Low-Income Columbus Households Struggle to Find Housing

The Ohio city has a more severe affordable housing crisis than more traditionally expensive cities like New York and San Francisco.

1 minute read

March 17, 2025, 8:00 AM PDT

By Diana Ionescu @aworkoffiction


Columbus, Ohio skyline on a sunny day.

espiegle / Adobe Stock

Columbus, Ohio’s housing crisis is worse than that of cities like San Francisco and New York, according to a new report. As Danae King explains in Dispatch, the city has fewer affordable housing units per low-income household than some other U.S. cities and has a more severe housing crisis than other Ohio cities such as Cleveland and Cincinnati.

“The report shows that Columbus has 25 affordable housing units per 100 extremely low-income households available compared to 31 in San Francisco and 34 in New York, according to the 2025 Gap Report by the National Low Income Housing Coalition (NLIHC) and the Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio (COHHIO).” In the state, there are 40 affordable housing units for every 100 extremely low-income households.

“There are 438,108 extremely low-income households in Ohio in need of affordable units, the report found,” and the state is short roughly 264,000 housing units. A coalition of housing advocates is pushing a proposal called Home Matters to Ohio which, if passed by the state legislature, could improve the state’s housing programs and bolster tenant protections.

Thursday, March 13, 2025 in Columbus Dispatch

portrait of professional woman

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching. Mary G., Urban Planner

I love the variety of courses, many practical, and all richly illustrated. They have inspired many ideas that I've applied in practice, and in my own teaching.

Mary G., Urban Planner

Get top-rated, practical training

Wastewater pouring out from a pipe.

Alabama: Trump Terminates Settlements for Black Communities Harmed By Raw Sewage

Trump deemed the landmark civil rights agreement “illegal DEI and environmental justice policy.”

April 13, 2025 - Inside Climate News

Logo for Planetizen Federal Action Tracker with black and white image of U.S. Capitol with water ripple overlay.

Planetizen Federal Action Tracker

A weekly monitor of how Trump’s orders and actions are impacting planners and planning in America.

6 hours ago - Diana Ionescu

Black and white photos of camp made up of small 'earthquake shacks' in Dolores Park in 1906 after the San Francisco earthquake.

The 120 Year Old Tiny Home Villages That Sheltered San Francisco’s Earthquake Refugees

More than a century ago, San Francisco mobilized to house thousands of residents displaced by the 1906 earthquake. Could their strategy offer a model for the present?

April 15, 2025 - Charles F. Bloszies

Looking out at trees on 4th Street in downtown Los Angeles, California.

LA’s Tree Emergency Goes Beyond Vandalism

After a vandal destroyed dozens of downtown LA trees, Mayor Karen Bass vowed to replace them. Days later, she slashed the city’s tree budget.

3 hours ago - Torched

White and blue Sacramento regional transit bus with one bike on front bike rack.

Sacramento Leads Nation With Bus-Mounted Bike Lane Enforcement Cameras

The city is the first to use its bus-mounted traffic enforcement system to cite drivers who park or drive in bike lanes.

3 hours ago - Streetsblog California

View of downtown Seattle with Space Needle and mountains in background

Seattle Voters Approve Social Housing Referendum

Voters approved a corporate tax to fund the city’s housing authority despite an opposition campaign funded by Amazon and Microsoft.

5 hours ago - Next City