This section focuses on how Ohio's renters are able to balance housing costs compared to income. When renters spend more than 30% of their income on housing, they risk being unable to afford other necessities, such as food and healthcare. When they spend more than half their income on rent and other housing costs, they find themselves at risk of eviction and homelessness. Rent burden places householders in a precarious position, in which any unexpected cost, such as a car repair, can make their housing situation unstable.
Section Highlights
- Ohio renters are spending more on rent. Adjusted for inflation, median gross rent in Ohio increased by 10% from $788 per month in 2012 to $870 per month in 2021. For recent movers—who typically pay more in rent—the increase over this period is even greater (+18%), from $799 per month in 2012 to $942 in 2021. Rent is currently higher than in any year on record other than 2021, when adjusted for inflation.
- The increase in income for the 80th percentile of Ohioans since 2006 has outpaced the increase in rent over that period, while the income level at the 20th percentile has generally lagged since 2008. As such, Ohio renters are spending more relative to income. The median share of income spent on rent (28%) is steadily increasing after a decade of decline.
- The prevalence of severe rent burden is also on the rise. In 2021, 25% of Ohio renters were spending at least half their income on housing—up from a record low of 23% in 2019—putting them at risk of eviction and homelessness.
- One-in-three Black renters in Ohio (31%) was severely rent-burdened in 2021, compared to one-in-five white renters (22%). This gap is widest in Northwest Ohio (11 percentage points), where white renters are the least likely to spend more than half their income on housing (19%) compared to their Black counterparts (30%).
- There has been a net loss of affordable rental housing for the lowest income Ohioans. There are 447,717 extremely low-income (ELI) renters in Ohio, but only 177,318 rental homes affordable and available to them—leaving a shortage of 270,399 units. The affordability gap between supply and demand for the lowest-income renters is now widening, with a net loss of over 15,000 affordable units between 2020 and 2021.
Jump to: Rent | Rental Affordability Gap | Severe Rent Burden
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Rent
Median Monthly Gross Rent
Source: American Community Survey (ACS) One-Year Estimates, Table B25064
Median Monthly Gross Rent for Recent Movers
Source: IPUMS USA, University of Minnesota (based on one-year-estimates)
Change in Median Rent & Selected Income Levels
Source: American Community Survey (ACS) One-Year Estimates, Tables B19080 & B25064
Median Monthly Gross Rent by Year Structure Built
Source: 2021 American Community Survey (ACS) One-Year Estimates, Table B25111
Median Monthly Gross Rent
Source: 2017–2021 American Community Survey (ACS) Five-Year Estimates, 2021 ACS One-Year Estimates, Tables B25003 & B25064
Change in Median Gross Rent
Source: American Community Survey (ACS) Five-Year Estimates, ACS One-Year Estimates, Table B25064
Gross Rent as Share of Income
Source: 2017–2021 American Community Survey (ACS) Five-Year Estimates, 2021 ACS One-Year Estimates, Tables B25064 & B25071
Rental Affordability Gap
Shortage of Affordable & Available Units by Income
Source: The Gap: A Shortage of Affordable Homes, March 2023, National Low Income Housing Coalition (based on 2021 one-year estimates)
Affordable & Available Ratio, U.S & Ohio, by Income
Source: The Gap: A Shortage of Affordable Homes, March 2023, National Low Income Housing Coalition (based on 2021 one-year estimates)
Affordable & Available Ratio by Income & Region
Source: National Low Income Housing Coalition (public data request, based on 2021 one-year estimates)
Severe Rent Burden
Severe Rent Burden in the U.S. & Ohio
Source: American Community Survey (ACS) One-Year Estimates, Tables B25070 & B25106
Severe Rent Burden by Age
Source: IPUMS USA, University of Minnesota (based on 2021 one-year-estimates)
Severe Rent Burden by Race & Ethnicity
Source: IPUMS USA, University of Minnesota (based on 2021 one-year-estimates)
Severe Rent Burden by Region
Source: 2017–2021 American Community Survey (ACS) Five-Year Estimates, Tables B25070 & B25106
Severe Rent Burden
Source: 2017–2021 American Community Survey (ACS) Five-Year Estimates, Tables B25070 & B25106
Severe Rent Burden Gap, Black & White, by Region
Source: IPUMS USA, University of Minnesota (based on 2021 one-year-estimates)
Downloadable Tables
- Rental Housing Tables (78 KB Excel File)
Related Reports
- Fiscal Year 2021 Housing Needs Assessment
- Fiscal Year 2022 Regional Housing Needs Assessments
- Legislative Reports and District Maps
- Ohio Housing Finance Agency 2022 Annual Report (5.06 MB Adobe PDF File)
- Ohio Housing Finance Agency 2024-2025 Annual Plan (2.74 MB Adobe PDF File)
- OHFA Economic Impact Report (2.79 MB Adobe PDF File)
Notes
Gross rent includes average monthly cost of utilities (i.e., electricity, natural gas, water, sewer, and heating fuels).
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. Regional estimates are calculated using a geographic correspondence file from the Missouri Census Data Center at the University of Missouri to "crosswalk" the data from Public Use Microdata Areas (PUMAs) to counties.
Severe rent burden is defined as a renter household spending at least 50 percent of household income on gross rent or having no income.
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 Department of Development. Regional estimates of IPUMS USA data are calculated using a geographic correspondence file from the Missouri Census Data Center at the University of Missouri to "crosswalk" the data from Public Use Microdata Areas (PUMAs) to counties.
Data Sources
- National Low Income Housing Coalition (public data request)
- National Low Income Housing Coalition, The Gap: A Shortage of Affordable Homes
- Ohio Department of Development, TourismOhio, Ohio Regions
- U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, American Community Survey (ACS)
- U.S. Department of Commerce, Bureau of the Census, American Housing Survey
- U.S. Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics, Consumer Price Index
- University of Minnesota, IPUMS USA
- University of Missouri, Missouri Census Data Center, Geocorr Applications