Rents are rising across Ohio, not only forcing people into homelessness but making it harder to become housed again.
More than 12,000 Ohioans were unhoused on one night in January 2025, according to newly released data from the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD).
With a lack of affordable housing, homelessness is steadily rising in the Buckeye state and 3.7% more people are homeless statewide in 2025 than in 2024, the Coalition on Homelessness and Housing in Ohio (COHHIO).
Columbus released its homeless count numbers from January 2026 in May, showing a 43% increase in unsheltered homelessness when compared with January 2025, according to the Community Shelter Board, which conducts the annual count.
“Homelessness is primarily a housing problem. When rents rise faster than incomes, homelessness increases,” said Amy Riegel, executive director of COHHIO, in a news release.
Two-bedroom rents increased 23% in Ohio between 2021 and 2026, according to Apartment List Rent Estimates.
That price increase combined with increased food, transportation, child care, healthcare and other costs has forced more Ohioans onto the streets, according to COHHIO.
“Rising rents don’t just push people into homelessness. They make it harder to get people out of homelessness. So at the same time more people are becoming homeless, fewer people are getting housed,” Riegel said.
Ohio homelessness increases amid national decline
Homelessness increased nationwide last year, though it has surged over the last decade-plus.
While Ohio’s number of homeless people increases, the nation saw a decrease of 3.3% over the past year, according to COHHIO and HUD numbers.
Sill, homelessness in America increased by 26.3% from 2013 to 2025.
Riegel called on lawmakers to act and prevent more people becoming unhoused.
“The good news is that it’s not too late to address Ohio’s housing affordability problem,” she said in the release.
A start would be passing the 21st Century ROAD to Housing Act, she said. The bipartisan bill was passed by the U.S. House of Representatives with changes in late May. It heads to the Senate for consideration next.
Riegel also called on the Ohio legislature to safeguard the Ohio Housing Trust Fund, expand the Ohio Low Income Housing Tax Credit, and enact tenant protections.
Underserved Communities Reporter Danae King can be reached at dking@dispatch.com or on X at @DanaeKing.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Surging rents force more Ohioans into homelessness, advocates say
Reporting by Danae King, Columbus Dispatch / The Columbus Dispatch
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