Columbus, Ohio

Area Profile

914,802 residents. Public schools, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Columbus, in Franklin County.

65out of 100
Area Score
Top 29% of 4,196 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 16 sources
OpportunityTop 20% of 4,199 cities measured72
Schools3,826th of 4,162 cities measured16
GrowthTop 22% of 4,224 cities measured65
Housing affordabilityTop 24% of 4,218 cities measured75
Climate2,435th of 4,225 cities measured68
Physical resilienceTop 28% of 4,226 cities measured77
AccessTop 16% of 4,226 cities measured99
Economic stability2,958th of 4,226 cities measured47
The quick read

Columbus ranks in the top 20% of cities measured for employment opportunity, with unemployment at 3.3% and median household income of $66,082.

In the public schools here, 46% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 17.5 students for every teacher.

Residential permitting has slowed: 6,848 units authorized over the past twelve months, 22% below the prior year. That follows a longer stretch moving the other way, through 2025.

These sentences are written by fixed rules from the measurements below — a statement appears because a number crossed a stated threshold, and the values behind it are stored with it. No figure anywhere on this site is invented, estimated or inferred to fill a gap. How this works.

At a glance

Population
914,802
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$66,082
Bottom 49% nationally
Density
4,129/sq mi
221.5 sq mi of land
Median age
33.2
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Ohio
Metro area
Nearest major airport
CMH
5 mi · John Glenn Columbus Intl
Median home value
$252,900
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 3.3%, lower than in 87% of the 4,226 measured US cities.

Employment fell 0.3% over the past year, to 497,073 employed residents.

38% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 79% of measured US cities.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsFranklin County, OH’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$59,94427th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftFranklin County, OH’s figurefiling years 2022–2023$76,01257th percentileof 4,101filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$9742024 ACS 5-Year$66,082Bottom 49%of 29,2232024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$4642024 ACS 5-Year$37,860Top 38%of 31,4202024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate ±0.7%2024 ACS 5-Year16.7%Bottom 30%of 31,7732024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±0.2 min2024 ACS 5-Year23.1 minTop 31%of 31,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±0.7%2024 ACS 5-Year38.2%Top 21%of 31,9192024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±0.6%2024 ACS 5-Year67.7%23rd percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 2026497,073Top 15%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026+2.3%Top 17%of 4,226July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026−0.3%Top 41%of 4,226July 2026
Labor forceJuly 2026513,99385th percentileof 4,226July 2026
Labor force participation ±0.5%2024 ACS 5-Year81.9%Top 36%of 31,5132024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wageColumbus, OH Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$67,270Bottom 45%of 3,7292025 OEWS
Median annual wageColumbus, OH Metro Area’s figure2025 OEWS$51,340Top 49%of 3,7292025 OEWS
Public transit to work ±0.2%2024 ACS 5-Year1.9%90th percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026−1.4%Top 3%of 4,226July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20263.3%Top 13%of 4,226July 2026
Worked from home ±0.6%2024 ACS 5-Year18.3%83rd percentileof 31,4332024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/075.43.0
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 3.3% in July 2026. It has been falling, over a series running from 2020-01 to 2026-07. A break in the line is a month the Bureau of Labor Statistics did not publish for this area — it is left empty rather than estimated.

Median household income, successive ACS releases

202120222023202466k59k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $66,082 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, OH

OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Fast Food and Counter Workers31,590$28,670
Registered Nurses30,510$83,900
Stockers and Order Fillers30,130$39,040
General and Operations Managers29,070$102,590
Home Health and Personal Care Aides27,580$34,880
Retail Salespersons26,850$33,780

Searches the 40 largest occupations here that have a published wage.

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.

46% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 52% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 17.5 students for every full-time teacher across 241 public schools, more than in most measured places.

Public schools
252
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
17.5
across 241 of them
Math proficiency
45.8%
Bottom 12% in Ohio
Reading proficiency
52.4%
Bottom 13% in Ohio
The 12 largest of 252 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
KIPP Columbus · charterKIPP Columbus1,94510.957%56%
Orange High SchoolOlentangy Local1,93621.074%84%
Westland High SchoolSouth-Western City1,85320.432%58%
Olentangy High SchoolOlentangy Local1,76020.588%92%
Worthington Kilbourne High SchoolWorthington City1,62317.861%83%
Franklin Heights High SchoolSouth-Western City1,39819.427%46%
Canal Winchester High SchoolCanal Winchester Local1,12117.255%72%
Olentangy Orange Middle SchoolOlentangy Local1,05616.884%83%
Northland High SchoolColumbus City Schools District1,02917.410%34%
Olentangy Shanahan Middle SchoolOlentangy Local1,02921.090%87%
Hamilton Elementary SchoolHamilton Local1,02818.487%83%
Whetstone High SchoolColumbus City Schools District1,01719.623%41%

42.6% of students here are eligible for free or reduced-price lunch. That describes the circumstances families arrive with, not how the schools perform, so it is shown and not scored.

Public schools only, from the NCES Common Core of Data, placed by ZIP code — which schools are in this place, not which one a particular address is zoned for. A dash in a proficiency column is a gap in the federal file, not a bad result. Proficiency is measured against Ohio’s own standard, so it is ranked within state. How to read school figures.

Prices for everything a household buys run about 5% below the national average — the Bureau of Economic Analysis index reads 94.6, against 100 for the nation. Nationally, housing drives most of the spread between places in this index; other goods vary far less.

The Federal Housing Finance Agency’s house price index for the Columbus, OH Metro Area is up 46% over five years, and up 3.3% over the last year. It follows repeat sales of the same homes, so it measures price change rather than which homes happened to sell.

Homeowners here who pay a tax bill pay a median of $3,341 a year in real estate taxes, about 1.32% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,479, some 14% above the $1,295 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,479 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $59,200 a year, about 90% of the median household income here of $66,082.

The typical renter household here spends 29% of its income on rent, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,295 a month.

A median home at $252,900 costs 2.7 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $94,348, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Cost of living
94.6

Prices here run about 5% below the national average. The spread between places is driven mostly by housing — goods vary far less — and this excludes taxes.

Published for the Columbus, OH Metro Area as a whole. Prices are regional — people shop, commute and rent across a metropolitan area rather than within a city boundary — so this describes the cost of living around this place better than a figure drawn to its own limits would.

Rent as a share of income
28.8%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.7×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,479
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,295
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$252,900
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Columbus’s median household income of $66,082, which describes the place rather than you. Enter your own and the ratio is recomputed against it. It stays in this browser.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Cost of living indexthe Columbus, OH Metro Area’s figure202394.6Top 24%of 3,7002023
Home price change (1 year)the Columbus, OH Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+3.3%52nd percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Columbus, OH Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+46.1%66th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Columbus, OH Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+110.5%78th percentileof 4,1542026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.12024 ACS 5-Year2.7Bottom 44%of 26,8152024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±0.6%2024 ACS 5-Year44.1%6th percentileof 31,7172024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±1,9062024 ACS 5-Year425,18299th percentileof 32,1772024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$1,236Top 40%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,774Top 33%of 4,072FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,479Top 39%of 4,072FY2026
Median gross rent ±$102024 ACS 5-Year$1,295Bottom 27%of 23,1202024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$3,2952024 ACS 5-Year$252,90065th percentileof 29,1112024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$622024 ACS 5-Year$3,34177th percentileof 26,4402024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$1,7462024 ACS 5-Year$94,348Top 32%of 27,5482024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.03%2024 ACS 5-Year1.32%70th percentileof 20,5432024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±0.3%2024 ACS 5-Year28.8%Bottom 47%of 22,9502024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±6432024 ACS 5-Year3,72999th percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year0.9%61st percentileof 31,8952024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year7.3%52nd percentileof 31,7692024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±1,8332024 ACS 5-Year34,65499th percentileof 32,3302024 ACS 5-Year

These measures come from the same ACS release as the income they are compared with. They compare housing cost with local earnings only: transport, groceries, healthcare, insurance and taxes are not in them. How to read affordability, the two rent figures and the cost-of-living index.

Development Momentum

65/ 100
Top 22% of 4,224 published city profiles
Permitting has been rising for the last 2 years of a series running from 2020 to 2025. That is the direction of the recent run. The chart below compares the first year with the last, which can point the other way.

An AreaProfile calculation combining permit volume per resident, its direction over one and three years, population change and employment growth. Permit volume alone is not the measure.

Population has grown 3% since 2020, reaching 933,263 in 2024.

82% of the 6,848 units permitted over the past twelve months are in buildings of five or more homes, so new supply is concentrated in apartments and condominiums rather than detached houses.

Federal tax returns show Franklin County, which contains Columbus, lost about 0.9% of its residents through moves within the US in the most recent year, counting those who arrived against those who left. Households that moved in reported an average income of $59,944, below the $76,012 of households that moved out.

At 7.5 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
6,848
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
7.5
Top 17% nationally
Year over year
−22%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
82.5%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

20202021202220232024933k903k
Census Population Estimates Program, July 1 of each year. These annual estimates are designed for year-over-year comparison, unlike the ACS five-year figure shown as this profile's population. It has been rising for the last 3 years, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
−0.9%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
47%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$59,944
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$76,012
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Delaware County, OH 4,187 people · 8.6% of arrivals
  2. Fairfield County, OH 3,219 people · 6.6% of arrivals
  3. Licking County, OH 2,621 people · 5.4% of arrivals
  4. Cuyahoga County, OH 1,365 people · 2.8% of arrivals
  5. Montgomery County, OH 967 people · 2.0% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Delaware County, OH 7,675 people · 13% of departures
  2. Fairfield County, OH 5,116 people · 8.8% of departures
  3. Licking County, OH 3,838 people · 6.6% of departures
  4. Union County, OH 2,097 people · 3.6% of departures
  5. Pickaway County, OH 1,795 people · 3.1% of departures

Based on the address on federal tax returns, compared with the same filers a year earlier. It counts people who file, and sees a move only when the address on a return changes. Domestic moves only: people arriving from abroad are left out. This is the figure for Franklin County, OH. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

2020202120222023202420259k4k
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2020 (+45%).

Weather & climate

6 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 85°F and January a low of 22°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 41.6 inches, including 28.2 inches of snow.

Air quality measures a median index of 53, in the Moderate band, and about 4 days a year pass 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 PORT COLUMBUS INTL AP, 5.5 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND4.7"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year722024 calendar year
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals41.6"1991-2020 Normals
Annual snowfall1991-2020 Normals28.2"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals22°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals85°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals61991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year42024 calendar year
Median air quality index2024 calendar year532024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals46°F1991-2020 Normals

Air quality

Median air quality index
53
Moderate on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
72
90th percentile index
Days above 100
4
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. Air quality is measured by EPA monitors and published by county only where a monitor sits; a county without one shows nothing rather than an estimate, and a county reading is still the county’s. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

77 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, cold wave and tornado, with inland flooding alone responsible for 63% of it. Inland flooding and cold wave are independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large those hazards are.

Overall hazard risk is lower than 72% of measured US cities.

HailModerate
TornadoModerate

Low or minimal exposure: inland flooding, heat wave, cold wave, winter weather, strong wind, lightning, earthquake, ice storm, landslide, drought, hurricane, wildfire, avalanche, coastal flooding, tsunami, volcanic activity.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). FEMA publishes at county level. City values are the population-weighted mean of the counties the city overlaps, using AreaProfile place-to-county land-area weights. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

Violent crime
380
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year
Property crime
2,536
per 100,000 residents · 2025 calendar year

Below these are deaths rather than offenses, published for the county. The two measure different things and are not comparable with each other.

Columbus's police department reported 380 violent offenses per 100,000 residents, near the middle of places with a department reporting. Property crime runs at 2,536.

Franklin County records 7.3 homicide deaths per 100,000 residents a year, higher than most counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 13.4 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 24.0 per 100,000 residents in Franklin County.

Homicide
7.3
per 100,000 residents
Firearm deaths, all intents
13.4
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
24.0
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
14.8
per 100,000 residents

Firearm deaths count every intent together, and nationally the majority are suicides rather than homicides, so the firearm figure and the homicide figure above it count some of the same deaths twice over. They overlap and should not be added together.

Offenses are reported to the FBI by Columbus’s own police department and shown only where it reported every month of the year; a partial year is withheld rather than scaled up. Reported crime is what police recorded, which is not the same as what happened. Death rates are crude rates — deaths divided by population, not adjusted for age — except where a count was too small for the CDC to publish and it modeled the rate, which the card marks. They come from provisional death certificate records, published by the CDC by county and not below it. So they describe the county around Columbus (Franklin County) rather than Columbus itself. Neither is part of the Area Score. How to read crime rates and death rates.

What this profile does not cover

Each of these is absent for a reason, not by oversight. The Area Score is calculated without them; the weighting is on the methodology page.

Taxes
Income and sales taxes are not published: no source covers them nationally with a method open enough to check. Property taxes are shown in the housing section but are not part of the score. The cost-of-living index above is a price level for all consumption, not a household budget, and it excludes taxes. Nothing here is individualized tax advice.
Anything about a specific address
Every figure describes an area, not a street or a house.

Access

5 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest John Glenn Columbus Intl at 5 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±0.3%2024 ACS 5-Year93.6%Top 32%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle5 miTop 9%of 4,226NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle5Top 45%of 4,226NASR current cycle
No internet access ±0.4%2024 ACS 5-Year4.6%Top 34%of 31,5882024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
John Glenn Columbus IntlCMH5 mi10,114 ft
Rickenbacker IntlLCK12 mi11,902 ft
Wilmington Air ParkILN58 mi10,701 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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Area Score
65
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Other cities in Columbus, OH

Same metropolitan area, measured the same way
CityCountyPopulationArea ScoreCompare
NewarkLicking County50,78364Newark vs Columbus
DublinFranklin County49,29477Dublin vs Columbus
DelawareDelaware County44,58976Delaware vs Columbus
Grove CityFranklin County42,51771
LancasterFairfield County41,24964
ReynoldsburgFranklin County41,22472
WestervilleFranklin County38,64572
HilliardFranklin County38,03376
Upper ArlingtonFranklin County36,29373
GahannaFranklin County35,48677
MarysvilleUnion County27,51874
PickeringtonFairfield County24,47775

Every city here is measured on the same scale from the same source releases, so the comparison is like for like. A higher Area Score reflects AreaProfile’s standardized weighting rather than a judgment about which is the better place to live.

Compare

Put Columbus side by side with a similar place.

Columbus vs PhiladelphiaColumbus vs Des Moines

Moving to Columbus from somewhere else?

You get the difference in prices, rent and weather, and the income that would keep pace.

Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
SafetyFederal Bureau of Investigation, Crime Data Explorer
Summarized offense counts by law enforcement agency
2025 calendar year
Physical riskFederal Emergency Management Agency
National Risk Index
National Risk Index December 2025 (v1.20.0)
Demographics, IncomeInternal Revenue Service, Statistics of Income Division
U.S. Population Migration Data (county to county)
filing years 2022–2023
ClimateNOAA National Centers for Environmental Information
U.S. Climate Normals 1991–2020 (Monthly)
1991-2020 Normals
HousingU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics
2025 OEWS
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
SafetyU.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics
Provisional county-level mortality by intent
March 2025 to February 2026; May 2025 to April 2026
SchoolsU.S. Department of Education, National Center for Education Statistics
Common Core of Data and EDFacts assessments
2018-19 school year; 2024-25 school year
HousingU.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development, Office of Policy Development and Research
Fair Market Rents
FY2026
ClimateU.S. Environmental Protection Agency, Air Quality System
Daily Air Quality Index by county
2024 calendar year
HousingU.S. Federal Housing Finance Agency
House Price Index (traditional, all-transactions)
2026 Q2
Current conditionsNOAA National Weather Service
National Weather Service current conditions
Live observation, read when the page opens

Profile recalculated October 8, 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 every source with how often each updates.

ZIP codes in Columbus

32 ZIP areas

The 30 largest ZIP areas in Columbus, of 32 with census figures of their own. The ones linked below diverge enough from the city as a whole to carry a full profile; the rest track Columbus closely, so their figures are here rather than on a page that would repeat this one. An Area Score is calculated for published profiles only, which is why it is blank on those rows.

ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeMedian home valueArea Score
4322859,077$61,713$219,90064
4322955,020$57,561$228,20061
4323247,364$51,417$172,30060
4320747,272$63,310$180,800—
4323544,589$86,666$383,500—
4322444,319$53,321$170,800—
4311043,544$77,442$304,20071
4320442,962$59,266$185,800—
4321336,273$54,704$211,700—
4303536,012$154,683$456,40078
4320134,322$43,731$440,000—
4321932,338$52,094$199,200—
4300431,477$101,175$335,400—
4311929,660$91,224$253,600—
4320928,193$89,713$392,500—
4322328,187$46,911$131,100—
4321426,776$94,183$400,400—
4322725,358$48,159$152,800—
4321223,405$77,257$533,700—
4323123,009$73,986$237,000—
4321122,313$42,579$112,700—
4320621,996$75,806$317,300—
4320220,854$69,524$341,400—
4321517,836$74,087$551,200—
4320512,618$60,181$317,300—
432038,618$47,572$319,300—
432407,679$82,895$329,20069
432224,819$32,321$228,300—
431372,415$49,145$218,20058
432172,091$61,356$56,900—