Columbus Area Zip Codes and Their Economies



A lot of requests for zip code data come into this site, so I thought it might be a good idea to provide some.

First, we have a map for the Columbus area that includes the % of of employees in a particular zip code from 2000-2010.
Columbus area zip codes and their economies

From this map, the urban areas of Columbus seem to have lost the most % of their employees the last decade, along with the far suburban and rural areas. The biggest growth was in the areas along and just outside of 270. This is an interesting map as it implies that the nearest suburban areas are attracting the most jobs, but that these suburbs are are both pulling from the inner core, but also from much further out.

The second map is for average employee income by zip code.

What this map seems to show is that, while jobs may be moving to the I-270 suburbs, pay for those jobs is decidedly mixed across the city. Downtown, for example, averaged some of the highest incomes in the city. Other strong areas include parts of Westerville, New Albany and Dublin. Most of the High Street corridor was fairly strong as well. The lowest incomes were almost entirely in rural and far suburban areas.

Finally, the % change of average income from 2000-2010.

This map is also a mixed bag. Most of the area saw wage growth, but where it occurred the strongest was definitely all over the map. Some suburbs had good and bad, and so did the urban core areas.

So what’s all this mean? Well, certainly it means that the total # of jobs as far as growth shifted to the 270 suburbs the last decade, but at the same time, those jobs that remained in the core areas still grew in income. So it appears that the city is becoming richer about on par with the suburbs, at least the last 10 years. The question becomes, what happens the next decade? If urban trends continue the way they have the past few years (which these maps don’t really take into account), it is entirely possible that some of the job growth will move back inward towards the urban core.

To continue with local and national economic data, the US’ Bureau of Economic Analysis gives the option to look at cities, metro areas and other levels. Zip Code Maps gives population and demographic data in an interactive format.



Columbus as a Tech City




Columbus has been mentioned a few times over the years as a growing tech job market. Forbes named it the #1 Up and Coming Tech City in 2008, for example, although Forbes seems to randomly choose cities for its exhausting number of rankings each year, so that can be taken with a grain of salt. So is Columbus as a tech city really a thing? The latest ranking suggests it might be.

The actual tech growth numbers aren’t subjective. Out of the 51 largest metros, here is how Columbus ranked the last decade or so in STEM jobs (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics).

2001-2012 % Growth in Total STEM Jobs: +10.4% Rank of 51: 13th
2005-2012 % Growth in Total STEM Jobs: +12.8% Rank of 51: 9th
2010-2012 % Growth in Total STEM Jobs: +4.7% Rank of 51: 16th
2012 Location Quotient*: 1.27 LQ Rank of 51: 14th
2001-2012 Location Quotient Change: +7.6% Change Rank of 51: 5th

*Location Quotient is the local share of STEM jobs divided by the national share of STEM jobs. Anything above 1.0 indicates that the local share is higher than the national average.

So Columbus is clearly doing well and is handily beating out many much larger cities. It is one of only two Midwestern cities in the top 15 (Indianapolis is #15), and its rate of growth in concentration of STEM jobs is in the top 5 nationally. As the article discusses, traditional tech centers are actually losing STEM jobs while other areas, like Columbus, are gradually becoming bigger players. A well-educated workforce is paramount, and one of Columbus’ greatest strengths is its abundance of colleges and universities and young population. There are over 100,000 students in the area, and this ensures a strong workforce available for tech jobs. An example of how this attracts new STEM jobs was the recently announced plan by IBM to open its worldwide HQ for Advanced Analytics in Dublin along with 500 new jobs. The article with more details on this project can be found here.