The Columbus region has led other major Midwest regions in jobs and wage growth, further supporting its reputation as an economic power, the Columbus Partnership is reporting.
The region added 11,977 jobs, from March, 2025 to March, 2026, an increase of 1.1%, according to newly released Quarterly Census of Employment and Wages data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. That's more than 18 times the national growth rate of 0.06%, but about just about normal for a growing economy, according to experts.
Annual job growth rate of about 1.5% to 2% is generally considered healthy for the overall U.S. economy, according to the Federal Reserve Bank of St. Louis.
But the U.S. economy had ups and downs in the past year and averaged just 0.06% job growth
through March, according to the partnership based on the federal data.
Even so, says local economist Bill LaFayette, "It's certainly better than what I predicted.... just looking at those numbers, we are certainly doing much, much better than the U.S.... in the context of the kind of soft economy we're in now."
LaFayette, owner of Regionomics, a strategic economics and workforce firm, has studied the results and found that manufacturing (1,000 new jobs) and professional business services (2,000) are leading sources in central Ohio.
Locally, data center construction and manufacturing continue to add jobs. Examples include PPG's planned $280 million expansion of its paints and coatings plant in Delaware; Anduril Industries, the defense contractor near Rickenbacker International Airport, aims to add thousands of jobs for its autonomous aircraft plants. And Grandview Yard, the mixed-use development just northwest of Downtown has added 3,000 jobs as it nears its build out.
The jobs report is based on voluntary reporting by local businesses. The Bureau of Labor Statistics also conducts surveys. But at the federal level, the agency "is being increasingly underfunded. so their surveying is getting less reliable," said LaFayette.
Nationwide, the labor force is comprised of about 155 million jobs, LaFayette said. And even large fluctuations in local communities, or even states, can have little or no impact on the national results.
Still, the partnership notes, Columbus posted the sixth-fastest rate among the nation’s 56 largest metropolitan areas, those with populations of one million or more.
The entire United States added a net 85,572 jobs during the same period. Columbus accounted for 14% of that national increase despite representing less than 1% of total U.S. employment.
“Leading the Midwest in job creation tells us companies and talent have confidence in the Columbus Region and the future they can build here,” said Corrine Burger, interim CEO of the Columbus Partnership in a prepared release. “That position was earned over many years by employers, public leaders, educators and communities working together.”
The Columbus metro’s job growth stood apart within the Midwest. The local jobs increase more than doubled the combined gains of Chicago and Indianapolis, which ranked second and third in the Midwest with 3,544 and 2,214 jobs added, respectively.
Columbus was the only Midwest metro to place among the national top 10 for job growth rate, total jobs added and growth in total quarterly wages.
“Job growth at this scale reflects an economy where one investment creates demand for the next,” said Mark Berven, chair of the One Columbus Executive Committee and president and chief operating officer of Nationwide Property & Casualty. “That broader economic impact is helping the Columbus Region lead the Midwest. We are seeing more demand and need for manufacturers, engineers and skilled trades.”
Total quarterly wages across the Columbus metro grew by 6.9% to more than $22 billion, an increase of more than $1.4 billion from the first quarter of 2025, according to the partnership. Columbus’ total wage growth rate was nearly 70% faster than the national rate of 4.1% and ranked third among the nation’s largest metros.
Growth and development reporter Dean Narciso can be reached at dnarciso@dispatch.com.
This article originally appeared on The Columbus Dispatch: Columbus area's jobs growth far out-paces the nation
