Housing prices in Ohio are rising faster than wages for the state's most common jobs, a report released Thursday says.
The study by The Coalition on Homelessness and Housing Ohio and the National Low Income Housing Coalition (COHHIO) suggests eight of Ohio's 10 most common jobs pay less than the $20 per hour it costs to rent the average two-bedroom apartment. Some areas cost even more. In Cincinnati, it takes a full-time job making about $23 per hour to afford a two-bedroom apartment. In Columbus, the wage is $25 per hour.
About 143,000 Ohioans work as general operations managers, and another 133,000 work as registered nurses, according to Bureau of Labor Statistics data. Both of those jobs easily make more than the $20 per hour threshold. But other common jobs hundreds of thousands of Ohioans hold — home health aides, laborers, fast food workers and more — do not.
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"What a person is earning compared to what they need, that delta is growing bigger and bigger compared to what they need," COHHIO Executive Director Amy Riegel says.
Riegel says the gap is the result of skyrocketing rent increases. Those big spikes increased housing insecurity. Evictions in Ohio last year reached their highest levels since 2015 and homelessness increased 7%.
The effects of those big rent spikes fall hardest on seniors and those with the lowest-incomes, Riegel says.
Ohio lawmakers have made some steps toward solutions, including creating the state low-income housing tax credit program and convening a Senate committee on housing. Housing advocates like COHHIO argue more needs to be done, however, especially for people on extremely low or fixed incomes.