Utilities & Transportation

Housing Insecurity

Housing Stock

Health

Income & Labor

Demographics

Median student loan debt is among the population with any student loan debt. Median amount of monthly student loan payment is among those borrowers with open accounts (i.e., not deferred or in collections). Percent with student loan debt is the share of adults with a credit bureau record who have any student loan debt, including those with accounts that are open, deferred or in collections.

Severe mortgage burden is defined as an owner-occupied household spending at least 50 percent of income on homeowner costs or having no income.

Gross rent includes average monthly cost of utilities (i.e., electricity, natural gas, water, sewer, and heating fuels).

Severe rent burden is defined as a renter household spending at least 50 percent of household income on gross rent or having no income.

Extremely low-income (ELI) is defined as those with incomes at or below the federal poverty level or 30% of area median income, whichever is greater. Very low-income (VLI) is defined as those with incomes at or below 50% of area median income, including ELI households. Affordability is based on the common standard that households should not spend more than 30% of their income on housing. Rental units are both "affordable and available" to renters in a specific income group if the gross rent meets the 30% affordability threshold and they are either available for rent or occupied by households with incomes at or below the defined income level.

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 2015–2019 American Community Survey (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 2015–2019 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 2019 Consumer Expenditure Survey from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics; transit use costs are derived from 2019 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.

Transitional age youth (TAY) are young people between 16 and 24 years of age who are in transition out of state custody or foster care. Survey results on TAY outcomes are based on a five-year cohort. At 17 years of age, respondents reported any experience of homelessness in their lifetime, while 19- and 21-year-old respondents reported experience of homelessness in the past two years. Homelessness is defined as having no regular or adequate place to live.

Data on new housing units authorized for construction are limited to privately-owned homes.

Vacation homes are identified by the Census Bureau as housing units for "seasonal, recreational, or occasional use."

A 2013 study from The Ohio State University found that the share of homes built before 1950 was the most important predictor of elevated blood lead levels (EBLLs) in Ohio children under 6. Those homes predate the earliest laws in the United States restricting the use of lead paint in housing, which were enacted in the 1950s in some cities. Pre-1950 homes are also more likely to have chipped paint or lead-contaminated dust which can be ingested by young children. The use of lead paint in housing was finally banned nationally in 1978 by the Consumer Product Safety Commission. As such homes built between 1950 to 1979 are considered to pose moderate levels of risk to young children; homes built prior to 1950 are considered to be pose a greater risk.

The infant mortality rate is the number of infant deaths (before the first birthday) per 1,000 live births in the year prior.

Opioids include the illegal drug heroin, the synthetic drug fentanyl, and pain medications available legally by prescription, such as oxycodone, hydrocodone, codeine, and morphine. The unintentional opioid overdose mortality rate is the number of deaths per 100,000 population and is a crude rate (i.e., not age-adjusted).

Poverty status can only be determined for individuals in households and therefore the denominator excludes individuals living in group quarters such as college dormitories, correctional facilities, and nursing homes.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS) only surveyed private sector business establishments about teleworking policies.

NH = non-Hispanic.