Ohio is facing its steepest decline in homeownership affordability of any state between 2020 and 2025, according to the National Housing Conference’s report Priced Out: When a Good Job Isn’t Enough. The study measured how many occupations could afford a typical home with a 10% down payment and found the share fell by nearly 41 percentage points across the state’s metropolitan areas.
Metropolitan areas hit hardest
Five Ohio metros ranked among the 25 largest declines nationwide. In Mansfield, the share of tracked occupations that could afford a typical home dropped from 82% in 2020 to just 30% in 2025. Columbus saw a similar slide, falling from 40% to only 9% over the same period.
Home values in Mansfield rose sharply, increasing from $115,041 in 2020 to $188,863 in 2025. Correspondingly, the annual income needed to qualify for a mortgage more than doubled, climbing 121% from $28,483 to $62,931.
Occupations losing the ability to buy
In 2020, workers such as elementary and special‑education teachers, emergency medical technicians, paramedics, firefighters, and postal service mail carriers could afford a typical Mansfield home. By 2025, firefighters, mail carriers, executive secretaries and loan officers were among those who could no longer meet the affordability threshold.
Affordability continued to decline between 2023 and 2025, with Ohio’s overall measure dropping more than five percentage points. Springfield and Toledo recorded recent declines of 13.48 and 12.05 points respectively, placing them among the sharpest recent drops in the nation.
Rental market also under pressure
The report notes that renters are feeling the squeeze as well. In 2025, only 45,833 occupation‑metro combinations could afford a two‑bedroom apartment without being cost‑burdened, a reduction of 5,989 combinations from 2020. Nearly half of the tracked combinations could not afford a two‑bedroom rental.
Expert perspective
National Housing Conference President and CEO David M. Dworkin said the findings highlight a broader workforce and economic challenge, as workers struggle to afford homes in the communities where they live and work. He suggested that increasing the supply of homes at prices workers can afford, preserving existing housing stock, and reducing unnecessary development costs and delays could help mitigate the problem.
The analysis relies on occupational wage data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, typical home values from Zillow, and fair‑market rent data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The full report and detailed local housing affordability data are available through the National Housing Conference’s Paycheck to Paycheck database.
Original reporting: WOWO News/Talk (Fort Wayne) — read the source article.
