Morrow County, OH

County Profile

35,404 residents. Safety, jobs, income, housing cost, climate and natural-hazard risk for Morrow 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.

61out of 100
Area Score
Top 44% of 1,453 profiles measured

How we calculate this

How this area ranks

Data updated · 13 sources
OpportunityTop 31% of 1,463 counties measured64
Schools1,128th of 1,377 counties measured25
Growth837th of 1,453 counties measured46
Housing affordabilityTop 13% of 1,462 counties measured83
Climate995th of 1,463 counties measured62
Physical resilienceTop 38% of 1,463 counties measured68
AccessTop 27% of 1,463 counties measured90
Economic stability827th of 1,463 counties measured56
The quick read

Unemployment is 3.2% and median household income $75,283, putting employment conditions in the middle range of counties measured.

In the public schools here, 59% of students met the state standard in mathematics, with 15.0 students for every teacher.

Residential permitting has slowed: 96 units authorized over the past twelve months, 17% below the prior year.

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
35,404
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$75,283
Top 26% nationally
Density
87/sq mi
406.1 sq mi of land
Median age
43.2
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Morrow County
Ohio
Metro area
Nearest major airport
MFD
25 mi · Mansfield Lahm Rgnl
Median home value
$222,300
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 3.2%, lower than in 84% of the 1,467 measured US counties.

Employment fell 0.6% over the past year, to 17,009 employed residents.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Income of new arrivalsfiling years 2022–2023$63,31761st percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Income of those who leftfiling years 2022–2023$51,50028th percentileof 1,417filing years 2022–2023
Median household income ±$4,4872024 ACS 5-Year$75,283Top 26%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$2,0352024 ACS 5-Year$36,803Top 40%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Per-capita personal income2023$51,796Bottom 32%of 1,3892023
Poverty rate ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year12.8%Top 49%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute ±1.4 min2024 ACS 5-Year34.1 minBottom 9%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year19.4%Bottom 35%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Drove alone to work ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year73.5%26th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
EmploymentJuly 202617,009Bottom 25%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (3 years)July 2026+0.9%Top 39%of 1,467July 2026
Employment change (year over year)July 2026−0.6%Top 50%of 1,467July 2026
Labor forceJuly 202617,56824th percentileof 1,467July 2026
Labor force participation ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year76.8%Top 44%of 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Public transit to work ±0.3%2024 ACS 5-Year0.3%57th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Unemployment change (year over year)July 2026−1.3%Top 5%of 1,467July 2026
Unemployment rateJuly 20263.2%Top 16%of 1,467July 2026
Worked from home ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year12.4%77th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year

Unemployment rate

2021/072022/072023/072024/072025/072026/075.63.1
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 3.2% 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

202120222023202475k63k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $75,283 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.

59% of students met the state standard in mathematics and 62% in reading, across the schools here that reported results.

There are 15.0 students for every full-time teacher across 12 public schools, more than in most measured places.

Public schools
12
2024-25 school year
Students per teacher
15.0
across all schools here
Math proficiency
59.3%
Bottom 25% in Ohio
Reading proficiency
62.1%
Bottom 13% in Ohio
The 12 largest public schools, by enrollment.
SchoolDistrictStudentsPer teacherMathReading
Highland Elementary SchoolHighland Local83617.468%67%
Northmor Elementary SchoolNorthmor Local54115.565%65%
Park Avenue Elementary SchoolMount Gilead Exempted Village47514.861%57%
Highland High SchoolHighland Local46813.847%67%
Northmor High SchoolNorthmor Local45014.156%59%
Cardington-Lincoln Elementary SchoolCardington-Lincoln Local39217.872%77%
Highland Middle SchoolHighland Local38916.273%59%
Cardington-Lincoln Middle SchoolCardington-Lincoln Local28314.957%52%
Mt Gilead High SchoolMount Gilead Exempted Village27410.552%67%
Cardington-Lincoln High SchoolCardington-Lincoln Local24514.442%67%
Mt Gilead Middle SchoolMount Gilead Exempted Village22613.347%46%
Tomorrow Center · charterTomorrow Center10617.715%15%

54.1% 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 $2,359 a year in real estate taxes, about 1.06% 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 53% above the $937 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 76% of the median household income here of $75,283.

The typical renter household here spends 25% of its income on rent, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened. Median gross rent runs $937 a month.

A median home at $222,300 costs 2.6 times the median income of its owner-occupied households, $83,911, 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
25.3%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.6×
median home value ÷ owner household income
Market rent, two bedroom
$1,430
what a new lease costs · FY2026
Median gross rent
$937
what tenants now pay · 2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$222,300
2024 ACS 5-Year

The figures above are measured against Morrow County’s median household income of $75,283, 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 ±0.22024 ACS 5-Year2.6Bottom 42%of 3,2172024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year81.2%86th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±412024 ACS 5-Year14,70455th 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 ±$642024 ACS 5-Year$937Bottom 39%of 3,2152024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$13,1602024 ACS 5-Year$222,30064th percentileof 3,2192024 ACS 5-Year
Median property taxes ±$1332024 ACS 5-Year$2,35973rd percentileof 3,1722024 ACS 5-Year
Owner household income ±$3,9342024 ACS 5-Year$83,911Top 35%of 3,2182024 ACS 5-Year
Property tax rate ±0.09%2024 ACS 5-Year1.06%69th percentileof 3,1262024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income ±3%2024 ACS 5-Year25.3%Top 28%of 3,2162024 ACS 5-Year
Seasonal and second homes ±1072024 ACS 5-Year17332nd percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Second homes2024 ACS 5-Year1.2%29th percentileof 3,2222024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate2024 ACS 5-Year7.3%35th percentileof 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Vacant housing units ±2532024 ACS 5-Year1,24138th 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

46/ 100
Ranks 837 of 1,453 published county profiles
The most recent move in permitting was downward, in 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 35,927 in 2024.

Permitting has turned downward after moving the other way the year before: 95 units authorized in 2025, 26% below the prior year.

New construction is predominantly single-family: of 96 units permitted over the past twelve months, none were in buildings of five or more homes.

Federal tax returns show Morrow County gained about 1.5% 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 $63,317, above the $51,500 of households that moved out.

At 2.7 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is below the median for measured US counties.

Units permitted
96
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
2.7
Bottom 48% nationally
Year over year
−17%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings

Population, annual estimates

2020202120222023202436k35k
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
+1.5%
of residents, in a year
Arrivals from another state
12%
of people moving in
Income of arrivals
$63,317
average per tax return
Income of those who left
$51,500
average per tax return

Where newcomers came from

  1. Delaware County, OH 434 people · 21% of arrivals
  2. Franklin County, OH 363 people · 18% of arrivals
  3. Richland County, OH 207 people · 10% of arrivals
  4. Marion County, OH 201 people · 10.0% of arrivals
  5. Knox County, OH 168 people · 8.3% of arrivals

Where people who left went

  1. Delaware County, OH 230 people · 15% of departures
  2. Richland County, OH 183 people · 12% of departures
  3. Marion County, OH 180 people · 11% of departures
  4. Franklin County, OH 164 people · 10% of departures
  5. Crawford County, OH 161 people · 10% 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

20202021202220232024202514985
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was lower than 2020 (−10%).

Weather & climate

5 of the twelve months have a normal average temperature between 55°F and 80°F. July averages a high of 84°F and January a low of 19°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 37.5 inches.

10°30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station MARION MUNI AP, 15.3 miles from this location.

Precipitation

JFMAMJJASOND4.2"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation1991-2020 Normals37.5"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low1991-2020 Normals19°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high1991-2020 Normals84°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months1991-2020 Normals51991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing1991-2020 Normals46°F1991-2020 Normals

Climate figures are thirty-year normals, not current conditions. How to read climate and air quality.

Physical risk

68 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are inland flooding, tornado and strong wind, with inland flooding alone responsible for 69% of it. Inland flooding is independently rated low or minimal nationally, so this describes how the loss is composed, not how large that hazard is.

Ice stormModerate
HailModerate
Winter weatherModerate
Strong windElevated
TornadoElevated

Low or minimal exposure: landslide, inland flooding, earthquake, lightning, heat wave, hurricane, cold wave, wildfire, drought, 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.

Morrow County has a modeled homicide rate of about 4.2 per 100,000 residents a year, because the CDC suppresses counts this small, near the middle of counties measured. The CDC does not publish this below county level.

Firearm deaths of all intents run at about 14.8 per 100,000 — more than the homicide rate, since the figure counts suicides and accidents as well as homicides.

Drug overdose deaths run at about 10.5 per 100,000 residents in Morrow County.

Homicide
4.2
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Firearm deaths, all intents
14.8
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Drug overdose
10.5
per 100,000 residents · modeled, not measured
Suicide
28.1
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 Morrow 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.
Air quality
The EPA publishes an air-quality index only where a monitor sits. There is none in this county, and a modeled value would be a different kind of number from the measured ones everywhere else on this 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

8 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest Mansfield Lahm Rgnl at 25 miles.

MetricValueCompared nationallySource period
Broadband access ±1%2024 ACS 5-Year88.3%Top 39%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
Distance to major airportNASR current cycle25 miTop 35%of 1,463NASR current cycle
Major airports within 100 milesNASR current cycle8Top 2%of 1,463NASR current cycle
No internet access ±2%2024 ACS 5-Year9.8%Top 47%of 3,2212024 ACS 5-Year
AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
Mansfield Lahm RgnlMFD25 mi9,001 ft
John Glenn Columbus IntlCMH37 mi10,114 ft
Rickenbacker IntlLCK50 mi11,902 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
61
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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
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.

Cities in Morrow County, OH

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.