Overview:

THE CLEVELAND MSA has a population of 2.05 million making it the 33rd most populous market in the United States. The City of Cleveland has an estimated population of 385,000. Cleveland is the 52nd most populous city in the US and is 31st in the nation in terms of economic output with a GDP of $134 billion. The Cleveland market consists of five Ohio counties: Cuyahoga County, Geauga County, Lake County, Lorain County, and Medina County.

Much like the rest of the world, Cleveland is feeling the immediate fallout of the coronavirus pandemic. Unemployment claims have continued to increase with more than 960,000 Ohioans filing for unemployment as of April 18, 2020. Cleveland was already in the midst of rising unemployment and negative population growth. Unlike some other markets, Cleveland’s economy is not as heavily saturated with retail, leisure, and hospitality which have been the hardest hit job sectors in America. Healthcare services is one of Cleveland’s largest industries and the surge in healthcare demand could mitigate some of the negative impact. Cleveland Clinic and University Hospitals represent the market’s two largest employers and are continually demonstrating strong growth with the recent real estate expansion announcements. UH has a $200 million expansion of Ahuja Medical Center planned and Cleveland Clinic has a new hospital planned in Mentor.

Cleveland started 2020 with the positive news that Sherwin-Williams global headquarters would remain in Cleveland. The company initially planned to invest another $600 million into the Cleveland market with a new 1 million square foot headquarters building in downtown Cleveland and a 500,000 square foot research facility in Brecksville. It is unclear how the current economic conditions will impact this corporate investment.

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