Columbus's child-poverty rate climbed from 13.4% in 2024 to 18.2% in 2025, even as the city grows and becomes more expensive. The number of children living in poverty rose from roughly 66,873 to 90,650 over that span, a jump that stands out starkly against a national trend moving in the opposite direction.
That increase makes Columbus one of only two major metro areas in the country, alongside Baltimore, with a statistically significant rise in child poverty among regions with at least 1 million residents, according to U.S. Census Bureau data. Nationally, the picture moved the other way: the U.S. child-poverty rate fell from 15.5% in 2024 to 14.8% in 2025, per the same Census Bureau figures. As WSYX reported, Columbus is facing a rise in child poverty even as the city grows and becomes more expensive.
A Deepening Divide, Reflected in the Data
Columbus City Councilwoman Melissa Green, who is also a licensed social worker and chairs the city's Health, Human Services and Equity Committee, said the trend tracks with what frontline workers have been describing for years. Green said social workers have felt the divide deepening for a decade, and it is now reflected in the data, according to the station's report.
The federal poverty level is set at $32,649 for a family of four, but Franklin County Cares prefers to measure need using 200% of that threshold, a broader gauge of financial strain. By that standard, 48.3% of Columbus children were below 200% of the federal poverty level in 2024, the same account notes.
Housing Costs Squeeze Franklin County Families
The affordability pressure behind those numbers shows up clearly in housing data. A Franklin County report found that the median home price has jumped 54% since 2017, while rent for a two-bedroom apartment has increased by 47%, according to Scioto Analysis. The same report estimated that nearly 40% of households in the county still struggle to afford basic necessities.
Scioto Analysis also found that nearly one in five children in Franklin County, an estimated 59,000 kids, live below the Federal Poverty Level. The report further noted that Black residents in the county are more than twice as likely as white residents to live in poverty, underscoring how unevenly the economic strain has landed.
Food Aid Groups Absorb State Budget Cuts
Local service providers are facing ongoing challenges worsened by state and federal budget cuts, per the WSYX report, and the Mid-Ohio Food Collective says it has lost millions in support. The organization has said Ohio's latest state budget will fund food banks at a 2019 level, cutting $3 million from pantry shelves over the next two years, according to NBC4 WCMH-TV.
Children's Hunger Alliance reported a separate hit, saying its funding was cut by $2 million in the biennial Ohio budget, a reduction the organization says will mean 1.2 million fewer meals for children, according to Children's Hunger Alliance. Gov. DeWine had proposed a $1,000 tax credit for families with children under 7, but the proposal did not pass the legislative process, the WSYX report noted.
