Columbus, Ohio

Columbus Facts

Columbus hosts 26 accredited colleges and universities, most notably The Ohio State University.

Ohio State is the nation's 5th largest university with over 57,000 students. It is also one of Columbus’s largest employers with over 27,000 employees.

As "The Best Damn Band in The Land", OSU Marching Band's "i-dotting" holds the distinction of being ranked as the #1 College Football Tradition.

Columbus Economic Facts

Columbus has over 84,000 businesses which employ over 264,000 people generating over $90 billion in annual economic output.

Some of those businesses are: Mars Incorporated, Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company, JP Morgan Chase, Wendy's, American Electric Power and Cardinal Health. Internationally: Volvo, Honda of America, Siemens Corporation, Boehringer Ingelheim Roxane Laboratories and Rolls-Royce Energy Systems.

Manufacturing

Columbus boasts nearly 1,800 manufacturers who collectively employ more than 80,000 people and produce over 10 billion dollars per year in revenue. As a group these manufacturing companies have realized a 31% increase in productivity in recent decades.

Finance / Business Services

Finance and business service companies contribute nearly $40 billion in annual revenue. More than 26,000 people are employed by the 5 Fortune 500 and 15 Fortune 1000 companies that have their headquarters in Columbus.

Transportation, Logistics

Columbus is positioned within 10 hours of 46% of the U.S. population and 33% of the Canadian population.

Rickenbacker International Airport handled more than 161 million pounds of air cargo in the 12 months ending September 2012.

Continued investment in the Rickenbacker Global Lositics Park and other areas of the Region’s logistics sector has been a major factor in the growth of transportation and utilities, growing 26% in the past decade.

The new Heartland Corridor allows double-stacked freight trains to travel directly from the port of Virginia to a state-of-the-art intermodal facility located at Rickenbacker International Airport in Franklin County.

Columbus is home to foreign Trade Zone #138, which comprises six pre-designated Magnet Sites and can provide FTZ designation to any site located within a 25-county service area in Central Ohio.

The Columbus Region has the most competitive corporate tax climate in the Midwest. Ohio has no personal property, inventory, or corporate income tax.

Science & Technology

The 315 Research & Technology Corridor is one of the largest research-based sites in the U.S., employing more than 50,000 people and managing more than $1 billion in research grants annually.

Central Ohio is home to two of the world’s leading private-research institutions: Batelle and Chemical Abstracts Service.

Agbioscience

Agbiosciences are a huge part of the Columbus economy. Roughly 53,000 people are employed by over 1,600 businesses and 10,000 farms in the area, which contributes to more than $17 million to the local economy.

$93 billion of farm products are sold within a day’s drive of the region.

Central Location

There are 18 major US metropolitan markets (47% of US manufacturing capacity) within a one day drive from Columbus.

International Business

Countries that have companies investing in the Columbus Region:

• Japan 151
• United Kingdom 80
• Canada 64
• Germany 61
• France 43
• Switzerland 41
• Rest of Europe 89
• Rest of Asia 21
• Rest of World 42

109 different languages are spoken throughout the region.

Over 1.19 million workers are within 50 miles.

The average commute is only 25 minutes.

35 is the average age of the Columbus workforce.

1/3 of Columbus’s population holds a bachelor’s degree or higher.

Bragging Rights

• Columbus is ranked #8 in the country for the greenest city in America.
• The #1 ranked zoo, public library, and science museum in the nation all call Columbus home.
• The #1 most accessible business location in the country, ranked by Three Scale Research. - 2012
• The # 1 up-and-coming tech city in the nation. Forbes - 2008 & 2011
• The Most Intelligent City in the United States. The Intelligent Communities Forum - 2013
• Forbes gave Columbus an A rating as one of the top cities for business in the U.S. in 2013
• Ranked #2 for Safest Cities for Families with Young Children by Sperling's Best Places. - 2012
• Ranked #2 in America's Manliest Cities by Sperling's Best Places. - 2012
• Ranked as the 15th most literate and 19th best educated city in the country, according to Central Connecticut State University in 2008.
• Ranked by Bloomberg's Businessweek as America's 20th best city in 2012.