Housing

Housing Trends

In 2000, there were 7,613 total housing units in the City of Wadsworth. That is a 22% increase from 1990 when there were only 6,218 units. Within those homes there is an average of approximately 2.51 persons per occupied housing unit (2000 Census). Beyond having an understanding of how many housing units exist in the city, or how the number of housing units has grown, much of which can be interpreted from the previous discussion on population, it is important to have a better understanding of what that housing stock looks like.

Housing Types

The types of housing that homes in Wadsworth can be categorized within (based on Census data) are single-family detached homes, structures with two to nine units, structures with 10 to 50 units, structures with more than 50 units, and/or mobile homes. Single-family detached units represent the largest proportion of housing units in both the city and county with 71% of the dwelling units in the city classified as single-family detached. Figure A illustrates the housing compositions by number of units per structure for Wadsworth and Medina County. Wadsworth has a higher proportion of attached, multi-unit structures compared to the county but this is not unusual given the availability of services and infrastructure to accommodate the higher densities within the boundaries of the city.

Population & Housing Forecasts

The city has grown at variable annual rates over the past decades. One method for forecasting future growth is to look back at the historical annual rate of population growth and evaluate whether such growth rates reflect anticipated trends for the future. A related, but slightly different, approach is to examine annual housing permits as a means for extrapolating potential future growth trends.