Cleveland Suburbs With the Best Value ZIP Codes, 2026 Data

Parma, Ohio (ZIP 44134) posts the best value combination among Cleveland's highest-rated suburbs: an 88 out of 100 overall NeighborScore, built on a 95/100 crime score, at a median home price of just $215,000 — the lowest of seven Cuyahoga County suburbs scoring 80 or higher overall. That's based on FBI municipal-agency crime data, NCES school proficiency records, and Zillow's home-value index.

Why Cuyahoga County's Crime Scores Actually Vary by Suburb

NeighborScore scores crime using the highest-resolution data available for each ZIP code, in a four-tier cascade. The top tier — incident-level data scored ZIP by ZIP — currently exists for only four U.S. cities: Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, and San Francisco. Cleveland isn't one of them, but Cuyahoga County still gets the next-best resolution: every one of its 51 scored ZIP codes is mapped to its own municipal police agency's FBI Uniform Crime Reporting data, rather than falling back to a single county-wide average.

That agency-level mapping is why Cuyahoga's suburbs don't share one flat crime number the way many metros do. Olmsted Falls, Parma, North Olmsted, Mayfield Heights, Fairview Park, and Parma Heights each report a 95/100 crime score from their own police departments' data, while neighboring Lakewood — a separate agency — comes in at 80/100. Ohio's statewide average crime score is 65, and the national average is 63, so all seven of these suburbs sit well above both benchmarks.

Cleveland's Highest-Scoring Suburbs, Ranked

Ranked by overall NeighborScore — a composite of 53% crime and 47% school scores, with affordability shown separately as context rather than folded into the score:

1. Olmsted Falls (44138): overall 91, crime 95, school 87, median price $272,500 — view the 44138 profile
2. Parma (44134): overall 88, crime 95, school 80, median price $215,000 — view the 44134 profile
3. North Olmsted (44070): overall 87, crime 95, school 78, median price $280,000 — view the 44070 profile
4. Mayfield Heights (44124): overall 87, crime 95, school 79, median price $268,000 — view the 44124 profile
5. Fairview Park (44126): overall 86, crime 95, school 75, median price $302,500
6. Parma Heights (44130): overall 84, crime 95, school 72, median price $246,900
7. Lakewood (44107): overall 80, crime 80, school 81, median price $349,000

Where the Best Value Actually Is

Highest overall score and best value aren't the same ZIP code. NeighborScore's affordability signal — the value score, shown as context and never weighted into the overall composite — measures a ZIP's price against the state median, so a higher value score means relatively cheaper for what the ZIP scores elsewhere. Parma's value score of 52 is the highest of the seven, reflecting its $215,000 median price against Ohio's typical home values. Olmsted Falls, despite topping the overall ranking at 91, carries a lower value score of 42 because its $272,500 median price sits higher relative to the state.

For renters, the spread is narrower: Fairview Park's median rent of $1,195 is the lowest of the group, while Parma and North Olmsted both run near $1,665–$1,670, according to Zillow's ZORI rent index.

Bottom Line

Cuyahoga County's western and eastern suburbs combine genuinely agency-resolved crime scores — not a single county average — with median home prices well under $350,000. Parma (44134) is the strongest value pick at an 88/100 overall score and a $215,000 median price; buyers prioritizing schools over price should look to Olmsted Falls (44138), which pairs a 95 crime score with an 87 school score, the highest school rating in this group.