Historically the city of Cincinnati has been a model for economic stability. Several key facts include:
Out of the Fortune 500 companies, 370 have presence in Cincinnati and 10 of them headquartered there. Including Federated Department Stores, Procter & Gamble, Kroger’s, Fifth Third Bank, AK Steel Holdings and GE Aviation.
The city is home to two professional sports teams: The Cincinnati Bengals & The Cincinnati Reds.
FORTUNE magazine has ranked Cincinnati as among the top 10 cities to work and live and the New York Times says Cincinnati exemplifies the cities driving the US economy. CNN Money remarks in April 2008 that Cincinnati is one of the six best places to buy a home now.
Demographics: While City of Cincinnati alone has a relative small population of 332,252 in 2006 Census, Greater Cincinnati or metropolitan Cincinnati MSA ranks 23rd in the U.S. with total population of 2,038,000. Cincinnati Metropolitan Area (CMA) includes 15 counties crossing the state lines of Ohio (5 counties), Kentucky (7 counties) and Indiana (3 counties). In the last three decades, total population of Greater Cincinnati has grown 22% from 1,668,000 in 1970 to 2,038,000 in 2005 (3.5% in the 1970′s, 5.3% in the 1980′s and 8.9% in the 1990′s). It is projected that total population will grow to 2,171,870 by the end of 2010.
At 34, Cincinnati’s median age is younger than the national average and the advantage of youth helps to provide Cincinnati with supplies of skilled labor and youthful vigor. In addition, the University of Cincinnati, a nationally recognized research university with a 2007-2008 enrollment of 36,518 (of which 83.6 percent are Ohio residents) will continue to supply the city of Cincinnati with a youthful workforce; approximately 140,000 young professionals are added annually to the labor pool from area universities. According to the 2008 economic outlook, young adults age 20-34 and those ages 50 and over will be the fastest growing age segment through 2015.
Total employment growth rates in Cincinnati continue to be positive as the local region witnessed a 0.4 percent increase. Hamilton County remains the largest county in the area and will continue to be a popular suburban sprawl due to its geographical proximity to Cincinnati and Dayton. Approximately 1.5 million people live within 50 miles of downtown Cincinnati and 840,000 students are enrolled in 250 colleges that sit within a 200 miles radius of Greater Cincinnati. Of the work force in the area, 645,000 are white collar jobs, 302,000 are blue collar jobs, 221,000 are service jobs and 40,000 are scientists and engineers. Each year there are 140,000 young professionals added to the work force in Greater Cincinnati (source: Demographics USA 2002).
The median household income in 2006 was $31,104 and the mean household income was $49, 047 as reported by the U.S. Census Bureau. Approximately 27.8 percent of Cincinnati’s income in the last 12 months is below the poverty level. On the other hand, the cost of living in Cincinnati compares favorably to the national average and to most metropolitan its size. Its cost of living index is 88.8 in housing and 94.1 in composite score (100 being the U.S. average).
Economics: Considered as one of the boom towns of the 1990′s, Cincinnati’s diverse economy has sheltered the region from recent national economic upheaval. Despite recession indicators surrounding the state of Ohio due to its heavy dependence on the manufacturing sector in northeast Ohio, Greater Cincinnati, which is located in far southwest end of Ohio, has a vibrant economy differential to many parts of its home state. With Proctor & Gamble (Gillette), Federated Department Store (Macy’s) and Fresh Express (Chiquita) headquartered in the city, analysts are now referring Cincinnati as one of the consumer product hot spots in the world. Due to Cincinnati’s advantageous geographical proximity to Kentucky and Indiana, the city has benefited from economic growths in both states. Due to the combined economic and population growth, the U.S. Census Bureau consolidated the Greater Cincinnati, northern Kentucky (7 out of 15 counties in Greater Cincinnati) and eastern Indiana (3 out of 15 counties) area to form the Cincinnati-Hamilton, OH-KY-IN CMSA in 1990 and data shows that the Cincinnati-Hamilton, OH-KY-IN CMSA population is experiencing significant immediate growth.
The 2008 Cincinnati USA Partnership Economic Outlook indicated that the Cincinnati area was recently rated seventh lowest for cost of operating a corporate headquarters. Such designation, along with high lifestyle rankings by FORTUNE, Esquire Magazine and others will continue to make Cincinnati an attractive living environment for many different types of professionals and families.