Wobbly Ohio boomtown going bust as population drops. Locals are ‘scared to death’ but experts warn the worst may be yet to come

An Ohio city that had been hailed as a Rust Belt comeback story is now facing an uncertain future as thousands of residents fear they could be forced to leave – threatening to unravel years of economic recovery.

Springfield spent decades battling population decline before an influx of Haitian immigrants helped breathe new life into the city, filling jobs, opening businesses and reviving demand for housing.

But now that the federal government has ended Temporary Protected Status (TPS) for many Haitians, community leaders say families are living in fear and economists warn the city’s fragile recovery could quickly come undone.

‘The word I hear most often about the Haitian community right now is “panicked,”‘ longtime Springfield resident Michael McClelland told Realtor.com. ‘The community is scared to death.’

In the months leading up to the 2024 US presidential election, Springfield became the subject of a notorious online hoax claiming that members of the local Haitian community were stealing and eating pets. It was amplified by the Trump campaign despite ample evidence that it was entirely false – but the damage to the community was done. 

The legal protections allowing many Haitians to live and work in the United States ended in late July, following a Supreme Court ruling that allowed the Trump administration to terminate TPS.

Not every Haitian resident relies on TPS and some have other forms of legal status. But many families now face agonizing decisions about whether they can remain in the United States or risk returning to a country gripped by violence and political instability.

For Springfield, their choices could have consequences extending far beyond the families directly affected.

Springfield’s population had fallen from nearly 82,000 in 1970 to just over 60,000 by 2010 as factories closed and manufacturing jobs disappeared.

‘A 26 percent population loss over four decades puts Springfield in the same category as classic Rust Belt legacy cities, driven mainly by manufacturing job losses,’ said Hannah Jones, senior economist at Realtor.com.

The shrinking population triggered a housing crisis: Between 2013 and 2017, around one in every seven homes sat vacant, depressing property values, reducing tax revenue and leaving hundreds of neglected buildings across the city.

Springfield spent hundreds of thousands of dollars demolishing abandoned homes and securing dangerous vacant properties as officials searched for ways to halt the city’s long decline.

Then everything began to change.

Beginning in the early 2020s, thousands of Haitian immigrants settled in Springfield, attracted by relatively affordable housing and plentiful manufacturing and warehouse jobs.

The sudden population growth did have downsides. In the early years of the migration, the city’s scarce educational and public health resources were put under even greater strain.

Today, city officials estimate that between 12,000 and 15,000 immigrants live across Clark County, with Haitians making up the majority of recent arrivals.

New grocery stores, restaurants and businesses followed, while employers found workers to fill labor shortages that had previously hampered growth.

‘Imagine what that kind of influx does to things like having a new workforce, having people starting their own businesses, having people paying taxes,’ McClelland said. ‘The economic impact is just immense.’

The newcomers also transformed Springfield’s housing market. Median rents in the city remain well below the national average, making it an attractive destination for families seeking affordable living costs.

As demand increased, developers who had largely ignored Springfield for decades began building again.

According to federal housing data, the city approved an average of roughly 119 new homes and apartments each year between 2020 and 2025 – more than double the annual average recorded during the previous two decades.

Jones told the Daily Mail that Springfield’s housing revival had been unmistakable.

‘Springfield’s housing market has clearly turned a corner,’ she said. ‘After years of high vacancy and limited building activity, population growth has pushed construction permits up sharply, going from under 50 units a year on average to more than 100 a year on average since 2020.

‘That kind of activity is a strong signal that builders and investors see real, sustained demand in a market that had been shrinking for decades.’

But those gains could now be under threat.

Jones warned that while Springfield has authorized hundreds of new housing units in recent years, they were built largely to accommodate the city’s growing population.

‘If that population were to decline again, new construction would likely be the first thing to pull back, before vacancy returns to the older housing stock,’ she said.

The city itself had already acknowledged that possibility.

In its 2025-2029 housing plan, Springfield warned that losing its Haitian population could cause the city’s population to ‘rapidly decline.’

Community leaders say the uncertainty is already taking its toll.

Pastor Carl Ruby, who works closely with Springfield’s Haitian community, said some residents have already begun losing their jobs because employers can no longer legally employ workers whose TPS protections have expired.

Others are wrestling with impossible decisions about whether to uproot American-born children or leave them behind if deported.

‘They’re just terrified for their physical safety,’ Ruby said.

‘Many of them have already been traumatized. Some of them have been in prison. Some have been tortured. Some have been beaten. Some had been raped. Nearly all of them have seen friends or family members killed.’

Haiti remains in the grip of widespread gang violence, with large parts of the country effectively outside government control.

Ohio Governor Mike DeWine has repeatedly argued that ending TPS is a mistake, saying the Haitian workforce has become an important part of Springfield’s recovery.

‘You’re seeing in Springfield a city that is coming back,’ DeWine previously told PBS NewsHour. ‘One of the reasons it’s come back is because of the Haitians.’

Following the Supreme Court decision, DeWine warned that thousands of legally employed workers could suddenly become undocumented.

‘The situation in Haiti could hardly be much worse,’ he said. ‘The violent gangs run most of the country. The government barely functions. And the economy is in shambles.’

Despite the uncertainty, there is still no official count showing how many Haitian families have already left Springfield or how many ultimately may leave.

But those working closely with the community fear the city stands to lose far more than population figures.

Mayor Rob Rue recently said immigrants ‘contribute to our local economy, support our schools, strengthen our neighborhoods, and have become part of the fabric of Springfield.’

For McClelland, however, the human cost goes beyond economics. ‘Springfield is going to take a big hit when all those people leave,’ he said. ‘But this is their home, and suddenly they’re being yanked out of that.’