Find a Job You Really Want In
Ohio, as a whole, is an above average state for getting a job.
But like all states, there are some cities and towns that don’t have as many opportunities as those around them. These places stick out a bit like sore thumbs in the greater job landscape.
Here at Zippia, we’ve been zig-zagging across the country to help you find the best and worst places in each state to get a job. We most recently set out sites, and data, on Ohio to help all the current and future Buckeyes out there.
After the dust settled, and our analysis stopped churning, we are left with this set of places as the worst for jobs in Ohio:
- Hillsboro
- Cleveland
- East Cleveland
- East Liverpool
- Lorain
- Euclid
- Nelsonville
- Athens
- Elyria
- Maple Heights
Read on to see why these Ohio places might get fired soon.
For more OH reading, check out:
After getting the data for all 2,500 places in Ohio, we ultimately decided to limit our analysis to any place with over 5,000 people. We believe this makes the analysis more apples to apples.
That left us with 552 places.
We then ranked each place across a number of criteria from one to 552, with one being the worst in any given category.
Finally, we took the average rank across all criteria, with the place posting the lowest overall score “earning” the title “Worst Place In Ohio To Find A Job”.
The criteria we looked at were:
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1. Hillsboro
Population: 6,599
Unemployment Rate: 6.70%
Median Household Income: $34,058
Hillsboro can now live in infamy as the worst place for jobs in Ohio.
The county seat of Highland County took the top position on our list by ranking in the bottom 10% for four out of our five categories.
The town performed particularly poorly when it came to recent job growth and future job growth. It finished in the bottom 5% of all places in Ohio for those two criteria.
The town motto of “Where Pride Rings True…” might need to change to something more like “Where Pride Rings True… With Limited Job Prospects”.
2. Cleveland
Population: 397,972
Unemployment Rate: 8.50%
Median Household Income: $26,556
Cleveland is the big boy on our list of the worst places to get a job in Ohio, placing second worst overall.
Cleveland “boasts” the second highest unemployment rate in the Buckeye State and the eighth lowest household median income. On the bright side, the city’s income tax was the lowest for any place in the top ten, which means you can at least keep more of your annual salary.
And now that I think about it a little more, Cleveland seems to be placing second a lot recently. (That was a basketball joke. 😉 )
3. East Cleveland
Population: 18,179
Unemployment Rate: 8.40%
Median Household Income: $20,797
As the first suburb of Cleveland, it’s only fitting that East Cleveland finishes third behind Cleveland in our ranking for the worst places to get a job in Ohio.
Much like its big brother, East Cleveland scored poorly on both the unemployment front (4th worst in the state) and household median income (2nd worst). It didn’t place further up on the list because it’s future job growth prospects are slightly higher than Cleveland’s.
4. East Liverpool
Population: 11,248
Unemployment Rate: 6.00%
Median Household Income: $27,332
It would seem that adding a direction to a city name doesn’t help your chances of navigating the job market — East Liverpool places fourth in our analysis.
East Liverpool is bogged down by slow recent job growth (7th worst in the state) and prospects for future job growth (10th worst).
5. Lorain
Population: 64,313
Unemployment Rate: 8.40%
Median Household Income: $34,823
Lorain took fifth place on our list of the worst places to get a job in Ohio.
The city tied with East Cleveland for the fourth worst unemployment rate in the state. Lorain also ranked as having the fourth highest income tax.
The city relied heavily on steel production and auto-manufacturing. As those industries slowly lose footing in America, so do the job prospects of the city.
It’s fitting that Mercy is the name of the current largest employer in the city.
6. Euclid
Population: 48,781
Unemployment Rate: 7.20%
Median Household Income: $37,143
Euclid, another suburb of Cleveland, came in as the sixth worst place for jobs in Ohio.
Following a pattern similar to Hillsboro, Euclid scored poorly across the board without dominating any one criteria. The city’s unemployment rate was its worst scoring criteria, finishing in the bottom 5% of all places in Ohio.
7. Nelsonville
Population: 5,372
Unemployment Rate: 5.80%
Median Household Income: $22,772
The smallest place on the list, Nelsonville took home the distinction of being the seventh worst place to get a job in Ohio.
Located in Athens County, Nelsonville finished poorly in household median income (3rd worst overall) and recent job growth (Bottom 5%). However, the city tied with Athens as having the best unemployment rate among any place in our top ten.
8. Athens
Population: 24,013
Unemployment Rate: 5.80%
Median Household Income: $18,428
Just nudging out its smaller neighbor, Athens finished as seventh worst.
The county seat of Athens County, Athens ranks as having the lowest household median income in the state by a pretty substantial margin.
It only finished behind its smaller neighbor because it has a slightly lower income tax.
9. Elyria
Population: 54,535
Unemployment Rate: 6.90%
Median Household Income: $41,531
Elyria placed ninth on our list, but took a substantially different path to the top ten the previous eight places.
The city has the highest household median income, and has the highest prospects for future job growth, of any place in our top ten.
So what held Elyria back? The sixth highest income tax rate in the state mixed with an unemployment rate in the bottom 10% of places.
10. Maple Heights
Population: 23,136
Unemployment Rate: 8.30%
Median Household Income: $38,358
Maple Heights takes the tenth and final spot on our list of the worst places to get a job in Ohio.
The sixth worst unemployment rate in Ohio caused Maple Heights to finish in this position. The city actually has a relatively solid household median income and a relatively low income tax. They just weren’t sweet enough to help Maple Heights overall ranking.
Detailed Stats For Ohio Jobs
Author
Chris Kolmar
Chris Kolmar is a co-founder of Zippia and the editor-in-chief of the Zippia career advice blog. He has hired over 50 people in his career, been hired five times, and wants to help you land your next job. His research has been featured on the New York Times, Thrillist, VOX, The Atlantic, and a host of local news. More recently, he's been quoted on USA Today, BusinessInsider, and CNBC.
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