'Ohio is estimated to gain an additional 30,147 workforce housing jobs between 2021 and 2031. However, only 5,146 permits for new construction of single-family homes were issued in 2021.'
Commuting Characteristics
- In Ohio, approximately 91.4% of workers in 2015 and 89.1% of workers in 2020 commuted to work via a car, truck, or van. Despite an increasing number of workers who commuted to work via a car, truck, or van, the share of workers decreased by 2.3 percentage points between 2015 and 2020.
- In 2020, 28.5% of workers traveled less than 15 minutes to work, 68.9% traveled between 15 and 29 minutes to work, and the remaining 31.1% traveled 30 minutes or more to work. On average, workers in Ohio who commuted to work traveled 24 minutes in 2020.
- Ohio had 2,871 more resident workers than jobs in 2021, indicating that these workers leave Ohio to work elsewhere.
- Ohio is estimated to gain an additional 30,147 workforce housing jobs between 2021 and 2031. However, only 5,146 permits for new construction of single-family homes were issued in 2021. This indicates the potential future supply of workforce housing will not keep pace with the additional workforce housing jobs added in Ohio between 2021 and 2031.
Roundtable Discussions
- The Economics Center held several roundtable discussions with local real estate experts to obtain information on housing opportunities and challenges that require local knowledge. These roundtable discussions provide a more complete understanding of local housing markets within communities and regions across Ohio. There were many consistent themes across Ohio including:
o Housing is less affordable today than it was 10 years ago, and the limited inventory has only pushed prices even higher.
o Institutional investors are outbidding homebuyers, which is pushing prices up and pushing out potential homeowners.
o There are many underutilized and vacant buildings that could be repurposed for single and/or multi-family housing.
o The down payment is often the biggest barrier to homeownership, especially for households with income between 60% and 120% of the area median income.
o U.S. Federal Housing Administration (FHA) requirements may present barriers for some potential buyers, particularly with the home inspection process of the length of time to close on the sale.
o Zoning laws in many communities make it difficult, if not impossible, to develop diversity in housing options.
o Housing options are not available to older residents who want to downsize but stay in the same community.
o Developers face challenges in building new workforce housing including zoning regulations and increasing costs of construction materials.
o The types of jobs that support income growth are often not being added to the economy.