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Cincinnati, Ohio
Inside Cincinnati's city limits, a shallow water table limits basements on 4% of mapped land. Shrink-swell clay limits houses without basements on 8%.
That water-table share is close to Hamilton County's 9%. USDA doesn't rate the 45% of mapped land classed as urban land, so these shares are floors. FEMA's flood data list 219 flood losses since 2016 in the 26 ZIP codes overlapping the city. Of its 160,409 homes, 80% were built before 1980; the median dates from 1951.
Data as of November 3, 2026 · sources · in Hamilton County
expansive clay: shrink-swell limits slab homes
high water table: limits basements
flood losses since 2016 in 26 overlapping ZIPs
of homes built before 1980
Basement waterproofing in Cincinnati
Basement waterproofing in Cincinnati: a shallow water table limits basements on 4% of Cincinnati's mapped land, and the 26 ZIP codes overlapping Cincinnati logged 219 FEMA flood losses since 2016.
In Hamilton County, 52% of the 251 flood-loss buildings with a recorded foundation type had basements.
About 61,400 of Cincinnati's 160,409 homes are detached houses.
Soil under Cincinnati city limits
| Expansive clay (limits slab homes) | 7.9% |
| High water table (limits basements) | 4.2% |
| Septic fields very limited | 30.6% |
| Clay swell (LEP, by area) | 4.8% |
| High-swell land (LEP 6%+) | 7.9% |
| Urban land, not rated | 45.4% |
| Mapped soil | 50,989 acres |
What the numbers mean here
With shrink-swell clay on 8% and a shallow water table on 4% of the land, the soil survey points to neither problem across most of Cincinnati; conditions still vary lot by lot.
Cincinnati covers 77.9 square miles of land and counts 160,409 housing units, about 2,059 per square mile.
40% of Cincinnati's occupied homes are owner-occupied, and the median owner-occupied home is valued at $230,900; 10% of all homes in the city date from 2000 or later.
The largest soil series under Cincinnati is Eden, on 11% of the mapped land, followed by Switzerland at 2%.
Clay swell, measured as linear extensibility, averages 4.8% across Cincinnati's 50,989 mapped acres.
Drought in Hamilton County
0% of Hamilton County is in drought (D1 or worse) on the November 3, 2026 map. County detail.
Flood losses by ZIP code
FEMA flood records since 2016 in the ZIP codes that overlap Cincinnati. ZIP areas reach past city limits.
| ZIP | Share of city land | Flood losses | Paid |
|---|---|---|---|
| 45226 | 7% | 77 | $6.5 million |
| 45230 | 7% | 48 | $770,064 |
| 45211 | 6% | 1 | $0 |
| 45223 | 6% | 3 | $437,793 |
| 45208 | 6% | 12 | $464,134 |
| 45232 | 5% | 0 | $0 |
| 45224 | 5% | 6 | $55,070 |
| 45238 | 5% | 0 | $0 |
| 45237 | 4% | 10 | $88,026 |
| 45225 | 4% | 0 | $0 |
| 45204 | 4% | 1 | $225,000 |
| 45220 | 4% | 0 | $0 |
| 45205 | 4% | 2 | $7,484 |
| 45229 | 4% | 0 | $0 |
| 45202 | 3% | 24 | $446,338 |
| 45214 | 3% | 0 | $0 |
| 45227 | 3% | 16 | $88,431 |
| 45213 | 3% | 0 | $0 |
| 45209 | 3% | 3 | $3,141 |
| 45206 | 3% | 0 | $0 |
| 45216 | 3% | 0 | $0 |
| 45219 | 2% | 0 | $0 |
| 45203 | 2% | 13 | $684,922 |
| 45207 | 2% | 0 | $0 |
| 45217 | 1% | 3 | $41,460 |
| 45267 | under 1% | 0 | $0 |
Homes in Cincinnati
| Housing units | 160,409 |
| Median year built | 1951 |
| Built before 1980 | 80% |
| Built 2000 or later | 10% |
| Owner-occupied | 40% |
| Median value, owner-occupied | $230,900 |
| Single-family detached | 38% |
Nearby cities
| Place | Distance | Expansive clay | High water table |
|---|---|---|---|
| St. Bernard | 2 mi | 2% | 2% |
| Norwood | 3 mi | 1% | 3% |
| Elmwood Place | 3 mi | under 1% | 1% |
| Golf Manor | 5 mi | under 1% | 4% |
| Fairfax | 6 mi | 5% | 1% |
| Arlington Heights | 6 mi | 1% | 1% |
| North College Hill | 6 mi | under 1% | 9% |
| Cheviot | 6 mi | 3% | 7% |
Sources: USDA SSURGO (August 5, 2026) · US Drought Monitor (November 3, 2026) · FEMA NFIP v3 (September 9, 2026) · Census ACS 2020-2024. Methods · Data status