While some small Ohio towns offer affordability and vibrance, many Ohioans are priced out of owning new homes, a new housing affordability study suggests. Buying a home in Ohio got significantly harder over the past five years.
The nation's housing affordability crisis has long been a topic of concern, but five Ohio metro areas ranked among the 25 worst affordability declines in the country, according to data from the National Housing Conference's Paycheck to Paycheck report. Meanwhile, affordability is a top concern among Ohio voters, polling data suggests.
Here's which Ohio cities made the list.
Ohio leads nation in homeownership affordability losses
The Buckeye State experienced the nation's largest drop in home-buying affordability between 2020 and 2025, according to the National Housing Conference
report.
Five Ohio metro areas ranked among the 25 biggest affordability declines in the country:
- Mansfield (No. 2)
- Cleveland (No. 8)
- Springfield (No. 10)
- Toledo (No. 13)
- Akron (No. 23)
Mansfield among the hardest-hit cities
Mansfield ranked second nationwide for declining housing affordability. In 2020, more than 8 in 10 occupations tracked by the study could afford a typical home in Mansfield with a 10% down payment. By 2025, that had dropped to about 3 in 10.
The typical home price rose from about $115,000 to nearly $189,000 during that stretch, while wages failed to keep up. The qualifying income needed to afford a home in Mansfield increased 121% between 2020 and 2025, the study found.
Columbus saw a similar trend, the study found. The income needed to buy a typical home more than doubled between 2020 and 2025, while occupations able to afford a home fell from 40% to just 9%.
Why housing is becoming less affordable in Ohio?
The report suggests housing costs have risen much faster than wages.
As home prices climbed, many middle-income workers, such as teachers, postal workers and administrative employees, could no longer afford homes in communities that had long been considered affordable.
Ohio renters feeling the squeeze in Cincinnati, Columbus, Lima
It's not just homebuyers feeling the pinch. The income needed to afford a typical two-bedroom apartment in Ohio increased by an average of 39% since 2020, according to the study.
Columbus, Cincinnati and Lima all saw sharp increases, while more workers across the state found themselves priced out of renting.
How the study worked
Researchers compared housing costs in nearly 390 metro areas with the median annual salary for nearly 300 occupations in those areas using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, Zillow and HUD.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Ohio sees biggest drop in home affordability in US, report finds
