(The Center Square) – While lawmakers and advocacy groups continue to push for more affordable housing options, a new report shows homeowners in Ohio spend among the lowest percentage of their income on housing in the country.
The personal finance website WalletHub ranks Ohio 46th out of 50 states in terms of homeowners spending a percentage of their monthly income on housing at 20.38%, the sixth-lowest in the nation.
“As the sixth-lowest percentage in the country, this suggests that Ohio residents who own their homes generally face lower mortgage and utility payments compared to most other states,” WalletHub Analyst Chip Lupo told The Center Square.
In terms of renters, however, Ohio’s ranking falls to the middle of the pack at 26th. Overall, renters spend an average of 27.5% of their income on rent.
“Renters in Ohio, while not as well off as homeowners in terms of affordability, still fare better than renters in many other states,” Lupo said. “Overall, whether renting or buying, Ohio offers relatively manageable housing expenses compared to states such as Hawaii, California, or New York, where residents often spend up to 40 to 50% of their annual household income on housing.”
Glenn Grossman, an assistant professor of finance and entrepreneurship at Cedarville University, said changes could come that impact both homeowners and renters.
“The current economic environment has the potential to cause most Americans to adjust their monthly budget,” Grossman said. “The challenge is knowing what categories it will impact. There have been tariffs introduced and then paused or reduced. It will take some time for any cost increase due to tariffs to appear in retail locations.”
WalletHub’s study comes about a month after the Coalition of Homelessness and Housing in Ohio released its own report that showed some progress in reducing the state’s shortage of affordable housing.
The 2025 Gap Report, released by the National Low Income Housing Coalition and COHHIO, said the state has a 264,000 shortage of affordable rental homes.
That’s more than 3,000 units better than last year’s report, but the 438,108 units available remain extremely low, according to the report.
The Gap Report showed that 71% of low-income Ohioans pay at least 50% of their income toward rent.
WalletHub’s housing spending study showed homeowners in Hawaii, California, Oregon, Nevada and Washington spent the highest percentage of their income on housing. Homeowners in Iowa, West Virginia, Kansas, Nebraska and Ohio paid the least.
