Cleveland is America’s Saddest City for 2025

The Study Measured 29 Indicators

WalletHub just dropped its 2025 Happiest Cities in America report, and Cleveland finished in last place.

Out of 182 major U.S. cities surveyed across categories like emotional well-being, income, and community environment, Cleveland came in at number 182.

The city scored worst in the nation for Community & Environment and near the bottom in almost every other category. Fremont, California, took the top spot, with nearly 80% of households earning over $75,000.

Cleveland sits at the opposite end, and the numbers behind the ranking tell a bigger story about a city that was once one of America’s largest.

Divorce, Poverty, and Sleepless Nights

Cleveland has the highest divorce rate in America at over 41%. The city also has the second-highest poverty rate and the second-highest foreclosure rate in the country.

Nearly 45% of adults in Cleveland sleep less than seven hours per night, and over 22% report having 14 or more mentally unhealthy days per month.

These numbers feed into each other. Financial stress affects sleep. Sleep affects mental health. Mental health affects relationships.

Cleveland is dealing with all of it at once.

Median Income Under $43,000

When adjusted for cost of living, Cleveland households earn a median income under $43,000, one of the lowest in the country.

That number matters because research shows happiness increases with income up to about $75,000 a year.

Low wages contribute to Cleveland having the fourth-highest share of households that fell behind on bills in the last 12 months.

The city has a poverty rate above 28%, which means more than 100,000 residents are living below the poverty line.

Worst Score for Community and Safety

Cleveland ranked dead last, at 182nd, in WalletHub’s Community & Environment category. This measures things like safety, social connection, and neighborhood quality.

The city has one of the highest violent crime rates in the country. It also ranked 176th in Emotional & Physical Well-Being and 166th in Income & Employment.

There was no category where Cleveland performed well.

Ohio Claims Five Spots in the Bottom Third

Cleveland was not the only Ohio city near the bottom. Toledo ranked 177th, Akron came in at 169th, Cincinnati at 154th, and Columbus at 123rd.

All five Ohio cities ranked low across categories like emotional and physical well-being, income and employment, and community and environment.

The pattern suggests the problems affecting Cleveland also touch other cities across the state, especially in the industrial north.

Once the Fifth-Largest City in America

By 1920, Cleveland had grown to 796,841 people, making it the fifth-largest city in the United States.

In the early 1900s, the city was home to several successful automotive companies including Peerless, Jordan, Chandler, and Winton, makers of the first automobile driven across the United States.

Steel mills lined the Cuyahoga River. Jobs were plentiful. Immigrants poured in from Ireland, Italy, and Eastern Europe to work in the factories.

Rockefeller Built Standard Oil Here

In 1870, John D. Rockefeller founded Standard Oil in Cleveland, providing thousands of jobs to locals and a growing population of immigrants.

The company would eventually make Rockefeller the richest man in history.

Cleveland was the headquarters of an empire. Oil refineries, steel mills, and manufacturing plants turned the city into an industrial powerhouse.

The money built museums, parks, and grand civic buildings that still stand today.

Factories Closed and Workers Left

Due to deindustrialization, suburbanization, and urban sprawl, Cleveland’s population began decreasing in the 1960s.

Many companies moved south looking for cheaper labor and weaker unions, while other jobs were outsourced overseas or replaced by machines.

Between 1952 and 1969, Cleveland lost about 60,000 manufacturing jobs. The people who could afford to leave followed the jobs.

The ones who stayed faced shrinking opportunity.

The City Lost 60% of Its Population

Cleveland’s population peaked in the 1950s at 914,808 residents and has now fallen to around 372,000.

The city of Cleveland has lost 60% of its population since 1950, and losses continue. That makes Cleveland one of the fastest-shrinking major cities in America.

Between the 1970s and the 2010s, Buffalo, Cleveland, Detroit and Pittsburgh each lost more than 40% of their populations.

Cleveland’s decline was among the steepest.

The River That Caught Fire 13 Times

The Cuyahoga River became so polluted with industrial waste that it caught fire at least 14 times. The blazes were so common that an oil slick catching fire on June 22, 1969, barely made local headlines.

But Time magazine picked up the story and described the Cuyahoga as the river that “oozes rather than flows.”

The 1969 fire helped spur the creation of the Environmental Protection Agency and the passage of the Clean Water Act.

Small Signs of Stabilization

For the first time in recent years, Cleveland’s population increased instead of decreasing in 2024, with estimates showing an increase of over 2,700 residents.

Poverty rates also decreased slightly between 2023 and 2024, from 30. 7% to 28.3%. The rate of population loss has tapered off significantly compared to the 1980s and 1990s.

Downtown is seeing new investment. The Cuyahoga River is clean enough to kayak. The city is still struggling, but the freefall has slowed.

Visiting Cleveland, Ohio

The ranking does not tell the whole story. Cleveland has world-class attractions that draw nearly a million visitors a year.

The Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, which beat out New York and Memphis for its location, has welcomed nearly 15 million visitors since opening in 1995.

The Cleveland Museum of Art houses over 61,000 artworks spanning 6,000 years, and general admission is always free.

The West Side Market has been serving fresh produce, meats, and baked goods since 1912 and welcomes over 800,000 guests each year.

And Cuyahoga Valley National Park, Ohio’s only national park, sits less than 30 minutes from downtown with 125 miles of trails, waterfalls, and free admission.

This article was created with AI assistance and human editing.

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