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DSCR Loans in Portage County, Ohio

1.17% effective — that's Portage County's property tax rate, and it sits below the 1.36% Ohio average. On a DSCR loan, where the ratio is rent divided by the full monthly payment including taxes, a lower county rate is one of the few levers a borrower doesn't have to negotiate for. The worked math below shows what it does to a real deal.

01

Portage County at a glance

County seat
Ravenna
Population
163,404 (2025 est.)
Effective property tax rate
1.17%
Median home value
$227,000 (ACS 2020-2024 5yr)
Median gross rent
$1,064/mo (ACS 2020-2024 5yr)

02

Why investors look at Portage County

Home to Kent State University; a large student-renter population supports above-average rental demand in and around Kent.

03

The tax-drag math for Portage County

The same $100,000 of property value can generate very different tax bills depending which of Ohio's 88 counties it sits in. Portage County sits toward the lower-tax end of that spread, which is a small but real edge for a DSCR file.

A $227,000 property here — Portage County's own median home value, 20% down ($45,400), renting for $1,064/mo — financed at an observed Ohio DSCR average of 7.20% (Q2 2026)¹:

Gross rent
$1,064
Portage County property tax ($227,000 × 1.17% ÷ 12)
$221
Landlord insurance ($1220 ÷ 12)
$102
Principal & interest, $181,600 loan at an observed 7.20% Ohio average¹, 30-yr fixed
$1,233
PITIA (tax + insurance + P&I)
$1,556
DSCR (rent ÷ PITIA)
$1,064 ÷ $1,556 = 0.68

At these countywide figures, a 0.68 lands under the 1.00 floor most DSCR programs require — see the methodology note below for why a whole-county median often understates what a targeted rental-grade property actually clears. At the statewide average tax rate of 1.36% instead of Portage County's lower 1.17%, this same property's monthly tax bill would run about $257 instead of $221 — Portage County's below-average rate is worth roughly $36/month here.

This worked example deliberately uses Portage County's own ACS-reported median home value against its ACS-reported median gross rent — a blended, whole-county pairing that includes higher-priced owner-occupied housing on the value side and apartment/multifamily rents on the rent side. That's a more conservative starting point than a matched, rental-grade single-family purchase. Run your own address and rent number through the DSCR calculator for a property-specific result instead of this countywide blend.

The county average landing under 1.00 says something about the median deal in Portage County, not about the county as a market. Buying under the median, renting over it, or increasing the down payment are how investors make DSCR work here — the distance between that average number and an achievable one is exactly where the deal is.

¹ Ohio DSCR long-term-rental loans averaged 7.20% in Q2 2026 (Private Lender Link), inside the broader 6.5%–8.75% range lenders were publishing for DSCR product nationally. This is a market observation, not an offer — your rate depends on your DSCR, credit, LTV and loan purpose, and is set by the lender, not by us.

04

Cities in Portage County

Where in Portage County you buy still matters even after the county-level tax math above — start with the cities below.

05

Nearby counties

A few more NE Ohio counties worth a look:

06

Get your Portage County DSCR quote

Numbers on this page are county medians — a real Portage County property will come in above or below them. Compare quotes on the one you're looking at.

Compare DSCR quotes for a Portage County property →

07

Sources for this page

Last updated 2026-08-25. County tax rates and home-value figures are refreshed periodically from the sources above, each with its own as-of date.