The annual rating of the Cleveland Suburbs by Cleveland Magazine showed that North Royalton ranked in the top twenty. Of the 77 suburbs ranked for 2016, North Royalton placed 18th overall, First in Safety and 22nd in Education.
Mayor Bob Stefanik thanked all city employees for their efforts to make North Royalton successful. “Thank you and congratulations to the Police Department and Fire Department for their efforts year-round! Many of the other rankings are due to the combined efforts of the remaining departments to make this a great community in which to live and work. Many people continue to make North Royalton their home of choice. As a result, our property values have continued to climb dramatically over the last 10 years despite the recession. We were also reviewed for our community services, environmental practices, maintenance and infrastructure and quality of life. When they evaluated these factors we were one of the top communities in Northeast Ohio.”
The top twenty communities this year, as ranked by this survey, were Avon, Rocky River, Richfield Village, Bay Village, Westlake, Solon, Highland Heights, Independence, Beachwood, Avon Lake, Orange Village, Hudson, Twinsburg, Broadview Heights, Aurora, Mayfield Heights, Brecksville, North Royalton, Chagrin Falls and Pepper Pike respectively.
The survey shows the population for North Royalton to be 30,327, 8.5% of which are minorities, and 4.6% considered living below poverty levels. The average price of a home in North Royalton is $212,000 and shows an appreciation of about 24.71% over a five-year period; and 6% over ten years. Property taxes averaged at $2,250 per $100,000 of house valuation and 78.9% of the housing units are owner-occupied. 9.1% of the roads have sidewalks and the city scored a 2 for Environmental Infractions and 13 for Total Community Services. Environmental Infractions are reported polluted sites from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency’s database reports. Community Services include the following services that are available to residents: Basketball courts, tennis courts, baseball/softball fields, indoor/outdoor ice skating rinks, indoor/outdoor swimming pools, recreation centers, skateboard park, senior services, youth services, recycling programs, free mulch/leaf pickup/garbage pickup.
The education scoring included student-teacher ratio, average ACT score, 3rd/4th/5th/6th/7th/8th grade achievement test scores, 10th/11th grade Ohio graduation test scores, 4/5 year graduation rate, attendance, performance index, overall value added, languages, AP courses, National Merit finalists, dropout prevention, non-athletic extracurriculars and sports. North Royalton City Schools showed a 96% 4-year graduation rate and a 95.9% attendance rate for the 2014-15 school year.
“The high ranking is something to be proud of,” said North Royalton School Superintendent Greg Gurka. “While I’m proud to be in the top third, I know we can do better.” He noted that the district has done things this year to take the district from good to great, including making adjustments in curriculum and technology, working with the collaboration of the staff and community to make those changes.
The first place safety ranking was up from 21 for 2015. It shows North Royalton reporting 0 murders, rapes, and aggravated robberies, 5 assaults, 12 burglaries, 134 larceny/thefts, 1 vehicle thefts and 0 arsons. Total violent crime per 1,000 in population is 0.16, comparing with .88 for Broadview Heights and 1.88 for Strongsville. Total non-violent crime per 1,000 for North Royalton was 4.85, compared with 3.22 for Broadview Heights and 19.53 for Strongsville. North Royalton Safety Director, Bruce Campbell is happy with the rating, stating that “it says it’s good for a city overall to have a safer environment.” He did point out that the public safety aspect of the criteria could be a bit more comprehensive, including such aspects as fire and EMS. The calculations for determining ranking were based on cumulative scores for each community. Many government agencies have provided the statistics for the scores. For example, the education category was rated from information from the Ohio Department of Education’s School District 2014-15 Report Card district files. The property tax information came from the Cuyahoga County Auditor’s office. The category showing poverty level was rated from information from the 2010-2014 census. Safety information was provided by each city based on statistics from calendar year 2015. The Ohio EPA and the U.S. Department of Commerce were also included as resources, among others.
“We’re one of the best kept secrets in northeast Ohio and I’m glad we are finally getting some acknowledgment,” said Stefanik.

By GLORIA PLEVA KACIK
Contributing Writer