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cincinnati's top industries: a consultant's exhausted rant

@Luna Sterling2/8/2026blog

i'm running on three cups of coffee and the nagging feeling that i should be somewhere else, but since i'm here, let's talk about cincinnati's top industries. because apparently, the world wants to know how this midwestern city hasn't turned into a ghost town like some of its rust-belt cousins. spoiler: we've got a few tricks up our sleeve, but it ain't all rainbows and artisanal pickles.

the weather's been a limp handshake-humid, unpredictable, and kind of disappointing. one minute it's 80 and you're sweating through your shirt, the next a cold front slaps you like your ex's divorce papers. and if you're itching for a change, indy's a two-hour drive where they actually know how to make a decent tenderloin, chicago's a quick flight if you need to feel important, and cleveland's just up the road if you want to see a lake that's almost as polluted as our politics.

cincinnati's job market is humming at about a 4% unemployment rate-basically full employment unless you're a recent grad with a degree in something useless like interpretive dance. median household income hovers around $60k, which, yeah, sounds okay until you realize a one-bedroom in over-the-rhine now costs $1,300. that's basically a mortgage on a cardboard box in new york, but we call it affordable because we're desperate. as for safety, the city's got a split personality: clifton's student area is as safe as a library after midnight, while某些 parts of avondale, you don't want to be caught wandering after sunset. but hey, that's any city, right?

so what's actually paying the bills? healthcare, manufacturing, and logistics are the three big pillars, and they're all interconnected in ways that'd make a spider blush.


i've been digging through numbers and talking to people (okay, eavesdropping) to get a sense of the pulse. here's the drill-down.

*Mount Adams' Assembly Line Echoes



cincinnati used to be the paris of america because of all the machine shops, or so my grandpa used to say while fixing his buick. these days, toyota's got a massive engine plant in georgetown, ky, just across the river, and there's a web of suppliers threading through northern kentucky and southern ohio. mount adams, that hilltop neighborhood with the fancy views, actually sits on what used to be a brick manufacturing area; now it's full of condos and breweries, but the ghost of industrial output still haunts the zoning laws. the average manufacturing wage in the metro area is about $55k, which is decent, but the jobs are getting more tech-heavy-less muscle, more brains. and if you think it's all blue collar, think again: the roebling bridge that connects us to covington was built by suspension wire experts; some things never change.

according to the bureau of labor statistics, manufacturing still accounts for nearly 17% of the metro's employment, down from 25% a decade ago but still a massive chunk. and guess what? the ohio river freight traffic actually increased last year because someone finally remembered we have a waterway.

i was at a bar in covington last week, and some old timer slurred that the factory jobs will vanish to mexico by 2025. i told him to order another beer and check the latest investment figures: toyota just pumped $600 million into their plant here. but what do i know? i'm just a consultant who reads spreadsheets.

Cincinnati Children's and the Stethoscope Economy



if there's one thing cincinnati's got in spades, it's hospitals. cincinnati children's is consistently ranked in the top 5 pediatric centers in the nation, and it's a jobs machine-over 15,000 employees. that's more people than work at the local npr affiliate, which is saying something. the biotech corridor that's sprouted around the hospital is like a weird garden of startups trying to cure everything from cancer to bad decisions. the average salary for a research scientist hovers around $90k, but the entry-level techs are making $40k and crying into their ramen.

the influx of well-paid doctors and researchers has driven up rents in neighborhoods like oakley and hyde park, where you can now find a two-bedroom for $1,800 if you're lucky. but hey, at least the food scene is excellent-thanks, findlay market, for the fresh goat cheese that somehow makes my student loans feel lighter.

i overheard two grad students at coffee shop whispering that the children's hospital is planning a massive expansion that'll bring 2,000 more jobs, but the local nimbys are already sharpening their pitchforks. that's cincinnati: love progress until it blocks your view of the parking lot.

The Banks*' Flatbed Trucks and the Freight Surge



logistics might sound boring until you realize it's the reason you can get that stupid plastic gadget from china in two days. cincinnati's location at the crossroads of i-71, i-75, and the ohio river makes it a freight hub. the banks, that riverside development with the stadiums and overpriced condos, is basically a flatbed truck parking lot disguised as a party. ups has a massive hub at the cincinnati/northern kentucky international airport (which is actually in kentucky, go figure), and cincinnati is a top 30 cargo airport in the us. the average truck driver in the area makes $65k, which is great if you like diesel fumes and the soul-crushing monotony of interstate highways.

the greater cincinnati partnership loves to tout that the region handles over $70 billion in freight value annually, whatever that means. but it translates to jobs: warehousing and distribution employs about 12% of the workforce, and that number's been climbing as e-commerce booms. and if you think it's all about moving boxes, think again-there's also a growing cold storage industry because apparently, we like our frozen chicken wings.

a trucker i met at a 24-hour diner in reading (that's a suburb) told me that the freight volume is actually down because of the supply chain crisis. i checked the numbers: he's full of it, but he makes a mean pancakes.

and then there's procter & gamble, the toothpaste giant that's been here since the 1800s. pg's headquarters in downtown employs a small army of marketers and engineers, and their presence drags a whole ecosystem of agencies and suppliers. if you've ever used tide, pampers, or that weird smelling febreze, you've touched cincinnati's economic fingerprint.

i know, i know-this is a lot of data dump. but cincinnati's not just about the industries; it's about the people who keep them running while complaining about traffic on i-71. if you're considering a move, check out r/cincinnati for the real talk (and the drama), or Yelp for the overhyped brunch spots that somehow never disappoint. for a tourist's eye view, TripAdvisor will list the same five attractions, but at least you'll get a decent photo of the roebling bridge. and if you want actual news that isn't cat videos, try Cincinnati.com.

anyway, i need to go. my cat's judging me, and i think it's about to rain again. cincinnati, baby.

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About the author: Luna Sterling

Writer, thinker, and occasional over-thinker.

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