The Columbus metropolitan area is a metropolitan area in Central Ohio surrounding the state capital of Columbus. As defined by the U.S. Census Bureau, it includes the counties of Delaware, Fairfield, Franklin, Hocking, Licking, Madison, Morrow, Perry, Pickaway and Union. At the 2020 census, the MSA had a population of 2,138,926, making it 32nd-most populous in the United States and the second largest in Ohio, behind the Cincinnati metropolitan area. The metro area, also known as Central Ohio or Greater Columbus, is one of the largest and fastest-growing metropolitan areas in the Midwestern United States.

The larger combined statistical area (the Columbus–Marion–Zanesville, OH CSA) adds the counties of Athens, Fayette, Guernsey, Knox, Logan, Marion, Muskingum, and Ross. It includes the Micropolitan Statistical Areas of Athens, Bellefontaine, Cambridge, Chillicothe, Marion, Mount Vernon, Washington Court House, and Zanesville, due to strong ties with Columbus. The population of the CSA was 2,544,048 at the 2020 census, 26th largest in the nation and ranking second in Ohio behind the Cleveland–Akron–Canton combined statistical area.

Population

County2025 Estimate2020 Census%±AreaDensityFranklin CountyDelaware CountyLicking CountyFairfield CountyUnion CountyPickaway CountyMadison CountyMorrow CountyPerry CountyHocking CountyTotal

Politics

+ Columbus metro presidential election resultsYearDemocraticRepublicanThird parties202452.0% 544,35047.0% 492,3121.0% 10,267202053.3% 567,32745.1% 480,1721.6% 16,713201650.0% 475,02745.2% 429,9304.8% 45,295201253.5% 492,08446.5% 426,9360% 0

Main cities Delaware County Columbus (partial) Delaware Dublin (partial) Powell Westerville (partial)

Fairfield County Columbus (partial) Canal Winchester (partial) Lancaster Pickerington (partial) Reynoldsburg (partial)

Franklin County Columbus (partial) Bexley Canal Winchester (partial) Dublin (partial) Gahanna Grandview Heights Grove City Groveport Hilliard New Albany (partial) Pickerington (partial) Reynoldsburg (partial) Upper Arlington Westerville (partial) Whitehall Worthington

Hocking County Logan

Licking County Newark Heath Pataskala Reynoldsburg (partial)

Madison County London

Morrow County Galion (partial)

Perry County New Lexington

Pickaway County Circleville

Union County Dublin (partial) Marysville

Economy

The public sector dominates the Central Ohio employment landscape, with the State of Ohio, Ohio State University, and the United States Government accounting for an estimated 55,000 to 60,000 employees. When combined with Columbus City Schools, the City of Columbus, and Franklin County, the number swells to about 80,000 employees, making government jobs the area's largest employment sector.

The financial sector provides the second largest employment sector in Central Ohio. JPMorgan Chase is the area's largest financial sector employer, with Columbus-based insurance company Nationwide Insurance a close second. Also headquartered in Columbus is Huntington Bank, with significant presence by banks such as KeyBank, Fifth Third, PNC Financial Services, Park National Corporation, and Commerce National Bank. Recently, Alliance Data, a Fortune 500 Company that provides financial services to the financial sector, has moved its headquarters to Columbus. In addition to Nationwide, other insurance-based companies in Central Ohio include Encova, Grange Insurance, Safe Auto Insurance, and Root Insurance. The manufacturing sector includes Honda, which operates their largest North American manufacturing complex in the Marysville area. Also in Marysville is Scotts Miracle-Gro Company, the makers of Miracle-Gro and various other soil and potting fertilizers. New Albany was selected by Intel for their newest semiconductor fabrication plant, which will open in 2025 and is expected to become "the largest silicon manufacturing location on the planet." Located in downtown Columbus is AEP, which is one of the largest electric utility companies in the US. Mettler Toledo, a manufacturer of precision scales and scientific equipment, is based in the area known as Polaris. Worthington Industries, a large steel-processing company, is primarily located on the north side of Columbus near Worthington. The Ashland Inc. company has a large office space within Dublin. Homebuilders M/I Homes and Dominion Homes are located in Columbus.

Anheuser-Busch operates one of their 12 breweries on the north side of Columbus. Hexion Specialty Chemicals (formerly part of Borden) is located in downtown Columbus. The Abbott Nutrition Division of Abbott Laboratories, makers of Ensure nutritional drink and Similac infant formula, is also headquartered in Columbus. T. Marzetti Company, the largest food manufacturer headquartered in Central Ohio, is headquartered in Westerville, and Wyandot Snacks operates out of Marion, Ohio.

The retail sector's biggest employer is clothing company L Brands. Retail brands within the L Brands corporate umbrella include Victoria's Secret, Pink (Victoria's Secret), Bath & Body Works, La Senza, and Henri Bendel. Companies that have been spun off from L Brands that are still headquartered in Central Ohio include Abercrombie & Fitch, Lane Bryant, and Tween Brands, formerly Limited Too. Another apparel and furniture company located in Columbus is Retail Ventures. Their operating stores include DSW, Filene's Basement, American Signature, Rooms Today and Value City. The department store holding company Federated Department Stores was once based in Columbus, and included the Lazarus department store chain, before being re-branded under the Macy's brand name in 2005.

Central Ohio is home to three large fast food chains. Wendy's has its corporate headquarters in Dublin, while White Castle and Sbarro are located in Columbus. Smaller chains Charley's Grilled Subs, City Barbeque, and Steak Escape are Columbus-based as well. Cameron Mitchell Restaurants, Bob Evans Restaurants, Max & Erma's, Damon's Grill and Donatos Pizza are also based in the city. Chipotle Mexican Grill has a corporate office with over 250 employees in the city's arena district.

In the health care sector is Cardinal Health, which is the highest-ranked Ohio-based company on the Fortune 500 list, and has its headquarters along I-270 in Dublin. Also in the health services sector is OhioHealth, which is a leading HMO.

Central Ohio has a well-established tech sector as well. The Online Computer Library Center (owner of the Dewey Decimal System) is located across from Cardinal on the other side of I-270. Microcenter, a retailer of computers and other electronic equipment, was started in Upper Arlington and is now based in Hilliard. A number of science-based companies also reside in Columbus, including Chemical Abstracts and the Battelle Memorial Institute R&D company. CompuServe was an independent firm headquartered and operated within Columbus before being acquired by WorldCom and AOL. Sterling Commerce (acquired by IBM in 2010) was headquartered near Dublin, adjacent to a large Qwest (now CenturyLink) facility. Also in Dublin is the regional office of Quest Software (formerly a part of Dell).

Columbus also has a booming start-up culture., Forbes.com – "In Pictures: America's Biggest Brain Magnets" Feb. 2011. There are several business incubators and multiple resources available to help Central Ohio's small business community thrive., Link to list of local small business incubators at CentralOhioEntrepreneurs.org There is also a yearly Startup Weekend workshop., link to Startup Weekend website In 2011, a startup founded by two locals gave Central Ohio its own social networking website, Cbusr.com.Dispatch – Real-life Chat Room , Published April 7, 2012 Cbusr attracts more than 35,000 active monthly users ranging from entrepreneurs and creative professionals to musicians who meet online and connect offline at events.

Transportation

Grid and address system The metro area's street plan originates downtown and extends into the old-growth neighborhoods, following a grid pattern with the intersection of High Street (running north–south) and Broad Street (running east–west) at its center. North–south streets run 12 degrees west of due north, parallel to High Street; the avenues (vis. Fifth Avenue, Sixth Avenue, Seventh Avenue, and so on.) run east–west.Moore, p. 127 The address system begins its numbering at the intersection of Broad and High, with numbers increasing in magnitude with distance from Broad or High. Numbered Avenues begin with First Avenue, about north of Broad Street, and increase in number as one progresses northward. Numbered streets begin with Second Street, which is two blocks west of High Street, and Third Street, which is a block east of High Street, then progress eastward from there. Even-numbered addresses are on the north and east sides of streets, putting odd addresses on the south and west sides of streets. A difference of 700 house numbers means a distance of about (along the same street). For example, 351 W 5th Avenue is approximately west of High Street on the south side of Fifth Avenue. Buildings along north–south streets are numbered in a similar manner: the building number indicates the approximate distance from Broad Street, the prefixes 'N' and 'S' indicate whether that distance is to measured to the north or south of Broad Street, and the street number itself indicates how far the street is from the center of the city at the intersection of Broad and High.

This street numbering system does not hold true over a large area. The area served by numbered avenues runs from about Marble Cliff to South Linden to the Airport, and the area served by numbered Streets covers Downtown and nearby neighborhoods to the east and south, with only a few exceptions. There are quite few intersections between numbered Streets and Avenues. Furthermore, named streets and avenues can have any orientation. For example, while all of the numbered avenues run east–west, perpendicular to High Street, many named, non-numbered avenues run north–south, parallel to High. The same is true of many named streets: while the numbered streets in the city run north–south, perpendicular to Broad Street, many named, non-numbered streets run east–west, perpendicular to High Street.

Highways Columbus is bisected by two major Interstate Highways, Interstate 70 running east–west, and Interstate 71 running north to roughly southwest. The two Interstates combine downtown for about in an area locally known as "The Split", which is a major traffic congestion point within Columbus, especially during rush hour. U.S. Route 40, originally known as the National Road, runs east–west through Columbus, comprising Main Street to the east of downtown and Broad Street to the west. U.S. Route 23 runs roughly north–south, while U.S. Route 33 runs northwest-to-southeast. The Interstate 270 Outerbelt encircles the vast majority of the city, while the newly redesigned Innerbelt consists of the Interstate 670 spur on the north side (which continues to the east past the airport and to the west where it merges with I-70), State Route 315 on the west side, the I-70/71 split on the south side, and I-71 on the east. Due to its central location within Ohio and abundance of outbound roadways, nearly all of the state's destinations are within a 2- or 3-hour drive of Columbus.

Bridges