Columbus, OH

Across all occupations in the Columbus, OH metropolitan area, the median wage is $51,340 a year ($24.69 an hour) and the mean $67,270, May 2025. That median is +1% against the US median of $50,980 and +4% against Ohio's $49,380. BLS counts 1,105,580 jobs in the area. The highest-paying occupation is surgeons, all other; the largest is fast food and counter workers.

All occupations: Columbus, OH vs Ohio and the United States

All occupations: wage percentiles, mean and employment in the Columbus, OH area, Ohio and nationally, May 2025
Area	Basis	Percentile wage					Mean	Employment
Area	Basis	10th	25th	Median	75th	90th	Mean	Employment
Columbus, OH	Hourly	$14.44	$18.18	$24.69	$38.56	$56.41	$32.34	1,105,580
Columbus, OH	Annual	$30,020	$37,800	$51,340	$80,200	$117,330	$67,270	1,105,580
Ohio	Hourly	$14.04	$17.70	$23.74	$37.30	$51.34	$30.96	5,550,180
Ohio	Annual	$29,210	$36,820	$49,380	$77,570	$106,800	$64,390	5,550,180
United States	Hourly	$15.00	$18.07	$24.51	$38.71	$61.81	$33.54	155,495,730
United States	Annual	$31,200	$37,590	$50,980	$80,520	$128,560	$69,770	155,495,730

Annual wage at the 10th, 25th, 50th (median), 75th and 90th percentiles across all occupations in the metro; the line marks the US median. The same numbers are in the table above.

612 detailed occupations publish a median in this area. State profile: Ohio. Compare any occupation across every area in the wage explorer.

20 highest-paying occupations in Columbus, OH

Rank	Occupation	Median annual	Median hourly	Employment
1	Surgeons, All Other	$609,450	$293.01	180
2	Anesthesiologists	$441,230	$212.13	**
3	Emergency Medicine Physicians	$331,600	$159.42	**
4	Physicians, Pathologists	$285,280	$137.15	70
5	Radiologists	$269,430	$129.53	**
6	General Internal Medicine Physicians	$249,990	$120.19	**
7	Nurse Anesthetists	$231,810	$111.45	450
8	Psychiatrists	$220,940	$106.22	120
9	Physicians, All Other	$214,760	$103.25	3,830
10	Obstetricians and Gynecologists	$179,810	$86.45	490
11	Commercial Pilots	$175,690	*	1,410
12	Physicists	$170,400	$81.93	70
13	Computer and Information Systems Managers in Ohio	$167,630	$80.59	4,330
14	Dentists, General	$166,180	$79.89	780
15	Chief Executives	$162,910	$78.32	1,160
16	Architectural and Engineering Managers	$162,770	$78.26	**
17	Compensation and Benefits Managers	$147,100	$70.72	80
18	Financial Managers in Ohio	$145,630	$70.02	5,750
19	Medical Dosimetrists	$144,370	$69.41	40
20	Purchasing Managers	$141,490	$68.03	560

Ranked by median; an occupation whose median BLS withholds or top-codes in this area cannot appear here, however well it pays.

20 largest occupations in Columbus, OH

Rank	Occupation	Employment	Jobs per 1,000	Location quotient	Median annual
1	Fast Food and Counter Workers in Ohio	31,590	28.57	1.15	$28,670
2	Registered Nurses in Ohio	30,510	27.60	1.27	$83,900
3	Stockers and Order Fillers in Ohio	30,130	27.25	1.50	$39,040
4	General and Operations Managers in Ohio	29,070	26.30	1.17	$102,590
5	Home Health and Personal Care Aides in Ohio	27,580	24.94	0.90	$34,880
6	Retail Salespersons in Ohio	26,850	24.28	0.97	$33,780
7	Laborers and Freight, Stock, and Material Movers, Hand in Ohio	25,800	23.34	1.23	$41,200
8	Customer Service Representatives in Ohio	18,550	16.78	1.01	$46,350
9	Office Clerks, General in Ohio	18,110	16.38	1.03	$44,830
10	Cashiers in Ohio	17,790	16.09	0.81	$30,140
11	Heavy and Tractor-Trailer Truck Drivers in Ohio	16,110	14.57	1.10	$61,720
12	Waiters and Waitresses in Ohio	15,900	14.39	0.99	$37,490
13	Janitors and Cleaners, Except Maids and Housekeeping Cleaners in Ohio	14,130	12.78	0.90	$37,310
14	Miscellaneous Assemblers and Fabricators in Ohio	13,640	12.34	1.37	$46,540
15	Industrial Truck and Tractor Operators in Ohio	11,910	10.77	2.16	$46,780
16	Accountants and Auditors in Ohio	11,410	10.32	1.11	$81,700
17	Maintenance and Repair Workers, General in Ohio	10,970	9.92	1.01	$52,800
18	First-Line Supervisors of Food Preparation and Serving Workers in Ohio	10,780	9.75	1.24	$37,790
19	Business Operations Specialists, All Other in Ohio	10,040	9.08	1.30	$82,030
20	Nursing Assistants in Ohio	10,020	9.07	0.97	$42,970

Most concentrated occupations in Columbus, OH

The 10 occupations with the highest location quotient among those employing at least 100 people in the area. A quotient of 2.00 means the occupation's share of local jobs is twice its national share.

Rank	Occupation	Location quotient	Employment	Jobs per 1,000	Median annual
1	Sociologists	6.11	100	0.09	$82,820
2	Commercial Pilots	4.15	1,410	1.27	$175,690
3	Hydrologists	4.08	170	0.15	$98,200
4	Administrative Law Judges, Adjudicators, and Hearing Officers	3.37	390	0.35	$77,330
5	Automotive Glass Installers and Repairers	3.29	480	0.43	$61,900
6	Obstetricians and Gynecologists	3.22	490	0.44	$179,810
7	Meter Readers, Utilities	2.80	390	0.35	$47,430
8	Health Information Technologists and Medical Registrars	2.69	730	0.66	$83,580
9	Audiologists	2.68	260	0.24	$75,400
10	Bailiffs	2.50	310	0.28	$50,500

Occupation groups in Columbus, OH

Group	Median annual	Mean annual	Employment	Jobs per 1,000	Location quotient
Management	$111,840	$131,950	82,430	74.55	1.04
Computer and Mathematical	$104,470	$109,520	36,100	32.66	0.97
Legal	$100,700	$119,300	8,590	7.77	0.93
Architecture and Engineering	$94,280	$96,880	18,190	16.46	0.98
Life, Physical, and Social Science	$82,010	$89,630	9,460	8.55	0.90
Healthcare Practitioners and Technical	$81,780	$99,720	82,180	74.33	1.18
Business and Financial Operations	$80,710	$89,040	85,340	77.19	1.14
Construction and Extraction	$66,830	$69,790	39,220	35.47	0.86
Educational Instruction and Library	$61,280	$66,630	66,530	60.17	1.03
Installation, Maintenance, and Repair	$61,010	$63,790	39,880	36.07	0.92
Community and Social Service	$58,460	$60,720	18,900	17.09	1.00
Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, and Media	$57,780	$65,130	13,130	11.87	0.90
Protective Service	$54,370	$61,630	27,840	25.18	1.04
Office and Administrative Support	$47,890	$51,000	121,850	110.21	0.97
Production	$47,440	$50,330	55,070	49.82	0.90
Transportation and Material Moving	$43,980	$49,080	118,690	107.35	1.22
Farming, Fishing, and Forestry	$40,710	$47,330	870	0.78	0.28
Healthcare Support	$38,040	$40,040	52,030	47.06	0.93
Building and Grounds Cleaning and Maintenance	$37,550	$39,810	28,990	26.22	0.90
Sales and Related	$37,220	$51,670	85,890	77.69	0.90
Food Preparation and Serving Related	$33,540	$35,850	95,180	86.09	0.98
Personal Care and Service	$33,530	$38,650	19,230	17.39	0.83

Every occupation in Ohio, and the area's place among the state's metros, is on the state profile. All 612 published occupations for this area are in the wage explorer; other metros are on the metros hub.

Source and notes

Data: BLS OEWS May 2025, released 2026-05-15. Cross-industry estimates, all ownerships. BLS page: OEWS Columbus, OH estimates (area 18140).

*: Wage estimate not available.
**: Employment estimate not available.

Annual wages assume 2,080 hours a year at the hourly rate; occupations BLS publishes on one basis only show an en dash (–) on the other.
Employment is rounded to the nearest 10 by BLS. Where BLS withholds a cell, nothing is estimated in its place.
Jobs per 1,000 is the occupation's employment per 1,000 jobs in the Columbus, OH area; the location quotient is that share divided by the national share.
The concentration table keeps only occupations with employment of 100 or more in the area, so a quotient built on a handful of rounded jobs cannot top it.