a bad tail are different problems. Wildfire smoke and summer ozone show up in the worst tenth of days, not in the middle of the year.

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. Air quality is measured by EPA monitors and published by county only where a monitor sits; a county without one shows nothing rather than an estimate, and a county reading is still the county’s. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

97 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, tornado and strong wind, with inland flooding alone responsible for 74% of it. inland flooding and tornado 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 99% of measured US cities.

Winter weatherModerate
Strong windModerate
Heat waveModerate
Cold waveElevated

Low or minimal exposure: inland flooding, ice storm, hail, tornado, lightning, earthquake, hurricane, coastal flooding, wildfire, landslide, drought, avalanche, tsunami, volcanic activity.

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
222
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year
Property crime
448
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.

Painesville's police department reported 222 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, near the middle of places with a department reporting. Property crime runs at 448.

Lake County has a modeled homicide rate of about 3.3 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 9.5 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 10.8 per 100,000 residents in Lake County.

Homicide
3.3
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
9.5
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
10.8
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
12.5
per 100,000 residents

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 Painesville’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 Painesville (Lake County) rather than Painesville 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.

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. The cost-of-living index above is a price level for all consumption, not a household budget, and it excludes taxes. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.

Access

5 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Cleveland-Hopkins Intl at 38 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±0.8%2024 ACS 5-Year94.0%Top 30%of 31,7112024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle38 miBottom 21%of 4,226NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle5Top 45%of 4,226NASR current cycle
No internet access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year4.3%Top 33%of 31,7112024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Cleveland-Hopkins IntlCLE38 mi9,953 ft
Youngstown/Warren RgnlYNG44 mi9,003 ft
Akron-Canton RgnlCAK57 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
64
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Other cities in Cleveland, OH

Same metropolitan area, measured the same way
CityCountyPopulationArea ScoreCompare
ClevelandCuyahoga County366,09759Cleveland vs Painesville
ParmaCuyahoga County79,87068Parma vs Painesville
LorainLorain County65,39555Lorain vs Painesville
ElyriaLorain County53,03563
LakewoodCuyahoga County50,00775
EuclidCuyahoga County48,82356
MentorLake County47,17174
StrongsvilleCuyahoga County45,98377
Cleveland HeightsCuyahoga County44,49766
North RidgevilleLorain County36,62775
BrunswickMedina County35,24671
WestlakeCuyahoga County34,10475

Every city here is measured on the same scale from the same source releases, so the comparison is like for like. A higher Area Score reflects AreaProfile’s standardized weighting rather than a judgment about which is the better place to live.

Compare

Put Painesville side by side with a similar place.

Painesville vs Michigan CityPainesville vs Erie

Moving to Painesville from somewhere else?

You get the difference in prices, rent and weather, and the income that would keep pace.

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
HousingU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWS
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026; 2021 calendar year
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
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
FY2025
ClimateU.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System
Daily Air Quality Index by county
2024 calendar year
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 September 26, 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 Painesville

1 ZIP area

Every ZIP area in Painesville with census figures of its own, largest first.

ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeMedian home valueArea Score
4407757,325$85,056$221,20066