[In the player above, watch previous FOX 8 News coverage on Cleveland’s “Pay to Stay” ordinance, approved in August 2022.]

(WJW) — Eviction filings are seeing a resurgence nationwide, now that protections for tenants established during the COVID-19 pandemic have ended.

In some cities, they’re 50% higher than the pre-pandemic average, The Associated Press reported in June.

In Cleveland, the number of evictions filed each month since January 2020 has, for the most part, stayed below pre-pandemic averages, according to data from Princeton University’s Eviction Lab.

But the number of filings in July 2023 were still up 65% from July 2022, the local data shows. About 5% of all renter households in the city have faced eviction at some point in the last year.

This map shows eviction filings since Aug. 1, 2022, relative to the number of filings in an average pre-pandemic year. Census tracts colored in blue are below average, while tracts colored in red are above average. (Courtesy of The Eviction Lab at Princeton University)

About 5.6% of all Northeast Ohio renters faced eviction in 2022, according to a state report. There were more than 33,000 eviction filings in the region that year, according to the state’s latest housing needs assessment, published by the Ohio Housing Finance Agency.

Below, we’ve ranked Northeast Ohio counties by their eviction rates, according to that report, which used U.S. Census Bureau data from 2017 to 2021.

Rankings also include data on income and the cost burden of rent in those counties that year. A household that spends more than half of its income on rent and utilities is considered to be “severely cost-burdened.” That includes about one-quarter of all the state’s renters, according to the Ohio Housing Finance Agency.

This graphic from the Ohio Housing Finance Agency’s latest housing needs report illustrates the eviction filing rate in each of Ohio’s 88 counties in 2022. (Source: Ohio Housing Finance Agency Fiscal Year 2024 Housing Needs Assessment)

Statewide: 6.43%

  • Median household income: $62,286
  • Monthly gross rent: $870
  • Poverty rate in 2021: 13.3%
  • Rate of severe rent burden: 24.7%

20. Holmes County: 1.28%

  • Median household income: $70,027
  • Monthly gross rent: $700
  • Poverty rate in 2021: 10.1%
  • Rate of severe rent burden: 16.3%

19. Harrison County: 1.71%

  • Median household income: $50,691
  • Monthly gross rent: $608
  • Poverty rate in 2021: 14.1%
  • Rate of severe rent burden: 25.9%

18. Ashland County: 1.83%

  • Median household income: $59,117
  • Monthly gross rent: $748
  • Poverty rate in 2021: 10.9%
  • Rate of severe rent burden: 22.7%

17. Carroll County: 1.82%

  • Median household income: $56,287
  • Monthly gross rent: $715
  • Poverty rate in 2021: 13.3%
  • Rate of severe rent burden: 23%

16. Geauga County: 2.07%

  • Median household income: $91,701
  • Monthly gross rent: $895
  • Poverty rate in 2021: 6.2%
  • Rate of severe rent burden: 19.3%

15. Medina County: 2.54%

  • Median household income: $86,880
  • Monthly gross rent: $958
  • Poverty rate in 2021: 6.1%
  • Rate of severe rent burden: 18.2%

14. Jefferson County: 2.58%

  • Median household income: $50,442
  • Monthly gross rent: $694
  • Poverty rate in 2021: 17.2%
  • Rate of severe rent burden: 24.9%

13. Columbiana County: 2.6%

  • Median household income: $51,019
  • Monthly gross rent: $664
  • Poverty rate in 2021: 16.7%
  • Rate of severe rent burden: 22.4%

12. Wayne County: 3.04%

  • Median household income: $60,709
  • Monthly gross rent: $770
  • Poverty rate in 2021: 9.6%
  • Rate of severe rent burden: 19.3%

11. Tuscarawas County: 3.22%

  • Median household income: $58,282
  • Monthly gross rent: $796
  • Poverty rate in 2021: 12.4%
  • Rate of severe rent burden: 22.5%

10. Ashtabula County: 3.75%

  • Median household income: $48,916
  • Monthly gross rent: $735
  • Poverty rate in 2021: 15.7%
  • Rate of severe rent burden: 29.4%

9. Portage County: 4.25%

  • Median household income: $65,445
  • Monthly gross rent: $921
  • Poverty rate in 2021: 12.4%
  • Rate of severe rent burden: 32.9%

8. Richland County: 5.07%

  • Median household income: $51,733
  • Monthly gross rent: $694
  • Poverty rate in 2021: 13.4%
  • Rate of severe rent burden: 23.8%

7. Lorain County: 5.09%

  • Median household income: $63,348
  • Monthly gross rent: $821
  • Poverty rate in 2021: 12.8%
  • Rate of severe rent burden: 27.7%

6. Lake County: 5.35%

  • Median household income: $74,208
  • Monthly gross rent: $952
  • Poverty rate in 2021: 7%
  • Rate of severe rent burden: 17.7%

5. Stark County: 5.36%

  • Median household income: $59,205
  • Monthly gross rent: $784
  • Poverty rate in 2021: 12.8%
  • Rate of severe rent burden: 20.7%

4. Summit County: 5.48%

  • Median household income: $63,191
  • Monthly gross rent: $882
  • Poverty rate in 2021: 12.5%
  • Rate of severe rent burden: 24.6%

3. Trumbull County: 5.94%

  • Median household income: $51,838
  • Monthly gross rent: $707
  • Poverty rate in 2021: 15.5%
  • Rate of severe rent burden: 26.4%

2. Mahoning County: 6.6%

  • Median household income: $50,216
  • Monthly gross rent: $706
  • Poverty rate in 2021: 19.3%
  • Rate of severe rent burden: 24.1%

1. Cuyahoga County: 6.96%

  • Median household income: $55,250
  • Monthly gross rent: $875
  • Poverty rate in 2021: 16.2%
  • Rate of severe rent burden: 26.5%