Cincinnati, Ohio
| Cincinnati, Ohio | |
 | |
| General information | |
Mayor of Cincinnati
Aftab Pureval | |
| Last mayoral election: | 2021 |
| Next mayoral election: | 2025 |
| Last city council election: | 2023 |
| Next city council election: | 2025 |
| City council seats: | 9 |
| City website | |
| Composition data (2019) | |
| Population: | 301,394 |
| Race: | White 50.7% African American 42.3% Asian 2.2% Native American 0.1% Pacific Islander 0.1% Two or more 3.7% |
| Ethnicity: | Hispanic 3.8% |
| Median household income: | $40,640 |
| High school graduation rate: | 88.1% |
| College graduation rate: | 37.1% |
| Related Cincinnati offices | |
| Ohio Congressional Delegation Ohio State Legislature Ohio state executive offices | |
Cincinnati is a city in Hamilton County, Ohio. The city's population was 309,317 as of 2020, according to the United States Census Bureau.
Click on the links below to learn more about the city's...
- Mayor
- City council
- Other elected officials
- Elections
- Census information
- Budget
- Contact information
- Ballot measures
- County government
City government
- See also: Mayor-council government and Council-manager government
The city government of Cincinnati blends elements of the strong-mayor and council-manager systems. While the mayor serves as the city's chief executive officer and the city council serves as the city's primary legislative body, a city manager, whom the mayor appoints and the city council approves, serves as the city's chief administrative officer.[1][2]
Mayor
The mayor serves as the city's chief executive and is responsible for delivering the annual state of the city address, proposing the budget estimate, and appointing the vice-mayor and the chairs of council committees. The mayor also presides over council meetings, proposes legislation for discussion, and holds the power to appoint or remove committee heads. The mayor also represents the city on the state, national, and international levels.[3] The current Mayor of Cincinnati is Aftab Pureval (nonpartisan). Pureval assumed office in 2022.
City manager
The city manager is the city's chief administrative officer. He or she is appointed by the mayor and approved by the city council. The responsibilities of the city manager include overseeing the city's day-to-day operations, carrying out the legislative initiatives of the mayor and city council, and assisting in the planning and implementation of the city's budget.[4][5]
City council
The Cincinnati City Council is the city's primary legislative body. It is responsible for adopting the city budget, approving mayoral appointees, levying taxes, and making or amending city laws, policies, and ordinances.[6]
The Cincinnati City Council is made up of nine members, each of whom is elected at large.[7]
The widget below automatically displays information about city council meetings. The topic list contains a sampling of keywords that Voterheads, a local government monitoring service, found in each meeting agenda. Click the meeting link to see more info and the full agenda:
Other elected officials
Ballotpedia does not cover any additional city officials in Cincinnati, Ohio.
Mayoral partisanship
Cincinnati has a Democratic mayor. As of December 2024, 65 mayors in the largest 100 cities by population are affiliated with the Democratic Party, 24 are affiliated with the Republican Party, one is affiliated with the Libertarian Party, four are independents, four identify as nonpartisan or unaffiliated, and two mayors' affiliations are unknown. Click here for a list of the 100 largest cities' mayors and their partisan affiliations.
Mayoral elections are officially nonpartisan in most of the nation's largest cities. However, many officeholders are affiliated with political parties. Ballotpedia uses one or more of the following sources to identify each officeholder's partisan affiliation: (1) direct communication from the officeholder, (2) current or previous candidacy for partisan office, or (3) identification of partisan affiliation by multiple media outlets.
Elections
2025
The city of Cincinnati, Ohio, is holding general elections for mayor and city council on November 4, 2025. The filing deadline for city council candidates is August 21, 2025.
2023
The city of Cincinnati, Ohio, held general elections for city council on November 7, 2023. The filing deadline for this election was August 24, 2023.
2021
The city of Cincinnati, Ohio, held general elections for mayor and city council on November 2, 2021. The filing deadline for this election was August 19, 2021.
2020
- See also: November 3, 2020 ballot measures in Ohio
On November 3, 2020, Cincinnati voters voted on one school district ballot measure that would renew the property tax passed in 2016 at a rate of $734 per $100,000 of assessed property value to raise a total of $48 million in revenue over five years beginning in 2021.
Click here to read more about the November 2020 local ballot measures on the ballot for Cincinnati voters.
2019
- See also: November 5, 2019 ballot measures in Ohio
On November 5, 2019, Cincinnati voters voted on one citywide ballot measure concerning the earnings tax and transportation, a school district property tax measure, and two countywide measures.
Click here to read more about the November 2019 local ballot measures on the ballot for Cincinnati voters.
2017
The city of Cincinnati, Ohio, held elections on November 7, 2017. A primary election for the mayoral race was held on May 2, 2017. The top two vote-getters faced each other in the general election. The filing deadline for mayoral candidates was February 16, 2017. All nine seats on the city council were up for election. Regardless of the number of candidates, Cincinnati does not hold a primary election for the city council races. The filing deadline for city council candidates was August 24, 2017.[8]
Census information
The table below shows demographic information about the city.
| Demographic Data for Cincinnati | |
|---|---|
| Cincinnati | |
| Population | 309,317 |
| Land area (sq mi) | 77 |
| Race and ethnicity** | |
| White | 50.4% |
| Black/African American | 39.6% |
| Asian | 2.6% |
| Native American | 0.1% |
| Pacific Islander | 0% |
| Two or more | 5.6% |
| Hispanic/Latino | 4.6% |
| Education | |
| High school graduation rate | 89.1% |
| College graduation rate | 40.5% |
| Income | |
| Median household income | $49,191 |
| Persons below poverty level | 18.9% |
| Source: population provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "Decennial Census" (2020). Other figures provided by U.S. Census Bureau, "American Community Survey" (5-year estimates 2017-2022). | |
| **Note: Percentages for race and ethnicity may add up to more than 100 percent because respondents may report more than one race and the Hispanic/Latino ethnicity may be selected in conjunction with any race. Read more about race and ethnicity in the census here. | |
Budget
Though the City of Cincinnati creates biennial budgets that cover two-year periods, a budget process is completed every year. One year the biennial budget is developed, and the next year updates to the budget's second year are developed. Fiscal years begin on July 1 and go through June 30 of the following year. Recommended budgets are developed and finalized by the city's administration and submitted to the mayor. The mayor makes changes as needed before submitting the budget to the city council. The city council evaluates the budget and holds public engagement sessions before approving the budget at a public hearing.[9]
Fiscally standardized cities data
The fiscally standardized cities (FiSC) data below was compiled by the Lincoln Institute of Land Policy to make municipal budgets comparable across cities in the United States.[10]
| “ |
FiSCs are constructed by adding revenues and expenditures of each central city municipal government to a portion of the revenues and expenditures of overlying governments, including counties, independent school districts, and special districts. The allocations to FiSCs are estimates of the revenues collected from and services provided to central city residents and businesses by these overlying independent governments. Thus FiSCs provides a full picture of revenues raised from city residents and businesses and spending on their behalf, whether done by the city government or a separate overlying government.[11] |
” |
| —Lincoln Institute of Land Policy[12] | ||
The tables below show estimated finances within city limits. As such, the revenue and expenses listed may differ from the actual city budget.
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Historical total revenue and expenditure
To see the historical total revenue or expenditures as a rounded amount in this city, hover over the bars.[10]
Cincinnati, Ohio, salaries and pensions over $95,000
Below is a map of the nationwide salaries and pensions in this city over $95,000. To search a different ZIP code, enter it in the search bar within the map.
Contact information
Mayor's office
801 Plum St., Suite 150
Cincinnati, OH 45202
Phone: 513-352-3250
Click here for city council contact information.
Ballot measures
- See also: Hamilton County, Ohio ballot measures
The city of Cincinnati is in Hamilton County. A list of ballot measures in Hamilton County is available here.
Noteworthy events
2020: Events and activity following the death of George Floyd
During the weekend of May 29-31, 2020, demonstrations and protests took place in cities nationwide, including Cincinnati, following the death of George Floyd. Events in Cincinnati, Ohio, began on May 29, 2020, at the Hamilton County courthouse.[13] On May 31, Mayor John Cranley (D) issued a 9:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. curfew until June 2.[14] On June 2, the curfew was extended for an additional night beginning at 8:00 p.m. followed by another extension on June 3 beginning at 11:00 p.m.[15][16] The national guard was not deployed.
2019: City council members fined for violating Open Meetings Act
On March 7, 2019, Judge Robert Ruehlman fined five members of the Cincinnati City Council for violating Ohio's Open Meetings Act.[17] According to the Ohio Attorney General's website, the act requires "public bodies in Ohio to conduct all public business in open meetings that the public may attend and observe."[18] Council members P.G. Sittenfeld, Greg Landsman, Tamaya Dennard, Wendell Young, and Chris Seelbach texted each other regarding political matters in 2018. Ruehlman presided over a settlement that resulted in a $1,000 fine for the violation of the Open Meetings Act, among other payments. Several of the council members called the incident a mistake in public statements.[17]
On December 19, 2019, the Cincinnati Business Courier reported that Ohio Auditor Keith Faber advised that the five council members "could be prosecuted under the state’s dereliction of duty statute."[19]
2015: Study on city's nondiscrimination laws
In July 2015, the Movement Advancement Project described Cincinnati, Ohio, as a city or county that prohibited discrimination in employment on the basis of gender identity via ordinances that apply to public and private employers. At that time, a total of 71 of America's largest 100 cities prohibited private employers from discriminating on the basis of sexual orientation, while 69 of those cities also prohibited discrimination based on gender identity. This did not include those jurisdictions that prohibited discrimination based on sexual orientation or gender identity for government employees.[20]
Nondiscrimination laws can cover a variety of areas, including public employment, private employment, housing, and public accommodations. Such laws may be enacted at the state, county, or city level.
See also
External links
Footnotes
- ↑ Cincinnati City Charter, Art. 2.1-3; 3.1-3; 4.1-3, accessed August 16, 2021
- ↑ Cincinnati Enquirer, "Why Cincinnati is stuck with a mayor and city manager who can't stand each other," March 19, 2018
- ↑ Charter of the City of Cincinnati, "Article III - Mayor," accessed August 11, 2021
- ↑ Cincinnati City Charter, 4.1-3, accessed October 27, 2014
- ↑ City of Cincinnati, "City Manager," accessed October 27, 2014
- ↑ Charter of the City of Cincinnati, "Article II. - LEGISLATIVE POWER," accessed August 11, 2021
- ↑ Charter of the City of Cincinnati, "Article IX. - NOMINATIONS AND ELECTIONS," accessed August 11, 2021
- ↑ Hamilton County Board of Elections, "2017 Election Schedule," accessed February 2, 2017
- ↑ City of Cincinnati, "FISCAL YEAR 2023 APPROVED ALL FUNDS BUDGET UPDATE," accessed August 23, 2023
- ↑ 10.0 10.1 Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, "Fiscally Standardized Cities database," accessed August 23, 2023
- ↑ Note: This text is quoted verbatim from the original source. Any inconsistencies are attributable to the original source.
- ↑ Lincoln Institute of Land Policy, "Fiscally Standardized Cities," accessed August 23, 2023
- ↑ WHIO TV 7, "George Floyd: Protesters in Cincinnati make their way to the center of I-75," May 29, 2020
- ↑ City of Cincinnati, "Emergency Order," accessed June 3, 2020
- ↑ Twitter, "City of Cincinnati," June 2, 2020
- ↑ Twitter, "City of Cincinnati, June 3, 2020
- ↑ 17.0 17.1 Cincinnati Business Courier,"Judge says City Council members should quit," March 7, 2019
- ↑ Ohio Attorney General, "Sunshine Laws FAQs," accessed on January 10, 2020
- ↑ Cincinnati Business Courier, "Five City Council members referred for prosecution," December 19, 2019
- ↑ Movement Advancement Project, "Local Employment Non-Discrimination Ordinances," accessed July 7, 2015
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