Income Disparity Concept from Getty Images.
An updated analysis of census data shows that the gap between wealthy and destitute continues to persist in Ohio. And the new Republican “flat” income tax that is in force will only worsen the situation, analysis he said.
According to Federal Reserve data analyzed by the Federal Reserve, the richest 0.1% of Americans saw their accumulated wealth boost by 53% between 2018 and 2025 – to $22.48 trillion. Institute of Political Studies.
This means that the 343,000 richest Americans control 5.5 times more national wealth than Americans. 172 million who constitute the bottom half of the income distribution.
In other words, the average person in the top 0.1% has as much money as the 2,782 people in the bottom half.
As the work and consumption of those in the bottom half make the wealthy richer and richer, average Americans are burdened with the rising cost of living. health care, child care, groceries, apartments, and now gas, according to various inflation measures.
At least most Americans in the bottom half do one expense of $15,000 from povertysaid Dayton data analyst Eric Pachman.
New data confirms the economic trend in Ohio.
This month’s Columbus-based Scioto analysis analyzed 2023 census data to update it 2022 Analysis it did this based on data for 2018.
In some respects, there was improvement between 2018 and 2023 – a period during which the coronavirus pandemic was halted and government programs were introduced to support the economy by putting money into people’s pockets.
In 2018, the bottom 50% of incomes in Ohio received just 13% of the state’s total income. By 2023, this percentage increased to 18%.
But by another measure of inequality, Gini coefficientthe situation got worse. The system, named after the Italian statistician Corrado Gini, rates inequality on a scale of zero to 100. Zero means that everyone has the same income, and 100 means that one person receives all the money – a state of perfect inequality.
In 2018, Ohio’s Gini coefficient was 45. Five years later, it increased to 46.6.
For comparison, the national Gini coefficient in 2023 was 48.6. So Ohio is slightly more equal than the United States as a whole.
To illustrate inequality in Ohio, the latest Scioto Analysis report compared the federal poverty level to the net worth of the richest man in Ohio.
“In 2026, the federal poverty level for a family of four will be $41,250,” it said. “Someone earning the lowest wage would have to work for about 225,000 years and not spend a dime in that time to amass a fortune the size of Les Wexner.”
in Ohio, In 2023, 1.5 million people fell below the poverty line– reports the Ohio Housing Finance agency.
The report found that inequality levels vary by state and are greatest in the urban centers of Cleveland, Columbus and Cincinnati, as well as the Appalachian region of southeastern Ohio.
Members of certain demographic groups are more likely to be closer to the bottom of the inequality curve, with minorities and juvenile Ohioans being overrepresented.
“Income inequality in Ohio translates into housing inequality, where homeownership rates and housing cost burdens vary significantly by demographic group,” the report says.
“Housing cost burden” refers to households that spend more than 30% of their income on housing. This is often expressed in terms of a group’s participation in facing such a situation.
“For White Ohioans, the homeownership rate is 73% and the housing cost burden is 21%,” says the Scioto Analysis report.
“In contrast, Black Ohioans face a 37% homeownership rate and a 42% housing cost burden. Homeownership rates are highest among older, higher-income Ohioans, and housing cost burdens disproportionately affect younger, lower-income Ohioans.”
The report stated that a negative income tax would be an effective tool to address inequality in Ohio. In such a system, the government would pay people whose income was below a certain level.
But Ohio Republican Party leaders did the opposite, adopting a flat income tax that went into effect this year. By passing it on, “state legislators ensured that in 2026 Ohio millionaires will pay the same income tax rate as public school teachers, child care workers, firefighters and every Ohioan with incomes over $26,050” he told Policy Matters Ohio earlier this year.
The Scioto Analysis report indicates that the expected boost in inequality caused by a flat tax can be measured.
“…Ohio is currently moving in a more regressive direction due to recent changes in its tax structure,” it said. “Switching to a flat-rate income tax structure in 2026 would eliminate most of the equity benefits from Ohio’s 2023 income taxes, increasing the Gini coefficient back to 43.6. Returning to a more progressive Ohio income tax structure for 2003 would lower the Gini coefficient to 43.”
YOU MAKE OUR WORK POSSIBLE.
