AreaProfile

Lima, Ohio

Area Profile

35,010 residents. Jobs, income, climate, physical risk, development and airport access for Lima, in Allen County.

54
Area Score
Bottom 20% of 1,482 published profiles

How we calculate this

How this area ranks
Opportunity1459th of 1,567 published cities32
Growth1377th of 1,503 published cities22
Housing affordabilityTop 30% of 1,876 published cities88
Climate1313th of 1,876 published cities63
Physical resilienceTop 34% of 1,849 published cities71
Access1714th of 1,876 published cities69
Economic stability1732nd of 1,876 published cities33
The quick read

Employment conditions sit below most comparable published city profiles: unemployment is 4.5% and the Opportunity signal places Lima in the bottom 7%.

Residential permitting has slowed: 30 units authorized over the past twelve months, 40% below the prior year.

Its Area Score of 54 places Lima in the top 80% of published city profiles.

At a glance

Population
35,010
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median household income
$46,240
Bottom 17% nationally
Density
2,571/sq mi
13.6 sq mi of land
Median age
36.8
2024 ACS 5-Year
County
Allen County
Ohio
Metro area
Lima, OH
Nearest major airport
DAY
58 mi · James M Cox Dayton Intl
Median home value
$107,200
2024 ACS 5-Year

Jobs & opportunity

Unemployment of 4.5% is lower than 46% of the 1,567 measured US cities.

Employment fell 1.8% over the past year, to 14,281 employed residents.

Median household income of $46,240 is below 83% of measured US cities.

MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Median household income ±$2,710$46,240Bottom 17%2024 ACS 5-Year
Per capita income ±$1,438$24,787Bottom 20%2024 ACS 5-Year
Poverty rate23.9%Top 17%2024 ACS 5-Year
Average commute19.1 minBottom 14%2024 ACS 5-Year
Bachelor's degree or higher12.8%Bottom 28%2024 ACS 5-Year
Employment14,281Bottom 14%June 2026
Employment change (3 years)-0.8%Bottom 36%June 2026
Employment change (year over year)-1.8%Bottom 25%June 2026
Labor force14,951Bottom 14%June 2026
Labor force participation58.1%Bottom 42%2024 ACS 5-Year
Mean annual wage$59,080Bottom 12%2025 OEWS
Median annual wage$47,170Bottom 17%2025 OEWS
Unemployment change (year over year)-1.1%Bottom 5%June 2026
Unemployment rate4.5%Top 46%June 2026
Unemployment rate
2021/062022/032022/122023/092024/062025/032026/012026/067.43.8
Monthly unemployment rate from the Bureau of Labor Statistics, most recent value 4.5% in June 2026.
Median household income, successive ACS releases
202120222023202446k38k
Each point is a separate five-year estimate, most recently $46,240 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 — Lima, OH
OccupationPeople employedMedian annual wage
Fast Food and Counter Workers1,830$27,320
Registered Nurses1,630$81,440
Retail Salespersons1,490$28,900
General and Operations Managers1,210$80,720
Stockers and Order Fillers1,120$35,920
Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand960$37,050

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 $903 takes 23% of median household income, below the 30% threshold at which a household is considered cost-burdened.

A median home costs 2.3 times median household income here, close to the historic benchmark for an affordable market.

Rent as a share of income
23.4%
Below the 30% cost-burdened threshold
Home price to income
2.3×
median home value ÷ median income
Median gross rent
$903
2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value
$107,200
2024 ACS 5-Year
MetricValueCompared with peersSource period
Home price to income2.32Bottom 32%2024 ACS 5-Year
Homeownership rate45.6%Bottom 7%2024 ACS 5-Year
Housing units ±36115,950Top 4%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median gross rent ±$37$903Bottom 42%2024 ACS 5-Year
Median home value ±$7,251$107,200Bottom 22%2024 ACS 5-Year
Rent as a share of income23.4%Top 23%2024 ACS 5-Year
Vacancy rate10.5%Top 48%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
22/ 100
Ranks 1377 of 1,503 published city profiles
Permitting is increasing — 2 consecutive years, measured from 2022 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 fallen 2% since 2020, reaching 34,690 in 2024.

New construction is predominantly single-family: only 0% of permitted units are in buildings of five or more homes.

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

Units permitted
30
12 months ending July 2026
Per 1,000 residents
0.9
Bottom 23% nationally
Year over year
−40%
vs the prior twelve months
Multifamily share
0.0%
units in 5+ unit buildings
Population, annual estimates
2020202120222023202435k35k
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
2022202320242025453.0
Annual totals from the Census Building Permits Survey. Permitting in 2025 was higher than 2022 (+105%).

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 20°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 LIMA ALLEN CO AP, 5.0 miles from this location.
Precipitation
JFMAMJJASOND4.0"
Normal monthly precipitation, in inches.
MetricValueSource period
Annual precipitation35.8"1991-2020 Normals
Average January low20°F1991-2020 Normals
Average July high84°F1991-2020 Normals
Comfortable months51991-2020 Normals
Seasonal temperature swing46°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

71 / 100
Physical resilience

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

EarthquakeElevated
Inland floodingModerate
Strong windModerate
HailModerate
Winter weatherModerate
Ice stormModerate
TornadoElevated
Heat waveModerate

Low or minimal exposure: lightning, hurricane, cold wave, landslide, wildfire.

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

6 major airports lie within 100 miles, the nearest 58 miles away.

AirportCodeDistanceLongest runway
James M Cox Dayton IntlDAY58 mi8,502 ft
Eugene F Kranz Toledo ExpressTOL61 mi10,600 ft
John Glenn Columbus IntlCMH82 mi10,114 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
54
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Put Lima side by side with a similar place.

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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)
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 Lima

3 published ZIP profiles
ZIPPopulationMedian household incomeArea Score
4580524,387$68,84259
4580121,739$51,73155
4580413,608$44,91153