Licking County, OH

County Profile

181,837 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Licking County, OH.

Several figures AreaProfile publishes are measured by county and nowhere finer — death rates by intent among them. On this page those describe the geography they are printed on, which is not true of the city and ZIP pages that inherit them.

69out of 100
Area Score
Top 18% of 1,453 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 14 sources
OpportunityTop 16% of 1,463 counties measured73
Schools730th of 1,377 counties measured48
Growth817th of 1,453 counties measured47
Housing affordabilityTop 22% of 1,462 counties measured80
Climate907th of 1,463 counties measured64
Physical resilienceTop 17% of 1,463 counties measured82
AccessTop 23% of 1,463 counties measured92
Economic stabilityTop 29% of 1,463 counties measured74
The quick read

Licking County ranks in the top 16% of counties measured for employment opportunity, with unemployment at 3.3% and median household income of $84,426.

In the public schools here, 66% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 18.0 students for every teacher.

172 housing units were authorized over the past twelve months, within 9% of the prior year — steady rather than turning.

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
181,837
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$84,426
Top 14% nationally
Density
266/sq mi
682.4 sq mi of land
Median age
40.3
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Licking County
Ohio
Metro area
Nearest major airport
CMH
23 mi · John Glenn Columbus Intl
Median home value
$275,200
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 3.3%, lower than in 81% of the 1,467 measured US counties.

Employment fell 0.5% over the past year, to 89,627 employed residents.

29% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 75% of measured US counties.

Median household income of $84,426 is higher than in 86% of measured US counties.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023$66,99268th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023$65,35769th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$2,4052024 ACS 5-Year$84,426Top 14%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,2282024 ACS 5-Year$42,609Top 18%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per-capita personal income2023$58,745Top 41%of 1,3892023
Poverty rate ±0.9%2024 ACS 5-Year9.8%Top 26%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±0.5 min2024 ACS 5-Year28.2 minBottom 33%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year29.3%Top 25%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year72.5%22nd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202689,627Top 25%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026+1.4%Top 34%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026−0.5%Top 48%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202692,63875th percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±1.0%2024 ACS 5-Year79.1%Top 32%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.1%2024 ACS 5-Year0.2%47th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026−1.3%Top 5%of 1,467July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20263.3%Top 19%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year15.8%89th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/075.02.8
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

202120222023202484k73k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $84,426 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.

66% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 69% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 18.0 students for every full-time teacher across 56 public schools, more than in most measured places.

Public schools
56
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
18.0
across all schools here
Math proficiency
65.9%
Top 43% in Ohio
Reading proficiency
69.5%
Top 43% in Ohio
The 12 largest of 56 public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Licking Heights High SchoolLicking Heights Local1,42821.346%68%
Watkins Memorial High SchoolSouthwest Licking Local1,39722.261%84%
Newark High SchoolNewark City1,36919.853%70%
Watkins Middle SchoolSouthwest Licking Local1,14719.871%66%
Licking Valley Elementary SchoolLicking Valley Local91319.472%66%
Granville High SchoolGranville Exempted Village84521.188%92%
Summit Station IntermediateLicking Heights Local83617.871%76%
Licking Heights Middle SchoolLicking Heights Local82019.564%58%
Watkins Intermediate SchoolSouthwest Licking Local80121.175%69%
Career and Technology Educational CentersCareer and Technology Educational Centers78919.2——
Lima Ridge ElementaryLicking Heights Local74517.3——
Granville Elementary SchoolGranville Exempted Village67917.492%92%

43.2% 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 $3,364 a year in real estate taxes, about 1.22% of the median home value.

HUD’s Fair Market Rent for a two-bedroom, set near the 40th percentile of recent new leases, is $1,430, some 33% above the $1,078 tenants already here pay.

At HUD’s Fair Market Rent of $1,430 a month for a two-bedroom, keeping rent to 30% of income takes a household income of about $57,200 a year, about 68% of the median household income here of $84,426.

The typical renter household here spends 27% of its income on rent, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $1,078 a month.

A median home at $275,200 costs 2.7 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $101,818, 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
26.7%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.7×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,430
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$1,078
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$275,200
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Licking County’s median household income of $84,426, 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 figure202394.6Bottom 49%of 8872023
Home price change (1 year)the Columbus, OH Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+3.3%42nd percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (5 years)the Columbus, OH Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+46.1%58th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price change (10 years)the Columbus, OH Metro Area’s figure2026 Q2+110.5%78th percentileof 1,4312026 Q2
Home price to income ±0.12024 ACS 5-Year2.7Bottom 40%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year73.7%46th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±752024 ACS 5-Year73,27387th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Market rent, one bedroomFY2026$1,194Bottom 28%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, three bedroomFY2026$1,715Bottom 36%of 1,423FY2026
Market rent, two bedroomFY2026$1,430Bottom 27%of 1,423FY2026
Median gross rent ±$342024 ACS 5-Year$1,078Bottom 24%of 3,2152024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$5,5622024 ACS 5-Year$275,20077th percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$872024 ACS 5-Year$3,36488th percentileof 3,1722024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$3,1112024 ACS 5-Year$101,818Top 12%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.04%2024 ACS 5-Year1.22%78th percentileof 3,1262024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year26.7%Top 39%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±3242024 ACS 5-Year87871st percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year1.2%29th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year5.2%17th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±5912024 ACS 5-Year4,65378th percentileof 3,2222024 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

47/ 100
Ranks 817 of 1,453 published county profiles
Permitting has been falling for the last 4 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 184,898 in 2024.

Permit activity fell in each of the 4 calendar years through 2025.

Population is still rising but the pace is easing: 184,898 residents in 2024, up 0.7% over the year, a smaller gain than the year before.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 172 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes.

Federal tax returns show Licking County gained about 0.5% 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 $66,992, close to the $65,357 of households that moved out.

At 0.9 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US counties.

Units permitted
172
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
0.9
Bottom 16% nationally
Year over year
+9%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

20202021202220232024185k179k
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 4 years, over a series running from 2020 to 2024.

People moving in and out

Net migration
+0.5%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
22%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$66,992
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$65,357
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Franklin County, OH 3,838 people · 44% of arrivals
  2. Fairfield County, OH 798 people · 9.1% of arrivals
  3. Muskingum County, OH 359 people · 4.1% of arrivals
  4. Delaware County, OH 282 people · 3.2% of arrivals
  5. Knox County, OH 265 people · 3.0% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Franklin County, OH 2,621 people · 33% of departures
  2. Fairfield County, OH 801 people · 9.9% of departures
  3. Muskingum County, OH 470 people · 5.8% of departures
  4. Knox County, OH 377 people · 4.7% of departures
  5. Perry County, OH 303 people · 3.8% 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. IRS Statistics of Income, filing years 2022–2023.

Housing units permitted per year

202020212022202320242025363151
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2020 (−48%).

Weather & climate

5 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 21°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 38.8 inches.

Air quality measures a median index of 42, in the Good band, and no day in the year passed 100.

10°30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station NEWARK HEATH AP, 4.9 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND4.1"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
90th percentile air quality index2024 calendar year582024 calendar year
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals38.8"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals21°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals86°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals51991-2020 Normals
Days above AQI 1002024 calendar year02024 calendar year
Median air quality index2024 calendar year422024 calendar year
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals45°F1991-2020 Normals

Air quality

Median air quality index
42
Good on a typical day
Worst tenth of days
58
90th percentile index
Days above 100
0
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

82 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, hail and tornado, with inland flooding alone responsible for 69% of it. Inland flooding and tornado 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 83% of measured US counties.

HailElevated
Winter weatherModerate
Strong windModerate
Ice stormModerate
DroughtModerate
Cold waveModerate

Low or minimal exposure: landslide, inland flooding, lightning, heat wave, earthquake, tornado, wildfire, hurricane, coastal flooding, tsunami, volcanic activity, avalanche.

Hazard ratings are AreaProfile calculations derived from the FEMA National Risk Index v1.20.0 (December 2025). These are FEMA’s own figures for this county rather than a value derived from surrounding geographies. FEMA does not endorse this presentation. Higher physical resilience means lower exposure.

These are deaths, not offenses — they say nothing about burglary, theft or assault.

Licking County has a modeled homicide rate of about 2.0 per 100,000 residents a year, because the CDC suppresses counts this small, lower than most counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at 13.6 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at 13.6 per 100,000 residents in Licking County.

Homicide
2.0
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
13.6
per 100,000 residents
Drug overdose
13.6
per 100,000 residents
Suicide
20.7
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.

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 Licking County as a whole. They are shown and not scored. How to read 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.

Reported crime
Offenses reported to police are published by department rather than by town, so AreaProfile shows a rate only on city profiles, and only where that city’s department submitted every month of a year. City profiles inside this area carry their own figure where their department reported a full year. A partial year is never scaled up to look complete, and arrest counts or news volume are never substituted for it.
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

7 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest John Glenn Columbus Intl at 23 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±0.8%2024 ACS 5-Year92.4%Top 12%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle23 miTop 30%of 1,463NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle7Top 5%of 1,463NASR current cycle
No internet access ±0.7%2024 ACS 5-Year5.7%Top 15%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
John Glenn Columbus IntlCMH23 mi10,114 ft
Rickenbacker IntlLCK30 mi11,902 ft
Mansfield Lahm RgnlMFD50 mi9,001 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
69
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Data & methodology

Used forSourceSource period
AccessFederal Aviation Administration
Airports (NASR) — Aeronautical Data Delivery Service
NASR current cycle
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
Housing, IncomeU.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis
Regional price parities and county personal income
2023
JobsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
Local Area Unemployment Statistics
July 2026
Access, Demographics, Housing, Income, JobsU.S. Census Bureau
American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates (Table-Based Summary File)
2024 ACS 5-Year
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026
DemographicsU.S. Census Bureau
Population Estimates Program
July 1, 2024 estimate
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 areas

Only ZIP areas whose income or home value differ from their city’s by at least ten percent get a profile of their own, so this is a selection rather than every ZIP code in the county.