Cincinnati, OH
Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN Metro Area
Figures are medians for the whole Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN Metro Area, not the city proper.
Among the 300 U.S. metros CityLedger tracks, Cincinnati ranks 96th for affordability — how far a typical paycheck stretches after local prices — and 102nd for income. A household earns $81,489 a year while median rent runs $1,203/mo, making it moderately affordable for what residents earn. Affordability and price level are different lenses: the raw cost of living here runs 5% below the U.S. average.
Its strongest card is hazard safety (63rd of 300), while air quality is the soft spot (266th). Housing usually decides a move: rent ranks 135th and home prices 132nd among the 300 metros CityLedger tracks.
For your salary & household
Enter your pay and household size to see what it's really worth here — the numbers update live and the link stays shareable.
On $75,000 for just you in Cincinnati, your take-home is worth about $62,879 once local prices are factored in — local prices stretch it further than the U.S. average.
Take-home estimates a single filer taking the standard deduction (2025 federal brackets, FICA, and state income tax) and isn't tax advice. “Real value” rebases take-home to average U.S. prices using the BEA cost-of-living index; the per-person figure uses the OECD square-root equivalence scale.
The numbers
Income & cost
- Median income
- 102nd of 300↑21.9%$81,489
- Cost of living?The local price level vs. the U.S. average of 100 (BEA). Lower means cheaper. This is raw prices, not adjusted for income.
- 155th of 30095 (US=100)
- Cost-adj. income?Median household income divided by the local price level — what the typical paycheck is really worth here.
- $85,445
- Per-capita income
- $45,460
- Full-time pay
- $48,225
Housing
- Median rent
- 135th of 300↑40.9%$1,203/mo
- Home value
- 132nd of 300↑55.1%$288,700
- Property tax
- $3,255/yr · 1.1%
- Sales tax
- 7.23%
Jobs & education
- Unemployment
- 109th of 3004%
- Bachelor's+
- 107th of 30037.1%
- Avg commute
- 187th of 30025.1 min
People
- Population
- 2,304,804
- Population change
- +3.8%
- Median age
- 38.5 yrs
- Foreign-born
- 6.2%
- Broadband
- 93.6%
Environment & risk
- Air quality (AQI)
- 266th of 30054
- Natural-hazard loss
- 63rd of 300$9/$10k
Health
- Fair/poor health
- 108th of 30017.3%
- Uninsured (18–64)
- 7.7%
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau (ACS), U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. EPA, FEMA, CDC, NOAA — every figure's source is listed on our methodology page. Data built 2026-06-14. ↑↓ mark the change since 2019.
How CityLedger scores it
Transparent weights — see our methodology.
Strengths
- + Affordability
- + Hazard safety
Watch-outs
- – Air quality
Climate
30-year normals (1991–2020) from the nearest station — cincinnati muni ap lunken fld.
What jobs pay in Cincinnati
Median annual wage by occupation (BLS OEWS 2025) — half of workers in each role earn more, half less.
- Family medicine physicians
- $218,880
- IT managers
- $169,530
- Financial managers
- $152,700
- Pharmacists
- $140,200
- Lawyers
- $130,980
- Software developers
- $121,420
- General & operations managers
- $100,670
- Civil engineers
- $98,220
- Registered nurses
- $83,650
- Web developers
- $80,910
- Accountants & auditors
- $80,640
- Police officers
- $80,410
- Secondary school teachers
- $66,190
- Plumbers
- $65,160
- Elementary school teachers
- $64,740
- Electricians
- $63,490
- Truck drivers (heavy)
- $60,590
- Carpenters
- $60,110
- Maintenance & repair workers
- $56,830
- Construction laborers
- $54,930
- Customer service reps
- $46,470
- Waiters & waitresses
- $36,530
- Janitors
- $36,030
- Retail salespersons
- $30,810
- Cashiers
- $29,170
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS 2025 — annual median wage. Cross-industry, all experience levels.
Where new residents move from
The states sending the most people to the Cincinnati metro, by estimated movers (U.S. Census 2022 migration flows, 5-year). Moves from elsewhere in Ohio are excluded to show where out-of-state arrivals originate.
- Florida2,996
- Texas2,312
- Illinois2,205
- California2,149
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2022 Migration Flows (5-year).
Cities like Cincinnati
Closest matches across cost, income, size, education, and age — tap to compare.
Cincinnati metro — frequently asked
- What is the median rent in the Cincinnati metro?
- Median gross rent across the Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN Metro Area is $1,203 a month (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024). That figure covers the whole metro area, not just the city of Cincinnati.
- What is the median household income in the Cincinnati metro?
- A typical household in the Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN Metro Area earns $81,489 a year (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- Is Cincinnati expensive to live in?
- The overall cost of living in the Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN Metro Area runs about 5% below the U.S. average (BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024) — prices are lower than average, before accounting for local pay.
- Does a paycheck go far in the Cincinnati metro?
- After adjusting for local prices, the median household income is worth about $85,445 (versus its face value of $81,489). CityLedger rates the Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN Metro Area moderately affordable for what residents earn.
- What is the typical home value in the Cincinnati metro?
- The median home value across the Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN Metro Area is $288,700 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- What is the unemployment rate in the Cincinnati metro?
- The unemployment rate in the Cincinnati, OH-KY-IN Metro Area is 4% (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).