Affordability & Cost of Living
Independent research on housing, wages, prices, household budgets and how affordability changes over time.
OCG's Affordability & Cost of Living collection examines what Ohio households earn, what major necessities and consumer goods cost, and how different measures can produce different affordability stories.
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Begin with a curated sequence of visuals designed to give you the foundation before you explore the issue in depth.
Affordability & Cost of Living: Start Here
A guided introduction to housing, wages, household costs and the measures used to compare affordability.
Start Learning Path →Go Deeper
Explore a specific part of this issue through a focused guided learning path.
Affordability & Cost of Living: Wages vs. Prices
A focused path through purchasing power, hours of work, household budget shares and changing prices.
EXPLORE DEEP DIVE →Affordability & Cost of Living: Housing
A focused path through Ohio home prices, income, rents, mortgage costs and housing cost burden.
EXPLORE DEEP DIVE →Explore the Research
Browse OCG's charts, explainers, and data by subtopic. Select a Visual to see the explanation, sources, and verification behind it.
![[THUMBNAIL]](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6a4ce2573c5e347b9450aeb1/6ab27b3d3e964df940d18130_6ab15418860b7f5383b8f0e4_10_Ohio_Family_Health_Premiums_Hours.png)
Ohio Family Health Premiums Required More Hours of Work
Ohio employer family health premiums required more hours of worker pay in 2025 than in 2008.
View Visual →![[THUMBNAIL]](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6a4ce2573c5e347b9450aeb1/6ab27b3dc557cfa809fa45d5_6ab1543a24495ee154e86316_09_Lower_Income_Housing_Budget_Share.png)
Lower-Income Households Devote More of Their Budget to Housing
Housing consumes a larger share of spending for lower-income households than for higher-income households.
View Visual →![[THUMBNAIL]](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6a4ce2573c5e347b9450aeb1/6ab27b3c465dd97b086b27a3_6ab15453b1d55f9aa6d854e5_08_Hours_of_Work_Affordability.png)
Hours of Work Tell a Different Affordability Story
Converting a price into hours of work provides another way to compare affordability across time.
View Visual →![[THUMBNAIL]](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6a4ce2573c5e347b9450aeb1/6ab27b3c67fdba1a1e9aef22_6ab1547b3b862487950b9d36_07_Some_Things_More_Affordable.png)
Some Things Became More Affordable Since 2000
Affordability has not moved in the same direction for every household category since 2000.
View Visual →![[THUMBNAIL]](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6a4ce2573c5e347b9450aeb1/6ab27b3b23529d9546e61b42_6ab154afc450e5d447ccada2_05_Home_Price_Index_vs_Mortgage_Rates.png)
A Home Price Index Does Not Include Mortgage Rates
A home-price index measures home values, not the financing cost faced by a buyer.
View Visual →![[THUMBNAIL]](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6a4ce2573c5e347b9450aeb1/6ab27b3a1eabfbe035f7b4c2_6ab1549879d4bb950f9ec419_06_Affordability_Price_Relative_to_Wages.png)
Affordability = Price Relative to Wages
Price change alone does not tell you whether something became more or less affordable.
View Visual →![[THUMBNAIL]](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6a4ce2573c5e347b9450aeb1/6ab27b39d381ea6d28d59c38_6ab154dfae8f03e88ec8127f_04_Severe_Housing_Cost_Burden.png)
Severe Housing Cost Burden Is a 50% Threshold
Not every housing-cost-burden statistic uses the same threshold.
View Visual →![[THUMBNAIL]](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6a4ce2573c5e347b9450aeb1/6ab27b3873b152b6543df6d4_6ab1551f03b0f48764e23ade_02_Home_Price_to_Income_Ratio_2_6.png)
Ohio's Home-Price-to-Income Ratio Reached 2.6
Ohio's home-price-to-income ratio reached 2.6 in the most recent data used by WP016.
View Visual →![[THUMBNAIL]](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6a4ce2573c5e347b9450aeb1/6ab27b373b4f47ed029097b2_6ab155003b862487950c0726_03_Two_Bedroom_Rents_Rose_22_Percent.png)
Ohio Two-Bedroom Rents Rose 22% After Inflation
Ohio two-bedroom rents increased even after removing the effect of general inflation.
View Visual →![[THUMBNAIL]](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6a4ce2573c5e347b9450aeb1/6ab27b362610f7dcf4ace9df_6ab15538a8b275c9a61f6384_01_Ohio_Home_Prices_Outpaced_Income.png)
Ohio Home Prices Outpaced Household Income
Ohio home prices rose substantially faster than household income over the common 2015–2024 comparison period.
View Visual →![[THUMBNAIL]](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6a4ce2573c5e347b9450aeb1/6ab14c4d96b603511062b661_6ab13cda691b03ab80646579_07_Total_Premium_vs_Worker_Contribution.png)
Total Premium ≠ What the Household Pays Directly
The full cost of employer health coverage is not the same as the amount a worker pays directly.
View Visual →![[THUMBNAIL]](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6a4ce2573c5e347b9450aeb1/6ab14c4c81eca35c7ac11648_6ab13cfc3c80ac0409ee794f_06_Denominator_Changes_Affordability_Story.png)
The Denominator Changes the Affordability Story
Affordability ratios can change materially depending on which income denominator is used.
View Visual →![[THUMBNAIL]](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6a4ce2573c5e347b9450aeb1/6ab14c4b11c42f2a1c69366f_6ab13d25ada034c97407529e_05_Age_30_Family_Premium_Burden.png)
At Age 30, Family Premium Burden Was Higher for Millennials
Employer family premiums consumed a larger share of age-bracket household income for Millennials at age 30 than for Gen X.
View Visual →![[THUMBNAIL]](https://cdn.prod.website-files.com/6a4ce2573c5e347b9450aeb1/6aaebf8e09bc9f3728f0c7be_6aad87e1228061c42b14f7e9_05_ability_to_pay.png)
The Property-Tax Squeeze: Value, Income and Ability to Pay
Property values and household cash income can move differently, creating affordability pressure for some property owners even when their wealth on paper rises.
View Visual →LONG-FORM RESEARCH
Research Papers
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