2024-2025 Ohio Urban-Suburban-Rural Opportunity Index Report

It is a common headline across the United States: quality affordable housing is increasingly difficult to find.

Illustration of urban, suburban and rural environments in hexagonal frames

It is especially challenging for federal, state and local housing agencies to incentivize affordable housing developers to build more housing units in the locations that need it most. Many market-rate developers can’t make the numbers work to build housing people with limited incomes can afford. So affordable housing developers specialize in fitting the project size to the need instead of adjusting the project size to fit the numbers.

The Kirwan Institute’s Ohio Urban-Suburban-Rural opportunity index is a conceptual tool developed in partnership with the Ohio Housing Finance Agency (OHFA). OHFA incorporates this index into its Low-Income Housing Tax Credit (LIHTC) program to incentivize the development of affordable housing throughout Ohio, expanding access to high-opportunity areas for low-income families and seniors across the many different regions of Ohio. Kirwan’s USR index is one (1) of six (6) factors used by OHFA to determine the distribution of tax credits for rehabilitation of existing housing and development of new affordable housing.

5 # of dimensions that affect the quality of opportunity for affordable housing development
3 Types of census tracts Ohio has – urban, suburban, rural

Categories of Opportunity

K-12 education
Employment
Health
Housing
Transportation

Key Facts About the OHIO USR Opportunity Index Tool

How does the Ohio USR Opportunity Index Tool operate? The Ohio USR Opportunity Index tool helps agencies to incentivize affordable housing development across the various geographies of Ohio. Research has shown that when left unaccounted for, it is easy to fall into the trap of ignoring the needs of both rural and urban communities. In order to avoid that, the USR tool divides Ohio into Urban, Suburban, and Rural tracts to create localized “opportunity measurements.” 
How do we define “opportunity measurement” for this project? Research has shown that five (5) different factors can affect the quality of opportunities available for residents: education, employment, health, housing, and transportation. Kirwan’s Index combines scores across all five dimensions using carefully selected indicators for each dimension. We updated those indicators for the 2024-2025 version of the tool to improve data reliability and relevance. 
Is Kirwan’s USR Opportunity Index the only factor OHFA uses to determine their tax incentives? No. The OHIO USR Opportunity Index is only 1 of 6 factors as part of its Qualified Allocation Plan. OHFA updates their Qualified Allocation Plan annually to reflect the changing housing needs of all Ohioans, with the aim of expanding housing choice for low-income families and seniors across all regions of Ohio.