Affordability & Cost of Living
Affordability is shaped by the relationship between household income and the costs families face every month. Food, housing, utilities, taxes, insurance, childcare, healthcare, and other essentials all affect how far an Ohio paycheck goes.
Explore the costs, income trends, evidence, research, and policy questions behind affordability in Ohio.
Understand the Issue
Cost of living is not one number. Start with the major pressures that determine what Ohio households can afford and how those pressures compare with wages and income.
Household Essentials
How have the costs of groceries, insurance, childcare, and other recurring necessities changed for Ohio households?
Housing Costs
How do home prices, rents, mortgage rates, property taxes, and housing supply affect household budgets?
Utilities & Property Taxes
How do electricity, gas, water, local taxes, and other location-based costs affect the cost of maintaining a household?
Wages & Purchasing Power
Are wages and household incomes keeping pace with the prices Ohioans actually pay for major necessities?
Ohio Common Ground Legislative Tracker Issue Index #1: Affordability
Ohio Common Ground's first Legislative Tracker covers affordability legislation in the 136th Ohio General Assembly: through July 3, 2026, eight bills have been enacted — a five-bill property-tax package that mostly slows future tax growth rather than cutting current bills, a utility ratemaking overhaul, a pharmacy-benefit-manager reform, and the state budget — while twenty more, including a property-tax circuit breaker, a housing package, and a drug-pricing board, remain stuck in committee; the tracker stays neutral throughout, checking the legislature's $3 billion savings claim against independent fiscal estimates (closer to $1 billion) and pairing the record with polling on affordability as voters' top concern, laying out facts rather than a verdict.
READ RESEARCH →Explore Affordability Research
Research, analysis, and source-based work related to this issue in Ohio.
Ohio Common Ground Legislative Tracker Issue Index #1: Affordability
Ohio Common Ground's first Legislative Tracker covers affordability legislation in the 136th Ohio General Assembly: through July 3, 2026, eight bills have been enacted — a five-bill property-tax package that mostly slows future tax growth rather than cutting current bills, a utility ratemaking overhaul, a pharmacy-benefit-manager reform, and the state budget — while twenty more, including a property-tax circuit breaker, a housing package, and a drug-pricing board, remain stuck in committee; the tracker stays neutral throughout, checking the legislature's $3 billion savings claim against independent fiscal estimates (closer to $1 billion) and pairing the record with polling on affordability as voters' top concern, laying out facts rather than a verdict.
READ RESEARCH →Data & Primary Sources
As this Issue Center expands, this section will provide direct access to public datasets, government records, source documents, and other primary material used in OCG research.