Today, Policy Matters Ohio released an updated and expanded “State of Working Ohio” report, providing a broader picture of how the economy is working for working people. The additional data — covering employment, wages, productivity, and unionization rates — provide additional context to understand the Ohio economy, as well as new Census data on poverty, income, and health insurance coverage released today. Key findings from the expanded report cover changes since the inaugural State of Working Ohio report in 1999, and changes in the last year:
Since 1999
- The typical Ohio worker is paid an inflation-adjusted $4.04 more now than in 1999, but the typical American worker’s pay grew even more.
- Ohio’s unemployment rate was 4.3% in 2024, the same as it was in 1999 — but the share of our population employed dropped from 64% to 59.9%.
- In 1999, manufacturing was a key source of high paying jobs with good benefits, but in the last 25 years policy choices and technological advancements have eliminated 300,000 Ohio manufacturing jobs.
- Average weekly wages in manufacturing jobs have fallen 2.2% when adjusted for inflation.
- Workers in 2024 were 27.9% more productive and paid 19.4% more at the median than they were in 1999. Most wage gains occurred post-COVID.
Last year
- The median wage outpaced inflation by 36 cents, a pay increase of 1.5%.
- The lowest paid Ohioans lost purchasing power, taking a 24-cent pay cut, when adjusted for inflation.
- As of July, 25 of 88 Ohio counties had an unemployment rate at or above 5%. Twenty-one of those counties are in Appalachia.
- Black Ohioans’ unemployment rate increased by 3.7 percentage points, more than any other reported demographic group.
- Union representation fell 0.2 percentage points, driven by a 2.6-percentage-point decrease in public sector union representation.
- The union wage premium increased last year, with union-represented workers earning 12.8% more than non-union workers.
- Ohio workers were 75.3% more productive than their counterparts in 1979 but only paid 18.5% more at the median. Last year, workers captured a slightly larger share of the economic wealth created in Ohio than they did in 2023 but the tight labor market responsible for driving up wages, particularly for those at the bottom of the income ladder, is starting to dissolve.
The Census also released new data today on state income, poverty, and health insurance. The data is from the American Community Survey, a different survey than much of the data cited in the State of Working Ohio. The new data tell a similar story. Ohio made moderate improvements in income and poverty, but lost ground as the federal and state governments retreated on Medicaid improvements made during the COVID pandemic.
In 2024, median household income and benefits, which is a different measure of income than the median earnings data in the State of Working Ohio and includes earnings and benefits of the full household, was $72,212, an increase of $2,451 over 2023 or 3.45%. From 2021, the change in household income and benefits is less than $80.00. The share of Ohio households with earnings remained similar to 2023 levels, but there was growth in the share of households with SSI disability income and an increase in the average amount of social security income supporting Ohio households, highlighting the importance of public spending to Ohio economic wellbeing.
Health insurance coverage continued to move in the wrong direction. The share of Ohioans without coverage increased from 6.1% in 2023 to 6.7% last year, a change of more than 76,000 people. Of that number, more than 18,000 are under the age of 19, as the uninsured rate for children increased from 4.9% in 2023 to 5.6% last year.
Poverty declined in 2024, with the overall poverty rate falling from 13.3% to 12.7%. Child poverty was down from 17.7% to 16.5%. Notably, Ohio was one of 10 states in which government benefit programs like Social Security, refundable tax credits, and food assistance significantly reduced poverty. This measure of economic wellbeing is from a separate survey but clearly shows that publicly funded programs that support aging people, disabled people, and children reduce poverty and are particularly important to improve economic security in Ohio. Publicly funded supports for low-income and elderly Ohioans reduced the 3-year averaged poverty rate from 10.5% to 9.3%, or roughly 144,000 people.
A strong public sector is essential to family economic security in Ohio, as is strong public policy that supports fair wages, collective bargaining and quality jobs. Many of the programs that advanced security for Ohioans last year, including Social Security and Social Security Disability Insurance, Medicaid, the ACA Marketplace, and Food Assistance, are under threat or have already been cut. These data serve as a benchmark to measure the changes Ohioans will faces as the federal and state budgets impact their lives.