City · Portage County, Ohio

Kent, Ohio

Kent is a city in Portage County, Ohio, part of the Akron, OH metro area. It has 27,116 residents. Kent, Ohio has a quality-of-life score of 32 out of 100 (low), ranking #10,568 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Ohio it ranks #512 of 684 cities and towns. It ranks best on natural hazard risk (low), drought exposure (low) and mental health care shortage (low). It ranks worst on income inequality (Gini index) (high), poverty rate (high) and unemployment rate (high).

32Low

Quality-of-life score: #10,568 of 15,651 cities and towns
Ohio: #512 of 684 in OH
Population: 27,116 (2020-2024)
Land area: 9 mi²
Density: 2,867.6 /mi²
FIPS code: 3939872

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 76 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.

Open in the map

Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US cities and towns.

Safety77#3,550/15,637
Economy3#15,102/15,631
Housing10#13,410/14,977
Health40#9,338/15,609
Healthcare47#8,246/15,650
Environment55#6,880/15,453
Education75#3,844/15,649
Infrastructure38#9,707/15,650
Community33#10,481/15,651
Leisure & amenities17#13,054/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where Kent, Ohio ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Portage County value” are the county’s: the source publishes no figure for this city or town, and the county holding most of its residents stands in.

Strengths

Natural hazard risk · low2.1
97/100Ohio 14.52025Federal Emergency Management AgencyPortage County value
Drought exposure · low1%
93/100Ohio 11%United States 43%Oct 2025–Sep 2026National Drought Mitigation Center (University of Nebraska–Lincoln), USDA and NOAAPortage County value
Mental health care shortage · low0.0
91/100Ohio 12.2United States 9.9Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationPortage County value
Violent crime rate · low91 /100k
88/100Ohio 276 /100kUnited States 328 /100k2025Federal Bureau of InvestigationPortage County value
Dental care shortage · low0.0
84/100Ohio 4.5United States 5.7Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationPortage County value
Bachelor's degree or higher · high47.1%
82/100Ohio 31.5%United States 35.7%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B15003

Weaknesses

Income inequality (Gini index) · high0.515
3/100Ohio 0.467United States 0.4832020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B19083
Poverty rate · high27.1%
4/100Ohio 12.6%United States 12.1%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B17001
Unemployment rate · high11.2%
7/100Ohio 4.7%United States 4.3%2020-2024U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics Census table B23025
Median household income · low$42,964
7/100Ohio $72,259United States $81,6042020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B19013
Child care cost burden · high38.3%
13/100Ohio 31.7%United States 27.9%2023 & 2024University of Wisconsin Population Health InstitutePortage County value
Time spent in the emergency room · high218 min
13/100Ohio 161 minUnited States 170 minOct 2024–Sep 2025Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesPortage County value

Trends

The largest changes over about five years, next to the country's over the same periods.

PopulationFalling
29,811 (2015-2019) → 27,116 (2020-2024)
−9%5 yearsCensus table B01003US 328,329,953 → 340,003,797
New homes permittedWorsening
0.4 /1k (2021) → 0.1 /1k (Sep 2025–Aug 2026)
−74%5 yearsUS 5.2 /1k → 4.2 /1k
Child poverty rateImproving
32.0% (2015-2019) → 21.5% (2020-2024)
−11 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
78.8% (2015-2019) → 85.4% (2020-2024)
+6.7 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Median household incomeImproving
$32,993 (2015-2019) → $42,964 (2020-2024)
+30%5 yearsCensus table B19013US $65,712 → $81,604
Rent as share of incomeImproving
42.8% (2015-2019) → 38.4% (2020-2024)
−4.4 pts5 yearsCensus table B25071US 29.8% → 30.6%

What changed in five years

How each measure moved between two periods about five years apart, read against whether more or less is better, the published margin of error and the same change in other places.

Over about five years, Kent, Ohio improved on 3 of 14 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 11 moved within the margin of error and 0 barely changed.

Earlier (2015-2019)
Latest (2020-2024)
Lower standingHigher standing

Position is the place's standing among cities and towns: further right is better, whichever way the measure counts.

Improved3

Child poverty−11 points32.0% → 21.5%
Household income+30%$32,993 → $42,964
Broadband+6.7 points78.8% → 85.4%

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 14 measures

Change of every measure of Kent, Ohio between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	21.0 min2015-2019	20.8 min2020-2024	−0.2 min	Within the margin of error	50%
Bachelor's degree or higher	43.3%2015-2019	47.1%2020-2024	+3.9 points	Within the margin of error	59%
Broadband subscriptions	78.8%2015-2019	85.4%2020-2024	+6.7 points	Improved	42%
Child poverty rate	32.0%2015-2019	21.5%2020-2024	−11 points	Improved	83%
Effective property tax rate	1.66%2015-2019	1.46%2020-2024	−0.2 points	Within the margin of error	58%
High school diploma or higher	94.1%2015-2019	94.8%2020-2024	+0.7 points	Within the margin of error	42%
Home price to income ratio	4.4×2015-2019	5.1×2020-2024	+0.7×	Within the margin of error	37%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.5292015-2019	0.5152020-2024	−0.014	Within the margin of error	63%
Median household income	$32,9932015-2019	$42,9642020-2024	+30%	Improved	56%
Poverty rate	29.6%2015-2019	27.1%2020-2024	−2.5 points	Within the margin of error	66%
Rent as share of income	42.8%2015-2019	38.4%2020-2024	−4.4 points	Within the margin of error	80%
Rent-burdened households	66.4%2015-2019	65.6%2020-2024	−0.7 points	Within the margin of error	59%
Unemployment rate	7.9%2015-2019	11.2%2020-2024	+3.3 points	Within the margin of error	8%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	5.0%2015-2019	7.0%2020-2024	+2 points	Within the margin of error	26%

“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 14640 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.

Sources: American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. Values are the latest and the one five years earlier of the same publisher dataset; datasets that changed publisher in between are never compared.

Survey estimates (American Community Survey) compare the two most recent 5-year windows that do not share years, so the margin of error of the difference holds. The 2015-2019 window predates the pandemic and 2020-2024 includes it.
A change counts only when it is larger than 1.645 times the square root of the two standard errors squared, summed (a 90% margin). Measures published without a margin must change by at least 5% to count.
“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 15651 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.
Standing is a percentile among the same places: 0 is the lowest value on the measure (or the worst when lower is better), 100 the best.

Cities and towns like Kent, Ohio five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of Kent, Ohio in the earlier period, ranked by how many measures improved beyond the margin of error, minus how many declined. A comparison of published data, not a forecast and not advice.

For comparison, Kent, Ohio itself moved −0.7 points in standing on average over the same 10 measures (standings of all places average about zero).

How the ranking works

Similarity is the root-mean-square difference of standings in the earlier period over the measures most places have. Places are ranked by measures that improved beyond the margin of error minus those that declined (a count that estimation noise in small places cannot inflate), then by the mean change of standing over the measures a place has in both periods. Only places with more improvements than declines and a rise in standing are listed. Standings are relative, so a place can improve in absolute terms and still lose standing.

Who lives here

Age, race and education of residents, from the American Community Survey. Shares are of all residents (age), residents of every origin (race) or adults 25 and over (education).

Age and sex

27,116 residents (±59)

Men
Women

80 and over†
70–79†
60–69

Income

How household income is spread, not just the middle: each bar is the share of households in that income range.

Household income

10,069 households (±543)

Kent, Ohio
Ohio share

Under $25k32%3,266
$25k–50k24%2,400
$50k–75k11%1,123

Homes

Who owns and who rents, what homes cost, and what the housing stock looks like.

Owners and renters

10,069 households (±543)

Kent, Ohio
Ohio share

Own41%4,104
Rent59%5,965

No change since 2015–2019 is larger than the margin of error.

Table view

Getting to work

How workers travel to their job and how long it takes them.

How people get to work

12,891 workers (±748)

Kent, Ohio
Ohio share

Drive alone65%8,335
Carpool7.0%†905
Public transit0.9%†119

Jobs and pay

What the largest occupations here pay, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes pay by metro area, not by county or city. The metro area page lists its largest occupations and lets you look up any job.

Pay in the Akron, OH

Local businesses

Employer businesses and sole proprietors by industry, per resident and against the state and the nation. Counts of businesses next to counts of people, not a measure of demand.

The Census Bureau publishes business counts by county, not by city, so these are the figures of Portage County, the county holding most of Kent's residents.

Portage County has 3,051 employer establishments, 188 for every 10,000 residents (0.76× the US rate of 248; 0.87× Ohio's), with 48,660 paid employees at an average annual pay of $52,711. The Census Bureau also counts 11,976 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 3,051; 11,976 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 188; US 248 · Ohio 216
Paid employees: 48,660
Average annual pay: $52,711; US $68,342

Employer establishments, employees, average pay and nonemployers of Portage County by industry, with the density per resident against the nation

Restaurants and other eating places	259	15.9	0.87×About typical	5,408	$17,692	35
Specialty trade contractors	220	13.5	0.87×About typical	1,200	$64,614	1,243
Ambulatory health care services	175	10.8	0.52×Fewer than typical	1,908	$58,013	503
Limited-service restaurants	142	8.7	1.09×About typical	2,953	$15,748	20
Services to buildings and dwellings	118	7.3	1.08×About typical	1,706	$49,819	742
Lessors of real estate	99	6.1	0.49×Fewer than typical	429	$45,252	1,092
Construction of buildings	91	5.6	0.74×Fewer than typical	422	$71,021	439
Religious organizations	91	5.6	1.01×About typical	568	$19,972	—
Full-service restaurants	85	5.2	0.68×Fewer than typical	2,023	$20,887	12
Landscaping services	85	5.2	1.49×More than typical	1,574	$52,275	265
Truck transportation	80	4.9	0.97×About typical	1,055	$62,530	269
Automotive repair and maintenance	76	4.7	0.93×About typical	429	$49,275	122

Rank places for an industry Open Portage County

County Business Patterns (2023); Nonemployer Statistics (2024)

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 162,700 residents here, 336,755,052 in the United States. County Business Patterns counts establishments in 2023; the Nonemployer Statistics count businesses in 2024.
“More than typical” is a density at least 1.25 times the nation's per resident, “fewer” at most 0.8 times, with at least 10 establishments. It compares counts of businesses with counts of people: it says nothing about demand, incomes, size, quality or profit, and visitors and commuters are not residents.
The Census Bureau adds noise to employment and payroll to protect confidentiality, and withholds some figures: an industry with few establishments can show employees or pay as unavailable.
Industries overlap: a narrower industry (full-service restaurants) is part of a broader one (restaurants), so the rows do not add up.
Industries follow the North American Industry Classification System; the two surveys use different editions (NAICS 2017 and 2022), which this page matches industry by industry.

Federal contracts performed here

In FY2026, an estimated $2M of federal contract obligations were for work performed in Kent, Ohio: $72.60 per resident (US $1,994).

Obligations: $2M; +13% vs FY2025
Per resident: $72.60; US $1,994
Sole-source: 50%; US 30%
Single offer: 0.0%; US 8.8%

A signal is a reason to look closer, not evidence of wrongdoing: most sole-source awards are lawful and justified.

Top buying agencies

Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service$583.9K30%
U.S. Customs and Border Protection$554K28%
Department of the Air Force$355.4K18%
Defense Logistics Agency$316K16%
Department of Veterans Affairs$196.6K10.0%
National Institutes of Health$3,5540.2%

Top recipients

COLEMAN PROFESSIONAL SERVICES, INC.$554K28%
DAVEY RESOURCE GROUP, INC.$551.6K28%
IMMOBILEYES INC$355.4K18%
R. W. MARTIN AND SONS INC$196.5K10.0%
SEAL MASTER CORP$153.3K7.8%

Spending by fiscal year

1.9MFY2017
2.4MFY2018
1.8MFY2019
1.3MFY2020
747.7KFY2021
1.1MFY2022
849.7KFY2023
2.8M

Top industries (NAICS)

Services to buildings and dwellings · 5617$575.1K29%
Data processing, hosting, and related services · 5182$554K28%
Scientific research and development services · 5417$355.4K18%
Commercial and industrial machinery and equipment repair and maintenance · 8113$184.1K9.4%
Other miscellaneous manufacturing · 3399$172.1K8.7%

Source: Federal contract transactions (Federal Procurement Data System) (U.S. Department of the Treasury, USAspending.gov), data current to Oct 3, 2026, loaded Oct 3, 2026.

How this is estimated

Agencies report each contract action's place of performance as a county and a ZIP code. A ZIP code's money is split among the cities it covers by the share of its land inside each (Census 2020 ZIP code tabulation areas); the part outside city limits stays with the county.

The place of performance is what the contracting agency reports, often the contractor's office rather than where the work happens.
Shares are of land, not of people or businesses: a ZIP code that is mostly rural land but has its offices in town gives the town less than it should.
ZIP codes that are not mapped areas (post office boxes, the unique ZIP codes of large federal sites and companies) stay with their county, unless one city covers nearly all of it.
Counts of actions and awards include those only partly in Kent, Ohio, so they do not add up across cities.

Kent, Ohio's figures are part of those of Portage County, OH ($22.3M in FY2026), never added to them: 8.8% of that total.

Grants and other federal assistance are counted by county here, not split among cities: Kent is mostly in Portage County.

See federal money in Portage County

Representation in Congress

Members serving today, with their record in the current Congress (party-unity votes cast with their caucus, roll calls missed). Not a grade.

Kent, Ohio is split between congressional districts: each representative is shown with the share of its residents in their district (current boundaries).

House

Senate

County

A city can lie in several counties. Some indicators are published for counties only: the page marks them.

Portage County64100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Akron, OH65

Other cities and towns in Portage County

Largest first.

Similar cities and towns

Closest indicator profiles across the country (no model: score distances).

Data and sources

Latest published value of each indicator; periods differ by source. Values flagged by their publisher are marked.

PLACES: Local Data for Better HealthCenters for Disease Control and Prevention · release 2025
Local Area Unemployment StatisticsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · release 2025
American Community Survey 5-Year EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2017-2024
Building Permits SurveyU.S. Census Bureau · release 2026-08
Population Estimates ProgramU.S. Census Bureau · release 2025
Small Area Health Insurance EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
Small Area Income and Poverty EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
County Health Rankings & RoadmapsUniversity of Wisconsin Population Health Institute · release 2022-2025+2026-03-supplement

JSON · /api/v1/places/3939872

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends