State Route 261 (SR 261) is an east–west state highway located in northeastern Ohio that passes through Medina, Summit, and Portage Counties. At a length of 26 miles (42 km), State Route 261 runs from a signalized intersection with State Route 94 in Wadsworth to a signalized T-intersection with State Route 59 in Franklin Township just east of Kent.

State Route 261's routing is more complicated than other state highways, frequently changing streets and direction. It runs through downtown Akron as two sets of one-way surface streets. It has a divided highway section from the outskirts of southern Kent to just east of State Route 43. This divided section was originally planned to be limited access and tie in with another highway, State Route 435, but this plan was never implemented.

At one time SR 261 followed SR 43 into downtown Kent.