Cincinnati, Ohio’s City of Seven Hills, is experiencing population growth for the first time in a generation, drawing residents from suburbs and other large cities. However, the city faces a worsening housing crisis as its housing stock declines rather than keeps pace with demand.

“Our city’s growing,” said Cincinnati Mayor Aftab Pureval in an interview on July 14, 2026. “You have more people living here over the last 10 years. But you would expect our housing stock to keep up with that growth, or at least stay flat.” He added, “It’s the worst-case scenario for us. Because we’re such an old city, we’re losing housing stock and not building housing fast enough, so we actually have less housing.”

The city also had the highest percentage increase in average rental costs in the US in 2025, regularly ranking in the top five or even number one for rent increases, surprising many who expected cities like New York, Miami, or San Francisco to lead.

Despite having a $1.9 billion infrastructure fund—partly from the 2025 sale of the city’s railroad to address a $400 million deferred maintenance bill—Cincinnati struggles to allocate these resources to solve its housing problems. Political mistrust plays a significant role, with former Republican lawmaker Bill Seitz citing ideological differences and skepticism about Democratic fiscal management. “It’s a little hard to argue with the fiscal mismanagement that plagues Chicago and plagues California and plagues New York,” Seitz said.

Adding to the debate, a local figure named Blessing referenced a famous Ohio mayor, Tom Johnson of Cleveland, who warned that privatizing utilities like water and electricity could lead to loss of control: “If you privatize a lot of these things like water and electricity, you won’t own them; they’ll own you.”

The combination of political divides, mistrust, and an aging housing stock leaves Cincinnati with a growing population but shrinking housing availability, intensifying the city’s housing crisis.

Sources