This morning, Scioto Analysis released an analysis of the cost of living in Franklin County, Ohio. This county price parity analysis compared Franklin County to sixteen comparison counties across the Midwest, South, and West regions of the United States.
The analysis answered whether Franklin County is still affordable in the wake of post-pandemic inflation across the United States. We find that Franklin County is distinctly more affordable than its peers, ranking third in affordability, trailing only Cleveland’s Cuyahoga County and Cincinnati’s Hamilton County by a slim margin.
Inflation outpaced wage growth in Franklin County along with the rest of the United States between 2019 and 2023. Despite trends of inflation, Franklin County continues to be relatively affordable, especially for essential goods like health care, groceries, and housing.
Franklin County has a relatively high tax burden in terms of income tax, sales tax, and property tax with the fifth highest tax rate in all three of these categories compared to the sixteen comparison counties. However, after adjusting for differences in cost-of-living between these counties, Franklin County ranks fourth in adjusted post-tax income for low- and high-income households and fifth for middle-income households. The relative affordability in Franklin County despite a high tax burden is primarily driven by an overall progressive tax structure and the low cost of goods and services.
Across the entire nation, low-income households are burdened disproportionately more by property taxes than high-income households. Franklin County uses property taxes to fund mandated human service programs, presenting a challenge for policymakers in Franklin County to balance tax policy with social program requirements.
Ultimately the key drivers of affordability across our seventeen counties are region and housing. The top five most affordable counties are exclusively located in the Midwest, while the South and West comprise the seven least affordable counties. Housing accounts for an average of 18% of total household spend across our seventeen counties. In Franklin County, the average monthly cost of housing is around $1,100, which is relatively more affordable than its peers. This is partially due to a steady growth of housing supply in Franklin County, compared to counties like Austin’s Travis County where average housing costs soar alongside a volatile housing supply.
While no county is immune to rising prices in the status quo, Franklin County has proven to be particularly resilient during a time of rising unaffordability.
The full report can be accessed here.