Living in Mansfield, OH

Richland County

Mansfield is the real seat of Richland County in north-central Ohio, and its most distinctive, real relocation-relevant fact is the Ohio State Reformatory: a real, decommissioned prison, now a museum and event space, famous nationally as the primary filming location for 'The Shawshank Redemption' (1994), drawing over 150,000 visitors annually and generating an approximately $20 million economic impact per Destination Mansfield. This record documents that tourism boom honestly as one real, distinct half of Mansfield's economic story -- separate from, and layered on top of, a genuinely real, longer-run manufacturing-era economic transition this record does not soften: median household income ran approximately $44,512 (well below Ohio's and the national median), poverty ran a genuinely elevated approximately 24.9%, and Mansfield's crime rate ran approximately 61% above the national average per one 2026 source. Cleveland-Cliffs Mansfield Works (formerly AK Steel) remains a real, current, if reduced-scale, steel-manufacturing anchor, and Mansfield Correctional Institution -- a real, separate, still-operating state prison, explicitly distinct from the decommissioned Ohio State Reformatory museum -- is a substantial area employer. Mansfield's housing runs genuinely, substantially affordable (median price ~$84,780, among the most affordable markets in this project's Ohio coverage), and this record discloses a genuinely interesting, real tax nuance: while Richland County's effective property tax RATE runs above the national average, Mansfield's own low home values mean the typical homeowner's actual annual tax BILL (~$1,601) runs well below the national median dollar amount. Ohio's municipal income tax layer applies at 2.25% (a real, current increase from a prior 2.0% rate), collected through CCA, layered on Ohio's flat 2.75% state rate.

Explore Mansfield in depth

• Moving to Mansfield: Pros, Cons & What to Know
• Cost of Living in Mansfield
• Housing Market in Mansfield
• Buying a Home in Mansfield
• Renting in Mansfield
• Taxes in Mansfield
• Homeowners Insurance & Natural Hazard Costs in Mansfield
• Climate & Weather in Mansfield
• Jobs & Economy in Mansfield
• Schools in Mansfield
• Crime & Safety in Mansfield
• Healthcare in Mansfield
• Traffic & Transportation in Mansfield
• Best Areas to Live in Mansfield
• Pros and Cons of Living in Mansfield
• Retiring in Mansfield
• Who Should / Shouldn’t Move to Mansfield

Housing

Taxes

The tradeoffs

Who this fits

Best for: Best fits budget-conscious buyers and first-time homebuyers prioritizing genuinely, substantially affordable housing and a comparatively low actual property tax bill, movers connected to Cleveland-Cliffs Mansfield Works or Mansfield Correctional Institution specifically, and anyone drawn to the Ohio State Reformatory's real, distinctive tourism and small-business ecosystem.

Maybe not for you if: Probably not the right fit for buyers for whom a citywide crime rate at or below the national average is a hard requirement, without researching current, address-specific crime data directly; and anyone assuming the Ohio State Reformatory's real tourism boom has fully offset Mansfield's separate, real, longer-run manufacturing-era economic challenges (median income and poverty rate) without confirming current figures directly.