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Hamilton County · Ohio

ZIP code 45203

Population, income, housing costs and the sales tax rate charged on purchases inside ZIP 45203 — Census 2019-2023 ACS 5-year, no modelled estimates.
Population
2,530

ZCTA residents

Median income
$33,798

Household, past 12 months

Median home
$296,100

Owner-occupied value

Sales tax
7.85%

Combined state + local

Quick answer

ZIP 45203 sits in Hamilton County, Ohio and is home to 2,530 people. Median household income is $33,798, the median home is worth $296,100 and median gross rent is $749. 32.8% of households own their home, and purchases are taxed at 7.85% combined.

County
Hamilton County

FIPS 39061

State
Ohio (OH)

1,233 ZIPs covered

Area codes
513, 859

NANPA codes serving this area

Metro area
Cincinnati

Rate jurisdiction used for tax

The numbers for 45203

American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates for this ZCTA.

Population
2,530ZIP 45203 residents
Median household income
$33,798Past 12 months, inflation adjusted
Median home value
$296,100Owner-occupied units
Median gross rent
$749Rent plus utilities, monthly
Median age
34.8 yrsAll residents
Homeownership rate
32.8%Owner-occupied households

ZIP 45203 in context

How this area compares with national benchmarks.

ZIP 45203 is a small town in Hamilton County, Ohio, with 2,530 residents counted in the Census American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates, which places it #718 of 1,233 ranked by population — larger than 41% of them. The median age here is 34.8 years against 39.1 nationally, a slightly younger profile than the country as a whole. At this population the ACS sample is small, so the margin of error around every dollar figure below is wide — treat the numbers as a band, not a point, and expect them to move between annual releases without the place itself changing.

Households in ZIP 45203 earn a median of $33,798 a year, 57% below the national figure of $78,538. Household income here is measured before tax and pooled across everyone at the address, which is why it reads higher than typical individual earnings in the same area. Poverty reaches 46.8% of residents here, well above the 12.4% national rate, which is the single clearest signal in this dataset that median income here is carried by a narrow band of households.

The typical owner-occupied home in ZIP 45203 is valued at $296,100, 2.4% below the national figure, while median gross rent runs $749 a month, 46.7% below the national figure, or roughly $8,988 across a full year. A household on the local median income would put about 26.6% of gross pay toward that rent against the federal 30% cost-burden threshold, so renting here is within the standard affordability guideline. The home-price-to-income ratio works out to 8.8×, against roughly 3.9× nationally, so buying is out of reach on local earnings alone and the ownership market leans on outside income, equity or dual high earners. 32.8% of occupied homes are owner-occupied versus 65% nationally, a renter-majority market, so rent figures matter more here than the home-value line. Rent is reported gross — contract rent plus tenant-paid utilities — which is why it runs above the advertised price on a listing for the same unit.

Home values sit at 8.8× median household income, far past the 3.9× national mark, so ownership costs here are set by something other than local wages — second homes, retirees with equity, or commuters earning elsewhere.

No figure on this page is estimated by us; each one comes straight from the published ACS tables for this area. Small-area estimates still carry wider margins of error than state or national figures, so check the linked ACS tables before relying on them for lending, appraisal or legal work.

Reading ZIP 45203 in context

How 45203 sits inside Hamilton County and Ohio.

ZIP 45203 is tabulated inside Hamilton County, Ohio, one of 54 ZIP areas the Census publishes for that county and 1,233 across Ohio. Population sits in the small-town band, typically one main street plus the addresses that feed into it. County assignment on this page follows the largest share of the ZIP's land area, which matters where a delivery route crosses a county line: mail addressed to 45203 can be handled by a post office in a neighbouring county even though the tabulation area is filed here.

Against its own county, 45203 reports a median household income of $33,798, 52% below the $70,382 county median, and 50% below the $68,141 typical OH ZIP. Owner-occupied homes are valued at a median of $296,100, 33% above the county figure and 77% above the statewide ZIP median. Rent is reported gross — the contract amount plus tenant-paid utilities — at $749 a month, which is why it reads higher than the advertised rent on a listing for the same unit.

A taxable purchase made inside 45203 carries 7.85% at the register, assembled from the Cincinnati jurisdiction stack: the Ohio state rate plus every county, municipal and special district levy that reaches this address. Because those district boundaries were drawn for schools, transit and hospital funding rather than for mail delivery, two addresses inside 45203 can legitimately fall under different totals — the rate shown here is the one that applies to the dominant jurisdiction.

Everything above comes from the Census Bureau American Community Survey 2019-2023 ACS 5-year estimates for this ZIP Code Tabulation Area, with sales tax rates traced to the state revenue agency. Five-year estimates pool sixty months of responses, so they are stable enough to compare 45203 with its neighbours but always trail the current year, and any value the Census suppressed for sample size is shown as unpublished rather than filled in with a model.

Sales tax in 45203

What a purchase inside this ZIP costs at checkout.

Rate applied
7.85%Cincinnati jurisdiction stack
Tax on $100
$8Rounded to the dollar
Tax on $1,000
$79Before any exemptions

This ZIP falls inside the Cincinnati rate area, so state, county, city and district levies are published here as a full stack.

Affordability in this ZIP

Derived from the Census medians above — indicative, not an offer.

Rent burden
27%Median rent ÷ median income
Price-to-income
8.8×Home value ÷ household income
Est. mortgage
$1,536/mo20% down, 30-yr at 6.75%
Poverty rate
46.8%Residents below poverty line

A rent burden above 30% is the federal threshold for cost-burdened households, and a price-to-income multiple above 4× is generally considered a stretched housing market. The mortgage figure is principal and interest only — taxes, insurance and HOA dues are extra.

How 45203 compares

ZIP 45203 against the median ZIP in Hamilton County and across Ohio.

MeasureZIP 45203County medianState medianvs state
Median household income$33,798$70,382$68,141-50%
Median home value$296,100$222,500$167,500+77%
Median gross rent$749$990$881-15%
Population2,53014,6423,633-30%

Medians are computed across the 54 ZIP areas in Hamilton County and the 1233 ZIP areas in Ohio.

Statewide rank

Where this ZIP places among all 1233 Ohio ZIP areas.

Income

richer than 3% of 1,145 state ZIPs

#1,106
Home value

above 92% of 1,132 state ZIPs

#96
Population

larger than 42% of 1,233 state ZIPs

#718

Comparable ZIP codes

Ohio ZIP areas with almost the same household income.

ZIPCountyIncomeHome valueRent
44485Trumbull County$33,720$73,600$818
45727Noble County$33,542$109,200$800
44704Stark County$34,063$65,100$790
44127Cuyahoga County$32,955$50,600$657
45417Montgomery County$35,027$73,000$861
44108Cuyahoga County$32,530$62,000$910

Nearby ZIP codes

Other ZIP codes filed under Hamilton County.

Adjacent ZIP Codes

Other ZIP codes in Hamilton County, Ohio.

ZIP 45203 questions

Common questions about this ZIP code.

Where is ZIP code 45203?
ZIP 45203 lies mostly in Hamilton County, Ohio. County assignment follows the largest share of land area, so a ZIP straddling a county line is filed under its dominant county.
What sales tax do I pay in 45203?
Purchases are taxed at 7.85% combined, built from the Cincinnati jurisdiction stack.
Is 45203 expensive to live in?
Median rent runs $749 a month, about 27% of median household income, and the median home is worth $296,100 — +77% against the typical Ohio ZIP.
Is a ZCTA the same as a postal ZIP code?
Not exactly. The Census builds ZIP Code Tabulation Areas from the ZIP codes of addresses inside each census block, so a ZCTA can differ slightly from the USPS delivery route of the same number, and PO-box-only ZIPs have no ZCTA at all.

Related pages for this area.

Sources & transparency

Every figure on this page is a published estimate for ZIP Code Tabulation Area 45203, except the affordability ratios and mortgage estimate, which we derive from those medians and label as estimates.

Last reviewed December 2024. Figures are published for reference and can change; verify with the source agency before filing or contracting. How we build and check this data.