Report: Ohio’s housing wage gap continues to climb

By J.D. Davidson
The Center Square 

Ohio home renters continue to need to make more money to afford a place to live.

A report released Thursday by the National Low Income Housing Coalition and the Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio showed the gap between what people pay in rent and their income has doubled in the last five years.

“The cost of rent is squeezing working Ohioans like never before,” said Amy Riegel, executive director of the coalition. “Rent now consumes so much of the income that people need to survive. That’s why homelessness has been increasing, and we’re seeing more and more seniors wind up in the homeless system.”

The 2025 Out of Reach Report says the difference between what renters’ earn and what they pay for housing is more than doubled since the COVID-19 pandemic, rising to nearly a $4 difference per hour.

According to the report, the average Ohio renter makes $18.62 an hour, $3.89 an hour less than the two-bedroom housing wage.

In 2020, that gap was $1.57 per hour. The group’s housing wage is an estimate of what an hourly worker must make to afford a rental in the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development’s Fair Market Rent without spending more than 30% of their income.

The report shows that full-time workers in the state on average need to make $22.51 per hour to be able to afford a modest, two-bedroom apartment.

In Columbus, someone needs to make at least $27.79 an hour, while the Cincinnati rate is $24 per hour, and in Cleveland it’s $23.23. Ohio’s housing wage rose 40.7% since 2020.

The report comes as the Trump administration considers cutting HUD’s budget by 44% and eliminating the federal government’s rental assistance programs.

Ohio lawmakers recently kept the Ohio Low Income Housing Tax Credit program and the Ohio Housing Trust Fund in the new biennial budget passed last month.

“Every year the housing market keeps pushing people closer and closer to the breaking point,” Riegel said.