OHFA's Office of Research and Analytics regularly evaluates the Agency's programs to better understand how we are meeting the housing needs of Ohioans. The new Housing Tax Credit Resident Profile looks at the demographics of the more than 173,000 residents living in affordable rental units in 2021 that were funded using the federal Housing Tax Credit (HTC) program. This information will help OHFA and its partners determine where needs are being met and where gaps remain.
Demographic information on residents' age, gender, race, and ethnicity, as well as household income and receipt of rental assistance, are based on internal OHFA tenant data, which are collected annually from property managers. The Office compared these data to the broader HTC-eligible population in low-income renter households across the state (1,766,223 individuals across 837,689 households) using Census PUMS data. Here are the key findings:
Age and Gender
- The HTC resident population is disproportionately female (62%)
- Renters living in HTC housing tend to be older than the broader eligible population
- The median age for a head of household in an HTC unit is 54 years, which is older than the typical HTC-eligible householder (median age is 45)
- Ohioans in their 20s and men younger than age 60 are underrepresented in the HTC Credit population
More detail on age and gender for HTC residents starts on Page 4
Race and Ethnicity
- Black Ohioans make up a larger share of the HTC resident population than among the entire HTC-eligible population in Ohio
- Hispanic Ohioans and Asians/Pacific Islanders are underrepresented in the HTC resident population
- 13.5% of eligible non-Hispanic Black renters live in Ohio's HTC properties, compared to 5.1% of eligible Hispanic renters, and 2.4% of eligible renters who are non-Hispanic Asian or Pacific Islander.
More detail on race and ethnicity for HTC residents starts on Page 6
Income
- The HTC program targets Ohio renters at the lowest income levels
- The median income for HTC resident households was $12,456 at the end of 2021, compared to $17,524 for all HTC-eligible renter households in Ohio
- Extremely low-income households represent nearly two-thirds of active HTC units, compared to about half of all renters at or below 60% AMI
More detail on income for HTC residents starts on Page 8
Rental Assistance
- The median monthly gross rent in HTC projects in 2021 was $735, lower than for Ohio in general ($825), according to the 2020 American Community Survey
- Nearly seven out of ten HTC renters (69.0%) receive some kind of rental assistance
- The most common type of rental assistance in HTC projects is Project-Based Section 8, representing more than half of all such assistance in Ohio
To learn more, read the complete Housing Tax Credit Resident Profile.
