Columbus, OH Salaries
Highest published occupation medians in Columbus, OH - BLS OEWS May 2025
Observed metro pay change
What changed, BLS OEWS 2024–2025
- BLS's published All Occupations median in Columbus, OH moved from $49,510 in May 2024 to $51,340 in May 2025 (+3.7%).
- Across the 393 metros priced in both releases, the median place changed +3.1%.
- Columbus, OH sits +0.6 pp ahead of that median, nominal dollars, no price deflator applied.
Based on wage level, year-over-year wage growth, and regional-price-parity-adjusted purchasing power from BLS and BEA sources, not job availability, industry mix, or day-to-day livability.
Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers shows the widest metro-area vs national median gap in Columbus, OH
Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers publishes $100,890 here versus $76,210 nationally (+32.4%; 5,190metro-area jobs). Next is Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators at $78,950 locally versus $59,850 nationally (+31.9%).
- Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers$100,890 in Columbus, OH sits 32.4% above the national Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers median of $76,210 (5,190 published local jobs).
- Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators$78,950 in Columbus, OH sits 31.9% above the national Operating Engineers and Other Construction Equipment Operators median of $59,850 (3,290 published local jobs).
- Construction Laborers$60,540 in Columbus, OH sits 28.5% above the national Construction Laborers median of $47,120 (5,590 published local jobs).
- Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education$78,150 in Columbus, OH sits 22.2% above the national Elementary School Teachers, Except Special Education median of $63,970 (9,950 published local jobs).
Police and Sheriff's Patrol Officers and the other occupations above are descriptive OEWS endpoints for Columbus, OH; they are not findings about taxes, employers, or worker experience.
BLS OEWS metro wage desk
MSA 18140 · Columbus, OH $67K mean
MEAN-HIGH · RPP-MID · OCC-MOST · TOP-LEAD · EMP-MIX · TREND-INLINE · PHOTO-FINISH · BOOK-FULL
- MEAN-HIGH #78/528
- RPP-MID 95.5
- OCC-MOST 610 occs
- TOP-LEAD Surgeons, All… · $609K
- EMP-MIX Financial Ma…
- TREND-INLINE +0.6 pp
- PHOTO-FINISH Palm Bay-Melbour…
- BOOK-FULL 593 rows · May 2025
Read with Palm Bay-Melbourne-Titusville, FL (+$96 on published-row mean) · Highest-paying careers
Instrument codes from this MSA’s OEWS published-row mean, BEA RPP, occupation book, employment lead, All Occupations pay change, and nearest peer, not a moving recommendation.
Published-row mean neighbourhood around Columbus, OH
Employment scale inside Columbus, OH's top-pay list
Financial Managers and Lawyers lead published employment inside Columbus, OH's top-pay sample, order follows OEWS job counts, not median wage.
- 1. Financial Managers 5,750 jobs · $145,630
- 2. Lawyers 4,960 jobs · $137,810
- 3. Sales Managers 4,460 jobs · $138,580
- 4. Computer and Information Systems Managers 4,330 jobs · $167,630
- 5. Physicians, All Other 3,830 jobs · $214,760
- 6. Commercial Pilots 1,410 jobs · $175,690
- 7. Chief Executives 1,160 jobs · $162,910
- 8. Physician Assistants 1,140 jobs · $137,550
- 9. Dentists, General 780 jobs · $166,180
- 10. Purchasing Managers 560 jobs · $141,490
- 11. Obstetricians and Gynecologists 490 jobs · $179,810
- 12. Database Architects 470 jobs · $135,840
- 13. Nurse Anesthetists 450 jobs · $231,810
- 14. Natural Sciences Managers 300 jobs · $138,110
- 15. Surgeons, All Other 180 jobs · $609,450
- 16. Psychiatrists 120 jobs · $220,940
- 17. Compensation and Benefits Managers 80 jobs · $147,100
- 18. Physicians, Pathologists 70 jobs · $285,280
Occupations Tracked
610
with wage data
Published-Row Mean
$66,754
employment-weighted, 593 complete rows
Top Salary
$609,450
Surgeons, All Other
Cost of Living
95.5
5% below US avg
Highest Paying Jobs in Columbus, OH
| # | Occupation | Median Salary |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Surgeons, All Other | $609,450 |
| 2 | Anesthesiologists | $441,230 |
| 3 | Emergency Medicine Physicians | $331,600 |
| 4 | Physicians, Pathologists | $285,280 |
| 5 | Radiologists | $269,430 |
| 6 | General Internal Medicine Physicians | $249,990 |
| 7 | Nurse Anesthetists | $231,810 |
| 8 | Psychiatrists | $220,940 |
| 9 | Physicians, All Other | $214,760 |
| 10 | Obstetricians and Gynecologists | $179,810 |
| 11 | Commercial Pilots | $175,690 |
| 12 | Physicists | $170,400 |
| 13 | Computer and Information Systems Managers | $167,630 |
| 14 | Dentists, General | $166,180 |
| 15 | Chief Executives | $162,910 |
| 16 | Architectural and Engineering Managers | $162,770 |
| 17 | Compensation and Benefits Managers | $147,100 |
| 18 | Financial Managers | $145,630 |
| 19 | Medical Dosimetrists | $144,370 |
| 20 | Purchasing Managers | $141,490 |
| 21 | Sales Managers | $138,580 |
| 22 | Natural Sciences Managers | $138,110 |
| 23 | Lawyers | $137,810 |
| 24 | Physician Assistants | $137,550 |
| 25 | Database Architects | $135,840 |
Lowest Paying Jobs in Columbus, OH
| Occupation | Median Salary |
|---|---|
| Cooks, Fast Food | $25,290 |
| Food Preparation and Serving Related Workers, All Other | $27,080 |
| Amusement and Recreation Attendants | $27,540 |
| Hosts and Hostesses, Restaurant, Lounge, and Coffee Shop | $27,650 |
| Ushers, Lobby Attendants, and Ticket Takers | $28,350 |
| Office and Administrative Support Workers, All Other | $28,450 |
| Fast Food and Counter Workers | $28,670 |
| Personal Care and Service Workers, All Other | $29,240 |
| Lifeguards, Ski Patrol, and Other Recreational Protective Service Workers | $29,260 |
| Pressers, Textile, Garment, and Related Materials | $29,870 |
Other BLS Wage Areas in OH
Other metropolitan or nonmetropolitan OEWS areas assigned to the same state. Cross-state pay and employment peers live in Nationwide similar metros below.
Nationwide metros with similar published-row mean pay or employment scale
Two OEWS peer sets outside OH. Same-state wage areas above stay geographic; these neighborhoods are cross-state nearest neighbors on employment-weighted published-row mean wage ($66,754 here) and summed published employment.
Similar mean wage
Nearest other metros by employment-weighted published-row annual mean wage.
Similar employment scale
Nearest headcount peers (floor 100,000 summed published jobs), distinct from the mean-wage column.
Peers are nearest-neighbor matches on BLS OEWS employment-weighted published-row mean wage and summed occupation employment. Employment peers exclude metros already listed in the mean-wage column so the two link sets stay distinct. Mean wage here is not a worker-level median.
Frequently Asked Questions
What is the average salary in Columbus, OH? ▼
Which published medians lead Columbus, OH? ▼
What is the cost of living in Columbus, OH? ▼
Where does BLS salary data for Columbus, OH come from? ▼
Related federal data
What to do with this data
How to use Columbus, OH wage figures in a real decision
- Surgeons, All Other leads published medians in Columbus, OH at $609,450/year; open the occupation for percentile bands and state rows. Surgeons, All Other
- The employment-weighted published-row mean of $66,754 adjusts to about $69,922 on a national-price basis at BEA RPP 95.5. Salary vs cost of living
- Compare this metropolitan statistical area against the statewide occupation table for OH before treating one geography as the other. State wage page
BLS OEWS estimates reflect the May 2025 reference period; small occupation-area cells can be suppressed, and figures are not employer offers.
Source data and WageDex calculations are identified in context on this page. Occupation rows use BLS OEWS May 2025. The metro benchmark is WageDex's employment-weighted mean of published occupation means; where BEA RPP is available, the price-level figure divides that benchmark by the published area parity. See our editorial standards & corrections policy, the methodology behind these numbers, or report a data error.