By:Megan Henry-March 10, 20265:00 am
A new report shows nearly half of Ohio’s 1.58 million renters are paying more than they can afford on rent. Ohio also has a shortage of 266,000 affordable and available rental units, the report shows.
Of Ohio’s 422,098 extremely low-income renters, 73% of these households spend more than half of their income on rent — up from 66% five years ago, according to the 2026 Gap Report by the National Low Income Housing Coalition and the Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio.
“The data confirms what we hear all the time – renters across the board are having more trouble paying rent,” Ohio coalition Executive Director Amy Riegel said in a statement.
“For people at the bottom of the pay scale, rent is gobbling up most of their paychecks. But this report shows the rent Pac-Man is moving up the income ladder.”
Ohio has 37 affordable units available for every 100 extremely low-income households — which earn less than $33,000 a year for a family of four, according to the report.
Ohio has the seventh most extremely low-income households behind California, New York, Texas, Florida, Illinois, and Pennsylvania, the report shows.
Cincinnati has a reported shortage of nearly 55,000 units, Cleveland lacks 54,000 units and Columbus has a shortage of 53,000 units.
Cleveland’s ratio of affordable units available to extremely low-income renters was 36 to 100, 32 to 100 in Cincinnati, and 27 to 100 units in Columbus.
Affordable housing costs 30% or less of a person’s gross income, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development.
“Policymakers must focus on the most vulnerable – the hundreds of thousands of hard-working Ohioans who are living on the edge, where a sudden illness or car repair can lead to eviction and potentially homelessness,” Riegel said.
“We need action, and we look forward to working with elected officials to find a path out of the housing crisis.”
There were 11,759 people experiencing homelessness in Ohio in 2024— about a 3% increase, according to HUD.
Nearly 80% of those experiencing homelessness in Ohio were sheltered while the rest were unsheltered.
The report shows no state has an adequate supply of affordable and available homes for the lowest-income renters.
The U.S. has a shortage of 7.2 million rental homes affordable and available to renters with extremely low incomes, and 35 affordable and available rental homes exist for every 100 extremely low-income renter households, according to the report.
“When renters are housing cost-burdened, they cannot afford to cover other basic necessities such as food, healthcare, transportation, or childcare,” NLIHC President and CEO Renee M. Willis said in a statement.
Ohioans need to be making at least $22.51 an hour working a full-time job to be able to afford a “modest” two-bedroom apartment, according to NLIHC and COHHIO’s 2025 Out of Reach report. Ohio’s minimum wage is $11 an hour for non-tipped workers.
