Report Says Most-common Jobs in Ohio Don’t Pay Enough to Meet Expenses

A new report has found that four of the 10 most-common occupations in Ohio — which employ 510,000 Ohioans — pay so poorly that a full-time worker supporting a family of three would qualify for federal food assistance. That means such families are trying to survive on less than $35,000 a year.

Perhaps more strikingly, it found that median wages for 84.5 percent of all jobs in the Buckeye State pay less than the estimated cost of living for a family of three. In the Canton/Massillon area, annual cost of living is about $81,000, according to the Economic Policy Institute’s Family Budget Calculator.

The analysis by Policy Matters Ohio also found that after decades of massive tax cuts weighted heavily toward corporations and the wealthy, wages for nine of the 10 most-common occupations dropped relative to the federal poverty level between 2024 and 2025.

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