Columbus, OH
Columbus, OH Metro Area
Figures are medians for the whole Columbus, OH Metro Area, not the city proper.
Among the 300 U.S. metros CityLedger tracks, Columbus ranks 83rd for affordability — how far a typical paycheck stretches after local prices — and 87th for income. A household earns $82,938 a year while median rent runs $1,359/mo, making it moderately affordable for what residents earn. Affordability and price level are different lenses: the raw cost of living here runs 5% below the U.S. average.
Its strongest card is education (72nd of 300), while air quality is the soft spot (266th). Housing usually decides a move: rent ranks 175th and home prices 175th among the 300 metros CityLedger tracks.
For your salary & household
Enter your pay and household size to see what it's really worth here — the numbers update live and the link stays shareable.
On $75,000 for just you in Columbus, your take-home is worth about $62,813 once local prices are factored in — local prices stretch it further than the U.S. average.
Take-home estimates a single filer taking the standard deduction (2025 federal brackets, FICA, and state income tax) and isn't tax advice. “Real value” rebases take-home to average U.S. prices using the BEA cost-of-living index; the per-person figure uses the OECD square-root equivalence scale.
The numbers
Income & cost
- Median income
- 87th of 300↑23.4%$82,938
- Cost of living?The local price level vs. the U.S. average of 100 (BEA). Lower means cheaper. This is raw prices, not adjusted for income.
- 156th of 30095 (US=100)
- Cost-adj. income?Median household income divided by the local price level — what the typical paycheck is really worth here.
- $86,874
- Per-capita income
- $45,178
- Full-time pay
- $49,972
Housing
- Median rent
- 175th of 300↑40.8%$1,359/mo
- Home value
- 175th of 300↑57.5%$334,800
- Property tax
- $4,178/yr · 1.2%
- Sales tax
- 7.23%
Jobs & education
- Unemployment
- 92nd of 3003.8%
- Bachelor's+
- 72nd of 30040.3%
- Avg commute
- 149th of 30024.1 min
People
- Population
- 2,225,377
- Population change
- +4.9%
- Median age
- 37.2 yrs
- Foreign-born
- 10.2%
- Broadband
- 94.7%
Environment & risk
- Air quality (AQI)
- 266th of 30054
- Natural-hazard loss
- 73rd of 300$10/$10k
Health
- Fair/poor health
- 108th of 30017.3%
- Uninsured (18–64)
- 7.8%
Sources: U.S. Census Bureau (ACS), U.S. Bureau of Economic Analysis, U.S. EPA, FEMA, CDC, NOAA — every figure's source is listed on our methodology page. Data built 2026-06-14. ↑↓ mark the change since 2019.
How CityLedger scores it
Transparent weights — see our methodology.
Strengths
- + Affordability
- + Household income
- + Job market
- + Education
- + Hazard safety
Watch-outs
- – Air quality
Climate
30-year normals (1991–2020) from the nearest station — john glenn intl ap.
What jobs pay in Columbus
Median annual wage by occupation (BLS OEWS 2025) — half of workers in each role earn more, half less.
- IT managers
- $167,630
- Financial managers
- $145,630
- Lawyers
- $137,810
- Pharmacists
- $133,960
- Software developers
- $122,340
- Family medicine physicians
- $111,400
- General & operations managers
- $102,590
- Police officers
- $100,890
- Civil engineers
- $99,010
- Registered nurses
- $83,900
- Web developers
- $83,860
- Accountants & auditors
- $81,700
- Secondary school teachers
- $81,400
- Elementary school teachers
- $78,150
- Carpenters
- $66,480
- Electricians
- $64,700
- Plumbers
- $63,260
- Truck drivers (heavy)
- $61,720
- Construction laborers
- $60,540
- Maintenance & repair workers
- $52,800
- Customer service reps
- $46,350
- Waiters & waitresses
- $37,490
- Janitors
- $37,310
- Retail salespersons
- $33,780
- Cashiers
- $30,140
Source: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, OEWS 2025 — annual median wage. Cross-industry, all experience levels.
Where new residents move from
The states sending the most people to the Columbus metro, by estimated movers (U.S. Census 2022 migration flows, 5-year). Moves from elsewhere in Ohio are excluded to show where out-of-state arrivals originate.
- New York3,193
- Texas2,986
- Pennsylvania2,968
- Florida2,678
Source: U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2022 Migration Flows (5-year).
Cities like Columbus
Closest matches across cost, income, size, education, and age — tap to compare.
Columbus metro — frequently asked
- What is the median rent in the Columbus metro?
- Median gross rent across the Columbus, OH Metro Area is $1,359 a month (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024). That figure covers the whole metro area, not just the city of Columbus.
- What is the median household income in the Columbus metro?
- A typical household in the Columbus, OH Metro Area earns $82,938 a year (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- Is Columbus expensive to live in?
- The overall cost of living in the Columbus, OH Metro Area runs about 5% below the U.S. average (BEA Regional Price Parities, 2024) — prices are lower than average, before accounting for local pay.
- Does a paycheck go far in the Columbus metro?
- After adjusting for local prices, the median household income is worth about $86,874 (versus its face value of $82,938). CityLedger rates the Columbus, OH Metro Area moderately affordable for what residents earn.
- What is the typical home value in the Columbus metro?
- The median home value across the Columbus, OH Metro Area is $334,800 (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).
- What is the unemployment rate in the Columbus metro?
- The unemployment rate in the Columbus, OH Metro Area is 3.8% (U.S. Census Bureau, ACS 2024).