Dayton, OH
Dayton-Kettering-Beavercreek, OH Metro Area
Figures are medians for the whole Dayton-Kettering-Beavercreek, OH Metro Area, not the city proper.
Among the 300 U.S. metros CityLedger tracks, Dayton ranks 170th for affordability — how far a typical paycheck stretches after local prices — and 176th for income. A household earns $72,711 a year while median rent runs $1,119/mo, making it moderately affordable for what residents earn. Affordability and price level are different lenses: the raw cost of living here runs 7% below the U.S. average.
Its strongest card is hazard safety (35th of 300), while air quality is the soft spot (198th). Housing usually decides a move: rent ranks 101st and home prices 66th 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 Dayton, your take-home is worth about $64,694 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
- 176th of 300↑25%$72,711
- 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.
- 105th of 30093 (US=100)
- Cost-adj. income?Median household income divided by the local price level — what the typical paycheck is really worth here.
- $78,442
- Per-capita income
- $40,289
- Full-time pay
- $43,699
Housing
- Median rent
- 101st of 300↑37.8%$1,119/mo
- Home value
- 66th of 300↑61.1%$228,600
- Property tax
- $3,208/yr · 1.4%
- Sales tax
- 7.23%
Jobs & education
- Unemployment
- 198th of 3004.9%
- Bachelor's+
- 137th of 30034.6%
- Avg commute
- 80th of 30022.3 min
People
- Population
- 821,740
- Population change
- +1.7%
- Median age
- 39.0 yrs
- Foreign-born
- 5%
- Broadband
- 93.3%
Environment & risk
- Natural-hazard loss
- 35th of 300$8/$10k
Health
- Fair/poor health
- 156th of 30018.6%
- Uninsured (18–64)
- 7.7%
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau (ACS), U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, 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
- + Home prices
- + Commute
- + Hazard safety
Watch-outs
- —
Climate
30-year normals (1991–2020) from the nearest station — dayton intl ap.
What jobs pay in Dayton
Median annual wage by occupation (BLS OEWS 2025) — half of workers in each role earn more, half less.
- Family medicine physicians
- $222,190
- IT managers
- $160,040
- Financial managers
- $137,140
- Pharmacists
- $136,110
- Software developers
- $106,910
- Lawyers
- $104,170
- General & operations managers
- $98,030
- Civil engineers
- $95,270
- Registered nurses
- $82,510
- Elementary school teachers
- $80,360
- Accountants & auditors
- $79,030
- Secondary school teachers
- $78,970
- Police officers
- $76,310
- Web developers
- $69,230
- Plumbers
- $62,940
- Electricians
- $61,870
- Truck drivers (heavy)
- $59,490
- Carpenters
- $58,330
- Construction laborers
- $53,000
- Maintenance & repair workers
- $50,710
- Customer service reps
- $44,970
- Waiters & waitresses
- $36,600
- Janitors
- $35,910
- Retail salespersons
- $30,360
- Cashiers
- $28,750
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 Dayton 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.
- Florida1,733
- Texas1,372
- Virginia1,354
- Michigan1,277
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2022 Migration Flows (5-year).
Cities like Dayton
Closest matches across cost, income, size, education, and age — tap to compare.
Dayton metro — frequently asked
- What is the median rent in the Dayton metro?
- Median gross rent across the Dayton-Kettering-Beavercreek, OH Metro Area is $1,119 a month (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024). That figure covers the whole metro area, not just the city of Dayton.
- What is the median household income in the Dayton metro?
- A typical household in the Dayton-Kettering-Beavercreek, OH Metro Area earns $72,711 a year (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- Is Dayton expensive to live in?
- The overall cost of living in the Dayton-Kettering-Beavercreek, OH Metro Area runs about 7% 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 Dayton metro?
- After adjusting for local prices, the median household income is worth about $78,442 (versus its face value of $72,711). CityLedger rates the Dayton-Kettering-Beavercreek, OH Metro Area moderately affordable for what residents earn.
- What is the typical home value in the Dayton metro?
- The median home value across the Dayton-Kettering-Beavercreek, OH Metro Area is $228,600 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- What is the unemployment rate in the Dayton metro?
- The unemployment rate in the Dayton-Kettering-Beavercreek, OH Metro Area is 4.9% (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).