Ohioincome tax up to 3.5%, 12th highest property tax, median home $235K

Worth knowing before you move to Ohio

Ohio has a flat 2.75% income tax on income over $26,050 and exempts Social Security. Cities and school districts can add their own income taxes, so the total rate depends on the municipality. Home prices are well below the national average in all three major metros. Ohio has allowed permitless concealed carry since June 2022 and legalized recreational marijuana by ballot in 2023.

What Ohio taxes, and what it doesn't

Ohio levies a graduated income tax that tops out at 3.5%. A household earning $75,000 pays an effective 1.8%, about $1,346 a year; at $150,000 the effective rate is 2.3%. Among the 41 states that tax income, Ohio has the 2nd lowest effective rate at $100,000 of income.

Property tax runs 1.37% of home value a year, roughly $3,220 on the state's median home of $235K. The national effective rate is about 1.10%, and Ohio has the 12th highest rate of the 50 states.

Combined state and local sales tax averages 7.22%, the 20th highest in the country (the state portion is 5.75%).

For retirees: Social Security benefits are not taxed, pension income is partly exempt, and there is no estate or inheritance tax.

Capital gains are taxed as ordinary income.

Housing and the cost of living in Ohio

Ohio's cost of living index is 88, where 100 is the national average; that is the 10th cheapest of the 50 states.

The median home costs $235K, 23% below the national figure and the 10th lowest among the states. A two-bedroom rents for about $1,050 a month.

Carrying costs matter as much as the price: home insurance averages $1,200 a year, flood coverage adds about $550 where it is needed, car insurance runs $1,280.

Budget $140 a month for electricity and gas, $450 a month in groceries for two, $1,100 a month for full-time infant care.

Safety, health and schools

Violent crime is 303 incidents per 100,000 residents in the FBI's 2023 Crime Data Explorer figures, below the median state (387); Ohio is the 20th safest of the 50 by that measure. Property crime is 2,081 per 100,000.

Life expectancy is 75.4 years (County Health Rankings 2024). 6.9% of residents have no health insurance, and the state has expanded Medicaid. The Commonwealth Fund's 2023 scorecard ranks Ohio's health system 22nd of 50.

Education Week's 2023 Quality Counts report ranks K-12 schools 28th in the country, and the state runs a school-choice voucher program.

Politics, guns and social policy

Politically, Ohio is a solidly Republican state that went to Trump by 12 points in 2024.

On guns, concealed-carry permits are shall-issue, and Giffords grades the state's gun laws F.

Abortion is protected by state law. Marijuana is legal for adults. Ohio is not a right-to-work state, and the minimum wage is $10.45 an hour.

Climate, risk and getting around

Natural disaster risk is moderate. The main hazards are tornado, flood, blizzard. Annual average air quality index is 45 (under 50 is good).

Ohio has no top-25 hub airport, with about 90 nonstop destinations from its busiest airport.