Mentor is a city in Lake County, Ohio, United States. Mentor was first settled in 1797. The population was 47,450 at the 2020 census.
In 1876, James A. Garfield purchased a home in Mentor, from which he conducted the first successful front porch campaign for the presidency. That house is now maintained as the James A. Garfield National Historic Site. The city is home to Headlands Beach State Park, the longest public swimming beach in Ohio. The city is a major center of retail stores, ranking sixth-largest in Ohio as of 2012, and restaurants, ranking seventh-largest in the state as of 2012. Mentor Avenue is the major retail center, which includes the Great Lakes Mall, with additional shopping and strip malls found along most major roads. Convenient Food Mart is based in Mentor. Major products include medical related, polymers, plastics, electric boards and other peripherals that generally serve the computer and automation industries. Two major railroads pass through the city, CSX Transportation and Norfolk Southern. Medical equipment company Steris is based in Mentor.
Mentor's school system consists of eight elementary schools, two middle schools, and Mentor High School.