Downtown Neighborhood Guide

Downtown Cleveland, Ohio is home to multiple famous attractions including the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, the Great Lakes Science Center, and multiple sports arenas. With a location right on Lake Erie’s shore, visitors and residents can enjoy lakeside views, popular clubs, original boutiques, delicious restaurants, and more.

Downtown Cleveland experienced a recent boom in the mid-1990s that led to a population increase from 7,300 to over 10,000 throughout the early 2000s. Housing and commercial projects kicked off, which led to Downtown Cleveland being listed on Forbes’ “15 U.S. Cities Emerging Downtown” list.

Downtown Cleveland includes the Public Square, Civic Center, Historic Warehouse District, Historic Gateway District, Theater District, and other districts that make the Cleveland area entertaining and lively.

About 12,575 residents live in Downtown Cleveland. Many residents are in the 18-34 age bracket, which isn’t surprising considering what Downtown Cleveland has to offer residents. The population is considerably more diverse than other Ohio areas.

Downtown Cleveland is popular with young professionals, and many residents lean towards being politically libral.

Specifically, 65% of Downtown Cleveland’s residents are male, and 35% of the population is female. The majority of the population at 64% are between 18-34 years old. It’s estimated that about 3% of residents are under 17 years of age.

20% of residents have some college education or an associate’s degree, while 22% have a bachelor’s degree and another 22% have a master’s degree or higher.

51% of residents are White, while 32% are African American. 8% of the population is Asian, and 5% are Hispanic. Additionally, 4% of residents are of other racial descent.

Cleveland Metropolitan School District, previously named the Cleveland Municipal School District, is Cleveland, Ohio’s main school system.

With an average student-teacher ratio of 14 to 1, this school system also is among the most ethnically and economically diverse districts in Ohio and is also known for its athletics programming. With about 40,000 students throughout pre-kindergarten and 12th grade, this school district is the 2nd largest district out of Ohio’s 608 districts.

48% of the district’s students are female, and 52% of students are male. 64.6% of the student population is African American, and 15.7% are Hispanic. 15.6% are White, and 3.7% of students are of other ethnic backgrounds. About 80% of students in the district qualify for free or reduced lunches.

The graduation rate across Cleveland Metropolitan School District is estimated to be about 75%. Meanwhile, the average SAT score is about 1030, and students generally score about a 21 on the ACT.

Overall, the housing options in Downtown Cleveland are rented, seeing as 95% of residents rent their properties. Just 5% of housing options are owner-occupied, which is the reverse of many residential areas in Ohio. The vacancy rate is estimated to be under 20%, which trends on the higher side of vacancy rates in Ohio.

The median rent in Downtown Cleveland is estimated to be about $1,050. This number is calculated based on 18% of properties costing less than $500 per month, while 32% of rentals go for $500-$999 per month. Plus, 31% of monthly rent ranges between $1,000-$1,999, and 4% of properties go for over $2,000 per month.

Seeing as the vast majority of housing options in Downtown Cleveland are rental properties, residences for sale can be few and far between, but still can be found. Single-family detached houses may be hard to come by, but there are large numbers of condominiums and apartments.