The '90s economic boom showered prosperity across much of the nation with rising incomes, large new homes and luxurious cars. Yet Cincinnati missed a ride on the decade's economic gravy train that lifted so many other U.S. cities.

        Some Queen City families managed to climb out of pov erty during the good times, but a new Census survey measuring income, poverty and other statistics of the nation's largest cities and counties shows Cincinnatians remained stagnant in many categories.

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Poverty rates

        The city's median household income, $27,781, is the sixth lowest out of 64 large cities, trailing only Cleveland; Miami; St, Louis; New Orleans; and Buffalo, N.Y.. San Jose, Calif., the wealthiest city, had a median household income of more than $70,000.

        And even though Cincinnati's poverty rate declined slightly to 21.3 percent, the city has a larger percentage of poor people than all but a dozen U.S. cities.

        “With all the welfare changes and all the supposed prosperity, things are basically the same,” said Pat Clifford, co-chairman of Greater Cincinnati Coalition for the Homeless.

        Cincinnati also lost some ground compared to subur ban neighbors in Hamilton and Butler counties — the only other Greater Cincinnati communities measured in the Census report, which is out today.

        The figures shed light on the continued effect of the decadeslong migration out of Cincinnati, leaving behind poorer city residents and creating congested freeways as wealthier residents and businesses move out. The trend has threatened the city's tax base, helping create a $17 million budget shortfall at City Hall.

        The new Census figures show suburban residents are more likely to live in larger homes, own more cars and enjoy greater property value increases.

        One statistic city residents and suburbanites can both grouse about: more take-home pay used for rent or mortgage.

        The new figures are based on an experimental survey of 2,865 Cincinnati, Hamilton County and Butler County households taken at the time of the 2000 Census. Similar data for the 2000 Census count of all households will be available next year, providing a direct comparison to 1990.

Numbers outdated

        The income and poverty figures might already be outdated because of the looming recession that has jarred Hamilton County's manufacturing job base and other sectors, said George Zeller, senior researcher with the Council for Economic Opportunities in Greater Cleveland.

        “These data are like looking in your rearview mirror,” he said.

        Mr. Zeller's own research, which looks at average instead of median income, shows Cincinnati has a much higher gap between the two measurements of income than other Ohio cities. He said Cincinnati's average income is $40,757.

        The large gap is an indication of disparity between the city's wealthiest and poorest neighborhoods, Mr. Zeller said.

        Median income is the point at which half the households earn less, and the other half more. Average income divides total income by the number of households, so richer households drive up the average.

        “That obviously tells us there is a great diversity of incomes within Cincinnati itself,” Mr. Zeller said.

        The figures showed that those Greater Cincinnati residents who shared the decade's prosperity showed it off by buying larger homes and more cars.

        • The typical Butler County home boasts 6.2 rooms, slightly larger than Hamilton County's median 5.9-room home. The typical Cincinnati home has five.

        • About one of five Butler County households owns three or more cars (20.3 percent), while fewer than one of 10 Cincinnati households (9.1 percent) have three or more cars.

        • The vast majority of Butler residents use those cars to drive to work alone (85.1 percent), helping drive the county's average commute to 21 minutes from 20 minutes in 1990.

        Hamilton County's com mute time increased 1.2 minutes over the decade to 22.2 minutes.

        Cincinnati residents have the longest commute, 23.1 minutes, perhaps because 22.4 percent of city residents don't own a car and it takes longer to get to work by bus or other public transit.

New housing needed

        Building new homes to modernize the city's large supply of aging homes is one strategy to stem the city's population loss and stagnant income growth, said Joe Kramer, vice president of economic development for Greater Cincinnati Chamber of Commerce.

        “All that newer housing is being built outside the city,” Mr. Kramer said. “As people's income grows and they need newer or larger housing, they almost have no choice.”

        Indeed, the Census figures show fewer new homes were built in Cincinnati than in Hamilton or Butler counties, or other Ohio cities such as Cleveland and Columbus.

        Peg Moertl, director of the city's department of neighborhood services, said lack of land is a barrier to building larger, suburban-like new home develop ments. The city has added many homes by renovating older buildings, such as the Krippendorf and Emery buildings downtown.

Costs going up

        Yet some see a larger problem in Cincinnati: not enough affordable housing.

        “The cost of housing is going up much faster than the wages,” said Dot Christenson, executive director of the Better Housing League.

        In Cincinnati, 23.7 percent of home owners say mortgage payments account for more than 35 percent of total income. A decade ago, 14.1 percent of households said mortgage payments created such a burden.

        The increase is even larger for rental properties. Butler renters pay 37.5 percent of their income on rent, up from 25.8 percent last decade.

        Mr. Clifford said the soaring rent payments and stagnant income growth has created a dramatic increase in the working poor. Mr. Clifford's research shows more than half of the city's homeless population have jobs.

        “The affordability of housing has changed dramatically,” Mr. Clifford said. “You need to provide opportunity for these people.”

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