Columbus has poor public health compared to similar cities, and it has significant income disparities, according to data from the Columbus Foundation.
The Columbus Foundation this week released its first Benchmarking Central Ohio report since before the COVID-19 pandemic.
The report provides data on demographics and the economy and looks at factors that impact personal prosperity and community wellbeing.
“It’s meant to help us see the connections between different things,” said Matthew Martin, director of community research for The Columbus Foundation.
The report compares Columbus to other metropolitan areas like Nashville, Milwaukee, Indianapolis, Pittsburgh, Cleveland and Cincinnati, and also includes some larger cities like Chicago and Las Vegas.
Health
It found that Columbus had “some of the poorest health outcomes among other regions measured in the report.”
Around 33% of adults in Columbus are obese, according to 2021 data. Around 12% of adults have diabetes, while 10% of adults have asthma.
Columbus also had a higher rate of infant mortality than most comparable cities, with about eight deaths for every 1,000 live births in 2022. Only Cleveland, Milwaukee and Cincinnati had worse infant mortality rates.
“So obviously, there's something that goes beyond each one of those that, you know, is an undercurrent to our health landscape,” Martin said. “I think that it shows us that, you know, we can't employ short-term measures to reverse those trends.”
“It still shows that we need to make progress in specific communities."- Matthew Martin, director of community research at The Columbus Foundation
Income and poverty
Poverty in central Ohio is slightly down but remains higher than most similar regions. And poverty among the city’s Black population is two times higher than the rate for the entire region.
“It still shows that we need to make progress in specific communities,” Martin said.
About 12% of the city’s population was under the federal poverty level in 2022, which was $13,590 for an individual or $27,750 for a family of four. Around 27% of people from Columbus, or more than 555,000 people, were “low-income,” or earned less than 200% of the federal poverty level.
Some 5% of workers in Columbus were considered working poor. The only city in the report with a higher rate of working poor people was San Antonio.
Columbus was fifth among peer cities for pay equality, but women still make just 83 cents for every dollar that men make. The median income for a woman working full-time in the Columbus area in 2022 was a little more than $54,000.
The report also shows that Columbus has noticeable income disparity. Looking at the income gap between the top 20% and bottom 20% of incomes, Columbus ranked 15th among 23 cities. Top earners in Columbus made upwards of $148,000, while low earners made just $34,000 in 2022.
Homeownership and vehicle access
Only 62% of people in Columbus owned their home in 2022. That puts Columbus toward the bottom of the list when compared to peer cities. Just five cities, Milwaukee, Austin, Las Vegas, San Jose and San Diego, had lower rates of homeownership.
As of 2019, housing accounted for about 25% of Columbus residents' household income. Transportation accounted for another 21% of income.
Columbus was in the middle of the pack when it came to access to a motor vehicle. Only around 6% of households in the city did not have access to a private vehicle in 2022, though that’s still more than 50,000 households.
"It’s meant to help us see the connections between different things.”- Matthew Martin, director of community research for The Columbus Foundation
Air quality and environment
Columbus had about 135 days with “good” air quality in 2023, ranking it 11th among cities in the report. But Martin said that’s way down from the 2019 report, where Columbus ranked best among its peers with more than 290 days with good air quality.
Martin said that people often think of climate change happening in other parts of the country, like wildfires out west and hurricanes and floods along the coast.
“But, you know, these are things that are starting to affect even regions like ours in the middle of the country, in the Great Lakes region,” Martin said.
Martin said things like transit usage and the density of development in Columbus can impact air quality and the environment.
Takeaways
The 2024 report is the eighth of its kind that has been released since 2007. The last report was released in 2019.
Martin said The Columbus Foundation compiles the benchmarking reports to help guide its grant strategy, as well as to draw attention to metrics that matter to the community.
“It’s really coming from wanting to share good insight with our community as we move forward,” Martin said.
The Columbus Metropolitan Club held a forum discussing the report last week. The metropolitan club will hold a second forum on Wednesday at 11:30 a.m. at The Ellis, located at 777 North 4th Street.
