AreaProfile

Delaware, Ohio

Area Profile

44,589 residents. Jobs, income, climate, physical risk, development and airport access for Delaware, in Delaware County.

81
Area Score
Top 1% of 1,482 published profiles

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
OpportunityTop 3% of 1,567 published cities86
GrowthTop 18% of 1,503 published cities69
Housing affordabilityTop 8% of 1,876 published cities98
Climate1260th of 1,876 published cities64
Physical resilienceTop 20% of 1,849 published cities83
Access1111th of 1,876 published cities92
Economic stabilityTop 23% of 1,876 published cities71
The quick read

Delaware ranks in the top 3% of published city profiles for employment opportunity, with unemployment at 3.2% and median household income of $99,786.

Residential permitting has slowed: 386 units authorized over the past twelve months, 31% below the prior year.

Natural-hazard exposure is lower than in most comparable published city profiles, placing Delaware in the top 20% for physical resilience.

At a glance

Population
44,589
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$99,786
Top 19% nationally
Density
2,203/sq mi
20.2 sq mi of land
Median age
36.9
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Delaware County
Ohio
Metro area
Columbus, OH
Nearest major airport
CMH
22 mi · John Glenn Columbus Intl
Median home value
$318,400
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 3.2% is lower than 91% of the 1,567 measured US cities.

Employment grew 0.1% over the past year, to 24,668 employed residents.

48% of adults hold a four-year degree, higher than 87% of measured US cities.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$3,283$99,786Top 19%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,703$44,497Top 24%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate7.8%Bottom 37%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute27.0 minTop 48%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher47.8%Top 13%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment24,668Top 50%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)4.0%Top 10%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)0.1%Top 22%June 2026
Labor force25,489Bottom 48%June 2026
Labor force participation70.4%Top 17%2024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$67,270Bottom 46%2025 OEWS
Median annual wage$51,340Top 49%2025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)-1.1%Bottom 5%June 2026
Unemployment rate3.2%Bottom 9%June 2026
Unemployment rate
2021/062022/032022/122023/092024/062025/032026/012026/064.92.5
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 3.2% in June 2026.
Median household income, successive ACS releases
2021202220232024100k79k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $99,786 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

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.

Housing & affordability

How it’s calculated →

Median rent of $1,286 takes 15% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 3.2 times median household income here, above the historic benchmark of about three times income.

Rent as a share of income
15.5%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
3.2×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$1,286
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$318,400
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income3.19Top 43%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate64.7%Bottom 28%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±50817,726Top 3%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$71$1,286Top 29%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$10,243$318,400Top 26%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income15.5%Bottom 28%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate5.6%Bottom 32%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 →
Development Momentum
69/ 100
Top 18% of 1,503 published city profiles
Permitting is decreasing, measured from 2020 to 2025.

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 12% since 2020, reaching 46,521 in 2024.

Permitting has turned downward after moving the other way the year before.

Population is still rising, but more slowly than in the preceding year.

At 8.7 permitted units per 1,000 residents, building activity is above the median for measured US cities.

Units permitted
386
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
8.7
Top 16% nationally
Year over year
−31%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
units in 5+ unit buildings
Population, annual estimates
2020202120222023202447k42k
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.
Housing units permitted per year
202020212022202320242025839438
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was close to 2020 (−3%).

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 21°F.

Normal annual precipitation is 35.8 inches.

10°30°50°70°90°JFMAMJJASOND
Solid line: normal daily high. Dashed line: normal daily low. 1991-2020 normals from NOAA station COLUMBUS OHIO STATE UNIV AP, 14.4 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND4.0"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation35.8"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low21°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high84°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months51991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing45°F1991-2020 Normals

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.

Physical risk

83 / 100
Physical resilience

The hazards accounting for most of this area's expected annual loss are tornado, hail and strong wind.

HailModerate
Winter weatherModerate
Ice stormModerate
TornadoElevated
Strong windModerate

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

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.

Taxes

AreaProfile does not yet publish tax comparisons. No tax dataset has met the source admission test for coverage, methodology transparency and update cadence, and the product rule is to omit a dimension rather than estimate it. The Area Score is calculated without a tax component and the weighting is documented on the methodology page.

Nothing on AreaProfile is individualized tax advice.

Access

7 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 22 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
John Glenn Columbus IntlCMH22 mi10,114 ft
Rickenbacker IntlLCK34 mi11,902 ft
Mansfield Lahm RgnlMFD47 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
81
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Other cities in Columbus, OH

Same metropolitan area, measured the same way
CityCountyPopulationArea ScoreCompare
ColumbusFranklin County914,80275vs Delaware
NewarkLicking County50,783vs Delaware
DublinFranklin County49,29480vs Delaware
Grove CityFranklin County42,51779vs Delaware
LancasterFairfield County41,24973vs Delaware
ReynoldsburgFranklin County41,22480vs Delaware
WestervilleFranklin County38,64577vs Delaware
HilliardFranklin County38,03382vs Delaware
Upper ArlingtonFranklin County36,29377vs Delaware
GahannaFranklin County35,48683vs Delaware
MarysvilleUnion County27,518vs Delaware

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.

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)
DevelopmentU.S. Census Bureau
Building Permits Survey
12 months ending July 2026Monthly, roughly three weeks after the reference month
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)

Profile recalculated August 29, 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.

ZIP codes in Delaware

1 published ZIP profiles
ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeArea Score
4301561,401$105,32282