Google Columbus Lancaster Campus

Columbus, Ohio's economy is anchored by JPMorgan Chase's largest non-NYC operation, Nationwide Insurance headquarters, Ohio State University, Honda manufacturing, and growing logistics and Intel's massive new Licking County chip fab. Data centers have followed the chip fab story aggressively — 12 tracked facilities and roughly 1,100 NAICS 518 jobs (estimated), with hyperscaler-scale campuses from Meta, AWS, Google, and others rapidly building in New Albany and surrounding counties.

The trades pool is moderate but the wage profile is balanced. Electrician and HVAC technician medians are unusually close ($64,700 and $64,440), making HVAC competitive on lifetime earnings given the shorter apprenticeship. The 10,970 maintenance and repair workforce earns $52,800 — Midwestern wages above national averages. Network admins clear $105,750, which is high for a Midwest metro and reflects the insurance and banking IT base.

For a trades worker, Columbus is among the strongest growth markets right now. The Intel fab and the surrounding hyperscaler buildout are creating sustained demand for electricians, HVAC technicians, and facility operations staff. Best fit for trades willing to relocate to a market with rising opportunity volume but still moderate cost of living.