FY 2021 Housing Needs Assessment Sections:

Executive Summary Table of Contents Homeownership Rental Housing Home Energy & Transportation Housing Insecurity Housing Stock Income & Labor Demographics How Ohio Compares COVID-19

Home Energy & Transportation

This section looks at the use of energy to heat and power Ohio homes and how energy, utility and transportation costs affect household budgets. Many Ohioans struggle to afford their monthly energy bills or the expenses associated with having to own a car. These additional costs beyond a rent or mortgage payment can make some places in Ohio less affordable to call home.

Section Highlights

  • Adjusted for inflation, the average cost of utilities has become less expensive to households over the past decade–down 15% for homeowners and 11% for renters since 2009–due in large part to a reduction in the cost of natural gas.
  • The average household in Ohio emits 17 metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent per year from home energy use, higher than the national average (14).
  • One in 18 Ohio households (6%) relies on the Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP) to help with the cost of utilities. Need for assistance is by far the highest in Southeast Ohio, where 13% of households participate in the program.
  • The typical Ohio household spends $12,664 per year on transportation costs, mostly from car ownership. Rural households pay more on average ($13,824) than urban households ($10,857).
  • On average, Ohio households spend 26% of income on transportation, slightly higher than the national average (23%) and 11 points higher than the recommended threshold of affordability, according to the Center for Neighborhood Technology.
  • The typical Ohio household spends a combined 52% of income on housing and transportation–what is referred to at the H+T® Affordability Index–seven points higher than the threshold of affordability devised by the Center for Neighborhood Technology. The more Ohioans spend on housing and transportation the less they have to spend on other vital household costs like medical expenses and childcare.

Jump to: Home Energy & Utilities | Transportation

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Home Energy & Utilities



Homeowner Utility Costs by Type

Source: IPUMS USA, University of Minnesota

Renter Utility Costs by Type

Source: IPUMS USA, University of Minnesota



Carbon Footprint from Home Energy Use by Region

Source: CoolClimate Network, University of California Berkeley (public data request, based on 2013 data)

Carbon Footprint from Home Energy Use

Source: CoolClimate Network, University of California Berkeley (public data request, based on 2013 data)

Share of Households Participating in HEAP by Region

Source: 2019 Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP) data, Ohio Development Services Agency (public data request); 2014–2018 American Community Survey (ACS) Five-Year Estimates, Table DP04

Share of Households Participating in HEAP

Source: 2019 Home Energy Assistance Program (HEAP) data, Ohio Development Services Agency (public data request)


Transportation


Household Transportation Costs by Type & Typology

Source: H+T® Affordability Index, Center for Neighborhood Technology (based on 2011–2015 data)

H+T® Affordability Index by Typology

Source: H+T® Affordability Index, Center for Neighborhood Technology (based on 2011–2015 data)


Annual Household Transportation Costs

Source: H+T® Affordability Index, Center for Neighborhood Technology (based on 2011–2015 data)

H+T® Affordability Index

Source: H+T® Affordability Index, Center for Neighborhood Technology (based on 2011–2015 data)

Downloadable Tables

Related Reports

Notes

This CoolClimate Network model includes direct emissions from consumption of fossil fuels to heat homes as well as indirect emissions embodied in the production of electricity used to power homes. Electricity is measured in kilowatt hours per year, natural gas is measured in cubic feet per year, and home fuel oil is measured in gallons per year. Carbon footprint is measured in metric tons (or tonnes) of carbon dioxide equivalent per year. Carbon dioxide is a greenhouse gas that contributes to global climate change.

The H+T® Affordability Index combines the average housing and transportation costs as a share of household income. Housing costs are based on "selected monthly owner costs" and gross rent from 2011-2015 American Community Survey (ACS) (ACS) Five-Year Estimates. These are averaged and weighted by tenure. Transportation costs are defined as the sum of auto ownership costs, auto use costs and transit costs. These are averaged and weighted by auto ownership, auto use and transit use. Auto ownership and transit use are also derived from 2011–2015 ACS Five-Year Estimates; auto use is derived from a place-based model of vehicle miles traveled; auto ownership costs and auto use costs are derived from the 2013 Consumer Expenditure Survey from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics; transit use costs are derived from 2015 National Transit Database data from the Federal Transportation Administration. Costs and income are based on a "Regional Typical Household," assuming area median household income, average household size for the region and average number of commuters per household for the region.

Inflationary adjustments are based on the Consumer Price Index for All Urban Consumers (CPI-U), from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, for "all items less shelter."

Ohio Regions are defined at the county level by TourismOhio, part of the Ohio Development Services Agency.

Typologies are defined at the census tract level in the OHFA 2018–2019 USR Opportunity Index by the Kirwan Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnicity at The Ohio State University. They are based on a combination of road network density, housing density, population density and age of housing.

Data Sources