Painesville is a city in and the county seat of Lake County, Ohio, United States, located along the Grand River. It is a northeast suburb of Cleveland. Its population was 20,312 at the 2020 census. Painesville is included in the Greater Cleveland metropolitan area.

Painesville is included in what is historically referred to as the Connecticut Western Reserve. General Edward Paine (1746–1841), a native of Bolton, Connecticut, who had served as a captain in the Connecticut militia during the war, and John Walworth arrived in 1800 with a party of sixty-six settlers, among the first in the Western Reserve. General Paine later represented the region in the territorial legislature of the Northwest Territory.

In 1800 the Western Reserve became Trumbull County and at the first Court of Quarter Sessions, the county was divided into eight townships. The smallest of these townships was named Painesville, for General Paine, and encompassed what later became the townships of Perry, Leroy, Hambden, Concord, Chardon, Mentor, and Kirtland. The township government was organized in 1802. The post office in Painesville was opened in 1803 with John Walworth as postmaster.

In what was to become the commercial center of the township was a settlement called Oak Openings, its name being descriptive of the scrub oaks and sandy soil. It was here in 1805 that Gen. Henry Champion laid out a village plat and called it Champion, a name that it carried only until incorporation in 1832, when the name "Painesville" was chosen in honor of General Paine. Two of his descendants, Eleazer A. Paine and Halbert E. Paine, later served as Union Army generals during the American Civil War.

In 1840, Lake County, Ohio was created from portions of Geauga County and Cuyahoga County, and Painesville was made the county seat and a courthouse was erected. In 1852, the community of Painesville became a village, and in 1902 the village attained city status.

Rider's Inn opened on June 16, 1812, on what is now US Route 20 to serve weary travelers passing through Painesville. But later in the 19th century it served a greater purpose – as a stop on the Underground Railroad. The freedom seekers would come to a dry well located behind the inn. There, they would find a ladder leading down to a door to the inn's basement. Fugitive slaves were able to rest and recharge before making their way across Lake Erie into Canada. Over the years, historians estimate that 3,000 former slaves came through Rider's Inn. The inn served as a meeting spot for the anti-slavery committee in town, and documents have been found detailing their abolitionist movement. After over two hundred years, and in its original location and building, the Inn is still open offering lodging and dining. Historical photographs, memorabilia and documents such as the anti-slavery Bugle are currently on display in the main lobby.

According to the United States Census Bureau, the city has a total area of 7.01 square miles (18.15 km), of which 6.83 square miles (17.68 km) are land and 0.18 square miles (0.47 km), or 2.59%, is water.

Painesville and Concord townships, along with the village of Fairport Harbor and the city of Mentor, are adjacent to Painesville.

Painesville has a hybrid between a humid subtropical and humid continental climate (Köppen Cfa/Dfa). In spite of the mild winter days, lake-effect snow usually brings a lot of accumulation in winter. Summers have warm days and quite muggy nights. Precipitation is high year-round.

Painesville has a council-manager system of government. The City Council consists of seven members, who are elected for four-year terms. Three members are elected by the city at-large, and four members are elected from wards. As of 2024, the members of the City Council are as follows:

Painesville City Council

Seat	Name	Party
Council-at-Large	Derrick L. Abney	Democrat
Council-at-Large	Lori Dinallo	Republican
Council-at-Large	Jim Fodor	Democrat
Ward 1	Christine L. Shoop	Democrat
Ward 2	Mario Rodriguez Jr	Democrat
Ward 3	Nicholas G. Augustine	Democrat
Ward 4	Paul Hach II	Democrat

Historical population

Census	Pop.	Note	%±
1820	257		—
1830	499		94.2%
1840	1,014		103.2%
1860	2,649		—
1870	3,728		40.7%
1880	3,841		3.0%
1890	4,755		23.8%
1900	5,024		5.7%
1910	5,501		9.5%
1920	7,272		32.2%
1930	10,944		50.5%
1940	12,235		11.8%
1950	14,432		18.0%
1960	16,116		11.7%
1970	16,536		2.6%
1980	16,351		−1.1%
1990	15,699		−4.0%
2000	17,503		11.5%
2010	19,563		11.8%
2020	20,312		3.8%
2021 (est.)	20,591		1.4%
Sources:

Painesville's Hispanic population increased elevenfold between 1990 and 2010. New residents were primarily immigrants from León, Guanajuato, the fourth-largest city in Mexico. They had settled in Painesville after finding work in its plant nurseries.

As of the 2020 census, Painesville led the state of Ohio in the percentage of people speaking Spanish at home, with 20.2%. The racial distribution is as follows: White alone 57.1%, Black 14.7%, Hispanic 24.3%, Asian 1.3%, American Indian .2%, Pacific Islander .2%, two or more races 9.3%. Educational attainment for residents 25 and older is the following: High School Diploma 84%, Bachelor's Degree of higher 20.7%. The medium household income is $51,373 and the per capita income for a family of three is $79,086.

As of the census of 2010, there were 19,563 people, 7,095 households, and 4,381 families living in the city. The population density was 3,110.2 inhabitants per square mile (1,200.9/km). There were 7,867 housing units at an average density of 1,250.7 per square mile (482.9/km). The racial makeup of the city was 68.2% White, 13.1% African American, 0.3% Native American, 0.8% Asian, 13.2% from other races, and 4.5% from two or more races. Hispanic or Latino of any race were 22.0% of the population.

There were 7,095 households, of which 37.2% had children under the age of 18 living with them, 37.8% were married couples living together, 18.4% had a female householder with no husband present, 5.5% had a male householder with no wife present, and 38.3% were non-families. 29.9% of all households were made up of individuals, and 8.2% had someone living alone who was 65 years of age or older. The average household size was 2.64 and the average family size was 3.33.

The median age in the city was 30.2 years. 28.3% of residents were under the age of 18; 12.6% were between the ages of 18 and 24; 29.9% were from 25 to 44; 20.5% were from 45 to 64; and 8.7% were 65 years of age or older. The gender makeup of the city was 50.3% male and 49.7% female.

Public education in the city of Painesville is provided by the Painesville City Schools, which includes Red Raider Preschool; Chestnut Elementary School, Elm Street Elementary School, and Maple Elementary School (all grades K–5); Heritage Middle School (grades 6–8) and Thomas W. Harvey High School (grades 9–12).

Hershey Montessori School is Painesville's independent school option that educates students from birth through sixth grade. Its seventh through twelfth grade campus is located in nearby Huntsburg, Ohio.

Painesville is the home of Lake Erie College, a private liberal arts college enrolling approximately 1,200 students. The college offers over 60 undergraduate programs and master's programs. The former Andrews Osborne Academy's Painesville campus became part of Lake Erie College in 2008.

Lakeland Community College, located in nearby Kirtland, Ohio, offers Associate Degree level education to residents of Painesville and Lake County.

Morley Library, serving both Painesville City and Painesville Township, is located within Painesville's 284-acre (115 ha) Historic Downtown District.

• WHWN (88.3 FM) Regional Mexican
• WABQ (1460 AM) Urban contemporary gospel

The Painesville City and Painesville Township healthcare needs are provided in neighboring Concord Township by University Hospitals Cleveland Medical Center and Tri-Point Medical Center. The hospital is part of the Lake Health healthcare system.

Major transportation routes in the city are U.S. Route 20 and Ohio State Route 2, Ohio State Route 84 and Ohio State Route 44. Painesville is located just north of Interstate 90 and is easily accessed via Route 44.

Laketran operates bus lines throughout Lake County as well as into downtown Cleveland and Cleveland's major medical centers in University Circle.

Two major railroads, CSX and Norfolk Southern, pass through the city and serve some of the city's industries. Additionally, Amtrak's Lake Shore Limited passes through on the CSX line. However, these trains do not stop in the city. The nearest Amtrak station is 28 miles (45 km) to the southwest in Cleveland.

Painesville is 43 miles (69 km) from Cleveland Hopkins International Airport, Ohio's largest airport.

The largest employers are the city government, county government, and the public school systems. Other notable employers in the area include Avery Dennison, Mar-Bal Corp., Lubrizol, AeroControlex, Guyer Precision, Eckart America, Ranpak and Meritec.

The area in and around Painesville was used as the location for the filming of the 1964 feature film One Potato, Two Potato. The film, which was selected at that year's Cannes Film Festival, provides a glimpse of the era in the city's downtown, featuring its central park and surrounding architecture. The Lake County Courthouse and Painesville City Hall remain today. The historic Parmly Hotel, which is seen in the opening credits and occasionally throughout the film, has since been replaced by a shopping plaza and office complex.

• Official website
• Eastern Lake County Chamber of Commerce
• Downtown Painesville Organization