Talent
Collaborative regional solutions support talent retention, alignment, and growth
Northeast Ohio is retaining more college graduates and growing the 25-34 age group. And significant efforts are underway to attract and connect talent to in-demand careers, today and in the future.
What this tells you
Current Population
There are nearly 3.7 million people throughout the 14 counties in Northeast Ohio.
Degree Holders
Over 1 million Northeast Ohioans hold a college degree.
College-Educated Population
The region’s college-educated population is projected to grow 8% by 2030.
College-Educated Population
The population with a college degree is up 15% since 2018. This population is projected to grow an additional 8% by 2030.
25-34 Talent
Young professional population (25-34) has grown 3% since 2018.
Graduate Retention
52% of 2024–2025 graduates chose to remain in Northeast Ohio.
College-Educated Population
The population with a college degree is up 15% since 2018. This population is projected to grow an additional 8% by 2030.
Diploma Completion
The population without a high school diploma has decreased 17% since 2018, and is projected to decrease an additional 13% by 2030.
Graduates Retained
The population of regional college graduates staying in Northeast Ohio rose 4 percentage points since 2018, driven by targeted workforce efforts.
Workforce ecosystem
Together, businesses, higher education, and nonprofit partners are creating more pathways to career opportunity—expanding the talent pipeline and helping Northeast Ohio attract, develop, and retain early-career talent.
See the partners, the pathways, and the hidden talent the standard labor data leaves out.
Working alongside Team NEO and our local partners to anchor Sherwin-Williams and its new headquarters and R&D center in Northeast Ohio created new opportunities to keep more Ohio students in the state and help them build long-term careers here.
18-30-year-olds are workers now and are going to be workers in the future. Rethinking and reshaping how we think about work is important as we connect with that age demographic.
I would encourage businesses to focus more on the skills, and work with places like Tri-C to get the credentials so we’re not losing access to wonderfully talented people because we’re emphasizing the completion of a degree. If we’re not prioritizing skills, we’re leaving stranded assets.
Metric 01
The alignment between credentials produced in the region and the jobs employers are trying to fill.
Northeast Ohio's workforce is large, skilled, and becoming more educated every year. As demand accelerates in healthcare, manufacturing, and technology, the region has an opportunity to produce more credentials aligned with these high-demand careers. Tracking the credential-to-market ratio helps measure how well education and training are keeping pace with employer demand, and where targeted investments can strengthen the talent pipeline.
Switch industries to compare healthcare, manufacturing, and IT, side by side. The dashed line is Cincinnati, providing a useful metric for showing whether the pattern is regional or statewide.
Northeast Ohio · 2018–2024
Regional initiative
Stark Career Connect is a community collaboration focused on placing unemployed and underemployed job seekers in better jobs with higher wages. The group leverages shared data to guide candidates towards in-demand jobs, and supports job seekers with local training, skill certifications, career navigators, and employment opportunities.
Metric 02
The share of adults 25 and older with each level of educational attainment, from less than high school through bachelor's and beyond.
Northeast Ohio is building a stronger talent pipeline. Since 2018, the share of adults with a bachelor's degree or higher across the region including Cleveland, Akron, and Canton has increased to 32.3%, and 52% of recent graduates now stay in the region after graduation. As businesses and higher education continue working together, more graduates are finding opportunities here—helping employers access the skilled workforce they need to grow.
The Bachelor's-plus population is climbing, associate degree holders hold steady, and the share of adults without a high school diploma is falling. Cincinnati, a college-heavy peer with higher bachelor's degree attainment, but a similar overall trajectory, is shown for scale.
Northeast Ohio · ages 25+ · 2018–2024, projected to 2030
Regional initiative
Baldwin Wallace University (BWU) is an active participant in the Talent Development Council, which joins higher education institutions, companies, and workforce organizations to develop holistic, regional talent development solutions. As a result, BWU and Team NEO are working together to better market the programs that deliver in-demand talent to regional businesses.
Metric 03
Total regional population change over time alongside the share of the population in the 25-to-34 young-professional age group.
Northeast Ohio's population of 3.7 million provides a strong economic foundation, reinforced by a 1.3% growth surge in 2020 and positive gains in 4 of the last 7 years. At the same time, the composition of that population is evolving. Since 2018, the share of residents ages 25 to 34, the talent most sought by employers, has grown from 12.7% to 13%.
There’s more good news when you look at productivity: Northeast Ohio’s workforce is on track to outpace both the state and the nation in productivity growth, with output per worker projected to rise 9.2% from 2025 to 2030.
Significant efforts to attract and retain early-career professionals, coupled with a strong output per worker, are supporting business growth and positioning the region for long-term success.
Photo Credit: Erik Drost
Although Northeast Ohio's population has remained stable, the region is gaining momentum where it matters most. The share of residents ages 25–34 continues to grow, powering business growth. Compared with faster-growing peer regions like Columbus, the trend highlights an important opportunity to strengthen our region’s competitive advantage by expanding our attraction and retention efforts for early-career talent.
Northeast Ohio · 2018–2024, projected to 2030
Regional initiative
The Cleveland Talent Alliance is a consortium of Northeast Ohio non-profit, public, and private sector organizations collaborating to help the Cleveland Region become one of the fastest growing and most diverse, inclusive, and welcoming metro areas in the Midwest by 2030. Its initial focus is on talent attraction and retention in the fast-growth sectors of IT/technology, healthcare, and smart manufacturing.
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