Most Full-Time Workers in Ohio Not Being Able to Cover Rent

According to a report published Wednesday, most full-time workers in Ohio do not earn enough to pay rent.

Experts found that the wage people need to earn to afford a two-bedroom unit, aka the “housing wage,” jumped to $15.25 per hour this year, while the minimum wage is sitting at $8.30 per hour. This means that most jobs in the Buckeye State don’t pay enough to cover rent.

In Ohio, the average wage sits at $13.32/hour, which is $2 short of the housing wage needed to rent a modest apartment. Experts estimate that renters working on minimum wage would need to spend 74 hours at work per week to be able to rent a home.

Also, only 2 in 10 positions offer a livable wage to Ohioans.

• Workers in the food preparation sector ($9.40 an hour), servers ($9.45 per hour), manual workers ($12.66 an hour), and cashiers ($9.32 an hour) earn the lowest wages in the state.
• Some of the highest earners are registered nurses, who earn $30.59 per hour on average.

Ohioans Struggling to Keep a Roof Over Their Heads

The National Low Income Housing Coalition, which sponsored the report, noted that lower-income workers have to choose between childcare, rent, and other basic necessities.

The administration’s cruel and shortsighted proposals to cut housing benefits would add to the struggles of millions,

the NLIHC warned.

The group urged the U.S. Congress to pour more cash into housing solutions for the lowest-income Americans that are struggling to keep a roof over their heads.

In Cuyahoga County, 4 in ten residents are renters, but that it because the housing wage is lower than the state’s hourly wage ($15.10). This makes Cleveland a very affordable place to live, according to the report.

But Cleveland offers many opportunities to those willing to work in the medical field, so the higher paying jobs in the city likely skewed the state’s average upwards. The latest report only took into account the state’s and counties’ average wage, so the situation could be much worse in other parts.
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