Best PlacesForest Hills, Cleveland, OH Best Neighborhoods
2026–2027 edition · Data updated July 2026
Every neighborhood in and around Forest Hills, Cleveland, scored on 40 measures of daily life and ranked to fit what matters to you. Several measures below read low, and the ranked lists name which ones. To work out which city fits you best, start with the best places to live tool.
Forest Hills, Cleveland ranks 5,891st of 5,983 U.S. neighborhoods on the BestNeighborhood index. It scores highest on low disaster risk by a wide margin, and crime is the weak spot.
The best neighborhoods in Forest Hills, Cleveland
BestNeighborhood is the only ranking that scores 40 measures of daily life neighborhood by neighborhood and lets you re-weight every one of them yourself.
Forest Hills, Cleveland's strengths and weaknesses
Where Forest Hills, Cleveland ranks high
- Disaster safetyBetter than 94% of neighborhoods
- Cheap car insuranceBetter than 86% of neighborhoods
- TransitBetter than 74% of neighborhoods
- QuietBetter than 62% of neighborhoods
- WalkabilityBetter than 62% of neighborhoods
Where Forest Hills, Cleveland ranks low
- Crime safetyBetter than only 1% of neighborhoods
- Low vacancyBetter than only 1% of neighborhoods
- Health outlookBetter than only 2% of neighborhoods
- Local economyBetter than only 4% of neighborhoods
- Internet speedBetter than only 4% of neighborhoods
What it costs to buy a home in Forest Hills, Cleveland
A household needs to earn about $17,000 a year to comfortably buy the median Forest Hills, Cleveland home, at 20% down and today's 30-year rate. That is below the area's own median income of $34,765, so a typical household can afford the median home outright.
Where the monthly payment goes
Assumes a 20% down payment, a 6.6% 30-year fixed rate, and a 28% share of income going to the payment. The rate is the 2026-07-23 30-year fixed average, series MORTGAGE30US from the St. Louis Fed, which publishes Freddie Mac's weekly survey. Against the median home value, property tax uses Forest Hills, Cleveland's effective rate of 1.38%, and insurance is estimated at 0.4% of home value a year.
Renting versus buying
At today's prices, buying tends to cost more than renting for about the first 2 years, then pulls ahead as rent keeps rising and the mortgage builds equity. The chart tracks the running cost of each.
Who lives in Forest Hills, Cleveland
Forest Hills, Cleveland's age mix sits close to the national median, and households here run smaller than average.
Residents by age
Racial and ethnic makeup has its own map. See the race and diversity map for Forest Hills, Cleveland.
Who works in Forest Hills, Cleveland, and how
Work in Forest Hills, Cleveland centers on health care & social and transportation & warehousing. Unemployment runs well above the national rate, and the job base is shrinking.
Largest industries
How people get to work
- Drive or carpool 70%
- Work from home 14%
- Transit, walk, or bike 17%
Life in Forest Hills, Cleveland
Forest Hills, Cleveland has more parkland per resident than 85% of neighborhoods. That concentrates in some parts of Forest Hills, Cleveland and thins out in others, which the map shows.
What the weather is like in Forest Hills, Cleveland, month by month
Forest Hills, Cleveland sees roughly 73 pleasant days a year. July highs average about 84 degrees. January highs sit near 39, with lows near 25. The comfortable stretch runs May, June, and August through October.
Show the monthly temperatures
| Month | Avg high | Avg | Avg low |
|---|---|---|---|
| January | 39° | 31° | 25° |
| April | 60° | 50° | 41° |
| July | 84° | 76° | 69° |
| October | 68° | 59° | 51° |
Flying in and out of Forest Hills, Cleveland
Cleveland-Hopkins International sits about 16 miles away. It is a medium hub and boarded 4.9 million passengers in 2025, with 72 nonstop destinations.
The best schools in and around Forest Hills, Cleveland
Schools across Forest Hills, Cleveland average a D−, better than 5% of neighborhoods.
Top elementary schools
- Citizens Leadership Academy EastD · 20% proficient
- Mary M BethuneD− · 12% proficient
- Kenneth W ClementD− · 11% proficient
Top middle schools
- W.h. Kirk Middle SchoolF · 9% proficient
Top high schools
- Cleveland School Of The Arts High SchoolB · 50% proficient
- Shaw High SchoolD− · 18% proficient
Grades come from K-12 test scores, with scores projected for schools missing data. See every Forest Hills, Cleveland school and its grade on SchoolGrade.
Forest Hills, Cleveland measure by measure
Cards are ordered by how much each measure matters to you, so the ones you weighted highest come first. Expand to see every measure. Percentages compare Forest Hills, Cleveland against the other 5,982 neighborhoods.
Common questions about living in Forest Hills, Cleveland
Is Forest Hills, Cleveland a good place to live?
Using BestNeighborhood's default rankings, Forest Hills, Cleveland ranks 5,891st of 5,983 neighborhoods. It scores highest on low disaster risk, cheap car insurance, and transit, and lowest on crime and empty homes. How good it is for you depends on which of those you weight most, which the map lets you set.
Is Forest Hills, Cleveland expensive to live in?
The median home is worth $61,157. The overall cost of living runs about 23% below the national average. Set against a $34,765 median income, cost of living beats 6% of neighborhoods.
Is Forest Hills, Cleveland safe?
Forest Hills, Cleveland is safer than 0% of neighborhoods. Safety varies a lot by neighborhood. Crime costs an estimated $1,497 per resident a year.
Compare Forest Hills, Cleveland with other neighborhoods
Sources and methodology
Every measure on this page is scored for each neighborhood, then rolled up to Forest Hills, Cleveland. Scores are absolute rather than ranked, which means a 60 in Forest Hills, Cleveland represents the same real quantity as a 60 anywhere else, and the ranking is a weighted average of those absolutes. The map colors come from a national scale calibrated against a population weighted random sample of 5,000 neighborhoods. That absolute scoring is what no other places-to-live ranking does: it puts a single neighborhood, a town, a metro, and a state on one scale, so the same 40 measures answer both which metro to move to and which street inside it to buy on. Read the full methodology.
Forest Hills, Cleveland detail on BestNeighborhood maps:
- Walk Grade for Forest Hills, Cleveland: walkability, transit, and biking, measured on the real street network rather than by straight line distance.
- Noise in Forest Hills, Cleveland: road, rail, and aviation sound modeling calibrated against federal ground truth measurements.
- Conservative vs liberal map of Forest Hills, Cleveland: precinct level election results apportioned to neighborhoods.
- Mobile and cell coverage in Forest Hills, Cleveland: carrier by carrier coverage behind the cell score.
Forest Hills, Cleveland detail on related sites:
- CrimeGrade: neighborhood crime rates behind the crime safety score.
- ISPreports.org: provider by provider internet availability and advertised speeds.
- CoverageWatch: the car insurance premiums behind the cheap car insurance score.
Federal and public data:
- U.S. Census Bureau American Community Survey: income, home value, rent, vacancy, commute time and mode, educational attainment, home age, age structure, household type, industry, and race.
- NOAA Global Surface Summary of the Day: the daily station record behind the monthly temperatures and the pleasant-day count.
- FAA Passenger Boarding Data: airport size and annual passenger counts.
- Freddie Mac Primary Mortgage Market Survey: the 30-year fixed rate used in the cost-to-buy estimate.
- FBI Crime Data Explorer: reported offenses behind the tangible crime cost estimate.
- U.S. EPA Air Quality System: five year average air quality index.
- FEMA National Risk Index: expected annual loss from natural hazards.
- CDC PLACES: disease burden, preventable risk, and barriers to care.
- National Center for Education Statistics: school enrollment and assessment inputs behind the school grade.
- FCC National Broadband Map: internet and wireless availability.
- U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics: employment and job growth behind the local economy score.
- Religious activity uses a proprietary religious signal measurement.
Your priorities
Move a slider to say how much a measure matters. Zero turns it off.