2025 Compare Cities Economy:
Chicago, IL vs Columbus, OH

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Highlights
- Household income in Columbus, is 11% less than it is in Chicago and is 18% below the National Average.
- Chicago unemployment rate is 9.0%.
- Columbus unemployment rate is 5.7%.
 Chicago, ILColumbus, OHUnited States
 Unemployment Rate  Unlock5.7%6.0%
 Recent Job Growth  Unlock0.9%1.6%
 Future Job Growth25.7%  Unlock33.5%
 Sales Taxes10.3%  Unlock6.2%
 Income Taxes  Unlock5.7%4.6%
 Income per Cap.$41,821  Unlock$37,638
 Household Income  Unlock$58,575$69,021
 Family Median Income$79,434  Unlock$85,028
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 Est. Households By Income
 Chicago, ILColumbus, OHUnited States
 Income Less Than 15K  Unlock10.8%9.4%
 Income between 15K and 20K4.2%  Unlock3.8%
 Income between 20K and 30K  Unlock8.4%8.1%
 Income between 30K and 40K7.6%  Unlock8.0%
 Income between 40K and 50K  Unlock8.7%7.6%
 Income between 50K and 60K6.5%  Unlock7.2%
 Income between 60K and 75K  Unlock10.6%9.6%
 Income between 75K and 100K11.7%  Unlock12.8%
 Income between 100K and 150K  Unlock15.3%16.3%
 Income between 150K and 200K7.7%  Unlock7.8%
 Income greater than 200K  Unlock4.3%9.5%
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 Population By Occupation
 Chicago, ILColumbus, OHUnited States
 Management, business, finance19.5%  Unlock16.4%
 Engineering, computers, science  Unlock8.0%6.5%
 Community, social services2.1%  Unlock1.8%
 Legal  Unlock1.1%1.2%
 Education, library6.3%  Unlock6.2%
 Arts, design, media, sports, entertainment  Unlock2.1%2.0%
 Healthcare practitioners and technology5.7%  Unlock6.2%
 Healthcare support  Unlock3.6%3.3%
 Firefighters, law enforcement3.0%  Unlock2.1%
 Food preparation, serving  Unlock6.0%5.4%
 Building maintenance3.4%  Unlock3.6%
 Personal care  Unlock2.4%2.6%
 Sales, office, administrative support19.3%  Unlock20.9%
 Farming, fishing, forestry  Unlock0.1%0.6%
 Construction, extraction, maintenance/repair4.9%  Unlock8.1%
 Production, transportation, material moving  Unlock14.2%13.1%
Reviews for Chicago    270 Reviews

I've lived in Chicago city and later moved to suburbs when family size increased. Absolutely love this city. This is the cleanest and most beautiful among the major  More

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Chicago is probably the best value in a major city that you can find and my personal favorite city. It will become increasingly important as climate change makes the  More

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I've live on north side and south side, UIC medical center. Don't move here go to the north side. No good amenities, if you get bored with one there is no other choices.  More

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Reviews for Columbus    156 Reviews

Ellenore · 
Over 2 years ago

I've lived here for my whole life! Awesome place to  More

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We lived in Columbus from 2014-2022, originally from Denver work has taken us to Charlotte, NC, Austin and Atlanta for perspective. One of our biggest reasons for  More

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Over 3 years ago

The city has nice areas and old/ugly areas that look like the remains of a civil war. The nice areas are pretty. Traffic isn't bad compared to Cali but the summer  More

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