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Brooklyn Heights, Ohio
Inside Brooklyn Heights' city limits, a shallow water table limits basements on 14% of mapped land. Shrink-swell clay limits houses without basements on 1%.
That water-table share is below Cuyahoga County's 51%. FEMA's flood data list 25 flood losses since 2016 in ZIP code 44131 overlapping the city. Of its 620 homes, 83% were built before 1980; the median dates from 1960.
Data as of October 13, 2026 · sources · in Cuyahoga County
expansive clay: shrink-swell limits slab homes
high water table: limits basements
flood losses since 2016 in 1 overlapping ZIP
of homes built before 1980
Basement waterproofing in Brooklyn Heights
Basement waterproofing in Brooklyn Heights: a shallow water table limits basements on 14% of Brooklyn Heights' mapped land, and the ZIP code overlapping Brooklyn Heights logged 25 FEMA flood losses since 2016.
In Cuyahoga County, 47% of the 90 flood-loss buildings with a recorded foundation type had basements.
About 600 of Brooklyn Heights' 620 homes are detached houses.
Soil under Brooklyn Heights city limits
| Expansive clay (limits slab homes) | 1.3% |
| High water table (limits basements) | 14.0% |
| Septic fields very limited | 53.3% |
| Clay swell (LEP, by area) | 2.3% |
| High-swell land (LEP 6%+) | 1.3% |
| Urban land, not rated | 15.1% |
| Mapped soil | 1,162 acres |
What the numbers mean here
USDA rates 53% of the land very limited for septic absorption fields.
With shrink-swell clay on 1% and a shallow water table on 14% of the land, the soil survey points to neither problem across most of Brooklyn Heights; conditions still vary lot by lot.
Drought in Cuyahoga County
0% of Cuyahoga County is in drought (D1 or worse) on the October 13, 2026 map. County detail.
Flood losses by ZIP code
FEMA flood records since 2016 in the ZIP codes that overlap Brooklyn Heights. ZIP areas reach past city limits.
| ZIP | Share of city land | Flood losses | Paid |
|---|---|---|---|
| 44131 | 98% | 25 | $2.3 million |
Homes in Brooklyn Heights
| Housing units | 620 |
| Median year built | 1960 |
| Built before 1980 | 83% |
| Built 2000 or later | 6% |
| Owner-occupied | 90% |
| Median value, owner-occupied | $234,400 |
| Single-family detached | 96% |
Nearby cities
| Place | Distance | Expansive clay | High water table |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cuyahoga Heights | 1 mi | 2% | 5% |
| Newburgh Heights | 2 mi | 1% | 13% |
| Seven Hills | 3 mi | 0% | 58% |
| Garfield Heights | 3 mi | under 1% | 28% |
| Independence | 3 mi | 3% | 45% |
| Valley View | 4 mi | 5% | 32% |
| Cleveland | 4 mi | under 1% | 17% |
| Parma | 4 mi | 0% | 53% |
Sources: USDA SSURGO (August 5, 2026) · US Drought Monitor (October 13, 2026) · FEMA NFIP v3 (September 9, 2026) · Census ACS 2020-2024. Methods · Data status