47201Columbus, Indiana

Area Profile

Income, jobs, climate, physical risk and development data for ZIP code 47201.

Area Score unavailable

Missing required signal: growth. AreaProfile withholds a score rather than inferring the missing dimensions.

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
OpportunityTop 28% of 6,210 published ZIP areas66
SchoolsTop 37% of 4,422 published ZIP areas62
Housing affordabilityTop 9% of 6,685 published ZIP areas100
Climate3910th of 6,789 published ZIP areas68
Physical resilience3566th of 6,709 published ZIP areas55
Access5519th of 6,791 published ZIP areas78
Economic stabilityTop 43% of 6,742 published ZIP areas63
The quick read

Unemployment is 3.6% and median household income $83,958, putting employment conditions in the middle range of published ZIP profiles.

In the public schools here, 42% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 16.4 students for every teacher.

Housing is more affordable relative to local incomes than in most published city profiles: rent takes 17% of median household income and the median home is 2.7 times it.

At a glance

Population
47,900
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$83,958
Top 33% nationally
Density
238/sq mi
201.2 sq mi of land
Median age
36.8
2024 ACS 5-Year
City
Columbus
Indiana
Metro area
Columbus, IN
Nearest major airport
IND
42 mi · Indianapolis Intl
Median home value
$228,800
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 3.6% is lower than 83% of the 6,544 measured US ZIP areas.

Employment fell 0.4% over the past year, to 23,295 employed residents.

36% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 75% of measured US ZIP areas.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$5,977$83,958Top 33%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,965$43,273Top 31%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate11.0%Top 48%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute22.1 minBottom 21%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher36.3%Top 25%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment23,295Bottom 24%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)-1.6%Bottom 24%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-0.4%Top 37%June 2026
Labor force24,172Bottom 23%June 2026
Labor force participation66.5%Top 26%2024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$61,800Bottom 26%2025 OEWS
Median annual wage$48,470Bottom 30%2025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)-0.2%Bottom 40%June 2026
Unemployment rate3.6%Bottom 17%June 2026
Median household income, successive ACS releases
202120222023202484k72k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $83,958 in the 2024 ACS 5-Year. Consecutive releases share four years of sample, so AreaProfile shows them as a record of successive estimates and does not compute a year-over-year change from them.
Largest occupations — Columbus, IN
OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators2,980$46,950
Retail Salespersons1,500$29,840
Machinists1,470$61,230
Fast Food and Counter Workers1,440$28,290
Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand1,310$38,510
Mechanical Engineers1,000$127,700

Occupational employment and wages are published for metropolitan areas rather than for individual cities or ZIP areas, so these describe the wider labor market this location sits in. 2025 OEWS, U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics does not publish labor-force data for ZIP areas. This is the figure for Columbus, IN, the city containing this ZIP code.

42% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 44% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 16.4 students for every full-time teacher, more than in most measured places.

Public schools
14
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
16.4
across all schools here
Math proficiency
41.7%
Top 35% in Indiana
Reading proficiency
43.8%
Top 32% in Indiana
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Columbus North High SchoolBartholomew Con School Corp2,36014.9
Columbus East High SchoolBartholomew Con School Corp1,45215.1
Northside Middle SchoolBartholomew Con School Corp90815.930%48%
Southside Elementary SchoolBartholomew Con School Corp89118.264%57%
Central Middle SchoolBartholomew Con School Corp79015.529%42%
Parkside Elementary SchoolBartholomew Con School Corp73316.750%45%
Lillian Schmitt Elementary SchoolBartholomew Con School Corp70418.126%27%
W D Richards Elementary SchoolBartholomew Con School Corp61020.342%37%
Mount Healthy Elementary SchoolBartholomew Con School Corp36517.429%33%
CSA Lincoln CampusBartholomew Con School Corp35719.858%68%
Rockcreek Elementary SchoolBartholomew Con School Corp35118.558%41%
CSA Fodrea CampusBartholomew Con School Corp35117.638%35%

39.5% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with rather than how the schools perform, which is why AreaProfile shows it and does not score it.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data. Schools are placed by ZIP code, so this is which schools are in this place rather than which one a particular address is zoned for — district boundaries do not follow municipal ones, and enrollment zones change. Fully virtual schools are excluded: they enroll students from across the state while reporting one administrative address, and counting them here would describe a school population this place does not have. The assessment covers grades 3 through 8, so a high school shows no proficiency figure — a dash in those columns means the test was not given at that school, not that it performed badly. Proficiency is measured against Indiana’s own standard, so it compares cleanly within the state and only broadly against other states; AreaProfile therefore ranks it within state. The directory is current, while the proficiency figures are from the last school year with national coverage before the pandemic interrupted testing.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $1,186 takes 17% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 2.7 times median household income here, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Rent as a share of income
17.0%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.7×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$1,186
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$228,800
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income2.73Bottom 37%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate63.2%Bottom 19%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±55820,748Top 3%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$42$1,186Top 36%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$11,392$228,800Top 48%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income17.0%Bottom 45%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate5.6%Bottom 26%2024 ACS 5-Year

Both affordability measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with, so the comparison is like for like. They describe housing cost against local earnings and are not a cost-of-living index — transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not included, and a place can look affordable here and still be expensive to live in for reasons this does not capture.

Growth & development

How it’s calculated →

No building-permit activity is published for this location by the Census Building Permits Survey.

Weather & climate

6 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 86°F and January a low of 22°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 47.3 inches, including 16.3 inches of snow.

Air quality measures a median index of 44, in the Good band, and one day a year passes 100, the threshold at which the air is unhealthy for sensitive groups.

10°30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station COLUMBUS, 4.3 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND5.3"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index58.02024 calendar year
Annual precipitation47.3"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall16.3"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low22°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high86°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months61991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 10012024 calendar year
Median air quality index44.02024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing46°F1991-2020 Normals
Air quality
Median air quality index
44
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
58
90th percentile index
Days above 100
1
unhealthy for sensitive groups

A comfortable median and a bad tail are different problems. Wildfire smoke and summer ozone show up in the worst tenth of days, not in the middle of the year.

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. They describe what a typical year looks like rather than what the weather is doing today. Air quality is measured rather than modelled, by EPA monitors, and published by county only where a monitor sits — roughly half the counties AreaProfile publishes have one, and the rest show nothing rather than an estimate. Air masses are regional, so a county reading describes the air over a place reasonably well, but it is still the county reading.

Physical risk

55 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, tornado and earthquake.

TornadoHigh
EarthquakeHigh
Inland floodingModerate
Heat waveModerate
Cold waveModerate
LightningModerate

Low or minimal exposure: landslide, winter weather, ice storm, hail, strong wind, drought, wildfire, hurricane.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. ZIP values are the land-area-weighted mean of the counties the ZIP Code Tabulation Area intersects. Expected annual loss is not allocated below county level. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

These are deaths, not offences. AreaProfile does not publish reported crime, and this is not a substitute for it — it says nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

Bartholomew County records 2.6 homicide deaths per 100,000 residents a year, near the middle of counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 11.9 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, because nationally most firearm deaths are suicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 25.0 per 100,000 residents in Bartholomew County.

Homicide
2.6
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Firearm deaths, all intents
11.9
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Drug overdose
25.0
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths
Suicide
22.6
per 100,000 residents · under 10 deaths

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides. The two columns overlap and should not be added.

Age-adjusted rates from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC for Bartholomew County as a whole — these rates are not published below county level. A county can hold both a dense city centre and a suburb whose experience of it is nothing alike, so this describes the county around 47201 rather than 47201 itself. That is why AreaProfile shows these figures and does not put them in the Area Score. Where fewer than ten deaths were recorded the count is suppressed at source, and a rate built on single figures moves sharply between releases. What this measure has that reported crime does not: a death certificate is filed whether or not the local police agency submitted a return that year, so the figures stay comparable between places and over time.

What this profile does not cover

Three things people look for are missing from every AreaProfile page, and each is missing for a reason rather than by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.

Reported crime
The FBI’s Crime Data Explorer is the only source for reported offences with national coverage and a published method, and it requires an API key AreaProfile does not hold. Arrest counts, news volume and commercial “safety scores” are not substituted in the meantime. What is published above under Safety is a different measurement — deaths rather than offences, from death certificates rather than police returns — and it covers no property crime at all.
Taxes
No tax dataset has met the source admission test for coverage, transparent methodology and update cadence. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Full cost of living
No public source publishes one with national coverage and a documented method. Housing affordability above is computed from published rent, price and income, and excludes transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes — commuting cost in particular tends to offset suburban housing savings.

Access

4 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 42 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Indianapolis IntlIND42 mi11,200 ft
Louisville Muhammad Ali IntlSDF69 mi11,887 ft
Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky IntlCVG72 mi10,000 ft

Airport identity, position and runway data come from the FAA. “Major airport” is an AreaProfile classification — a public-use civil airport with a paved runway of at least 8,000 feet — not an FAA hub designation. Distances are straight-line, not driving distance.

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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource periodUpdated
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle28-day NASR cycle
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)Periodic dataset versions (v1.20.0 current)
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 NormalsEvery ten years (next release follows the 2001–2030 period)
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
June 2026Monthly
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWSAnnual (spring release)
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimateAnnual (vintage released each spring)
Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-YearAnnual (5-year estimates released each December)
safetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
April, 2025 to March, 2026Quarterly, with a rolling twelve-month window alongside complete calendar years
schoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2019-20 school year; 2024-25 school yearDirectory annually; assessment results as EDFacts releases them
ClimateU.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System
Daily Air Quality Index by county
2024 calendar yearAnnually, once a calendar year is complete

Profile recalculated August 30, 2026. Recalculation is not the same as new source data — each figure above shows the period its source actually covers. Read the full methodology or browse every source.

47201 vs Columbus

How this ZIP area compares with Columbus as a whole. Both figures come from the same ACS release, so the comparison is like for like.

47201
Columbus
Median household income
$83,958
vs
$77,456
Per capita income
$43,273
vs
$43,783
Population density
238/sq mi
vs
1,808/sq mi
Median home value
$228,800
vs
$244,200
Median gross rent
$1,186
vs
$1,157
Homeownership rate
63.2%
vs
60.8%
Bachelor's degree or higher
36.3%
vs
40.0%
Poverty rate
11.0%
vs
11.3%
Median age
36.8
vs
36.5

Some demographic statistics use Census ZIP Code Tabulation Areas, which approximate but do not exactly match USPS ZIP delivery geography. See the methodology for how AreaProfile maps between them.