# Who gets found in Columbus?

Aug 30 → Sep 8 3 page-one leaders changed hands 20 new pages in the top 5

THE SEARCH LEDGER · COLUMBUS EDITION · TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2026

Every month, Columbus types 2,257,720 searches looking for a local business, and advertisers pay $5.17M chasing them. Somebody gets found. Somebody doesn't. This is the weekly ledger of who, at what price, and what's still up for grabs — refreshed weekly.

BY [SEO BANDWAGON](https://seobandwagon.com/about) · UPDATED WEEKLY · COLLECTED SEPTEMBER 8, 2026 · [METHODOLOGY](https://seobandwagon.com/local-seo/columbus#methodology)

2,257,720

SEARCHES IN PLAY / MO

$5.17M

AD-EQUIV. VALUE / MO

1,257

LISTINGS TRACKED

3,767

KEYWORDS TRACKED

Columbus searches 3,988,240 times a month in total. The other 1,730,520 are branded or navigational — someone already knows where they are going.

Source: [Google Ads](https://ads.google.com/home/tools/keyword-planner/) search volume and cost-per-click via [DataForSEO](https://dataforseo.com/), Columbus DMA, twelve-month averages · pulled September 8, 2026. "Searches in play" counts commercial and transactional intent only, classified by our own heuristics rather than by Google. Ad-equivalent value is Σ volume × CPC — one click priced for every tracked search, a ceiling on what the traffic would cost to buy, not spend and not revenue. Listings: [Google Maps](https://www.google.com/maps) results via [DataForSEO](https://dataforseo.com/), Columbus DMA, deduped by place\_id · pulled September 8, 2026. Each category search returns at most 100 results, so this is a ceiling on what we see, not a census of the metro.

Free · sign in with Google · no credit card

## The demand

Before anyone wins a customer, the customer has to ask. Here is what Columbus asks Google for in an average month.

2,257,720

searches in an average month across the 1,616 keywords where a local business can actually be chosen — roughly **75,000 searches a day** for something, or someone, in Columbus.

### Where the demand goes

Each square is 1% of the addressable searches — the commercial and transactional ones a local business can win, 57% of everything Columbus searches.

Waffle chart of monthly search demand by vertical: Food & Dining 67 percent, Other 11 percent, Attractions 6 percent, Health & Wellness 4 percent, Shopping 4 percent, Real Estate 3 percent, Travel & Transit 3 percent, Home Services 2 percent.

Source: [Google Ads](https://ads.google.com/home/tools/keyword-planner/) search volume and cost-per-click via [DataForSEO](https://dataforseo.com/), Columbus DMA, twelve-month averages · pulled September 8, 2026, bucketed by our own vertical classifier — Google supplies no category. Squares are percentages of the addressable set, not of all search, and are largest-remainder rounded to 100.

Food & Dining 67% Other 11% Attractions 6% Health & Wellness 4% Shopping 4% Real Estate 3% Travel & Transit 3% Home Services 2%

WHERE THE DEMAND CONCENTRATES

Food & Dining is **67% of the addressable demand** in Columbus, against 6% for Attractions. The board in Chapter 2 prices every one of those searches.

### When the demand comes

Search interest by month, 0–100 per vertical. The pink outline marks each vertical's peak — the month the phones ring.

Source: Google Ads monthly search volume via [DataForSEO](https://dataforseo.com/), Columbus DMA · pulled September 8, 2026. Each row is indexed to its own peak month, so cells compare a vertical against itself and never against another row. Not a search count, and not [Google Trends](https://trends.google.com/).

| VERTICAL | JAN | FEB | MAR | APR | MAY | JUN | JUL | AUG | SEP | OCT | NOV | DEC |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Attractions | 50 | 50 | 75 | 80 | 84 | 100 | 90 | 85 | 72 | 72 | 53 | 48 |
| Food & Dining | 77 | 76 | 88 | 85 | 88 | 83 | 96 | 100 | 88 | 90 | 78 | 73 |
| Health & Wellness | 100 | 79 | 90 | 86 | 82 | 79 | 86 | 89 | 96 | 94 | 84 | 84 |
| Personal Care | 55 | 64 | 78 | 71 | 84 | 76 | 74 | 100 | 79 | 73 | 64 | 64 |
| Shopping | 66 | 64 | 76 | 74 | 81 | 85 | 94 | 100 | 79 | 82 | 90 | 85 |
| Real Estate | 93 | 87 | 100 | 98 | 97 | 94 | 92 | 95 | 93 | 84 | 81 | 71 |
| Education | 100 | 58 | 54 | 56 | 53 | 57 | 49 | 67 | 64 | 65 | 52 | 83 |
| Home Services | 88 | 97 | 100 | 90 | 87 | 91 | 84 | 89 | 89 | 98 | 65 | 71 |
| Hotels & Lodging | 66 | 65 | 82 | 81 | 91 | 95 | 100 | 80 | 76 | 75 | 66 | 64 |
| Entertainment | 53 | 50 | 61 | 80 | 86 | 100 | 90 | 67 | 69 | 58 | 50 | 43 |
| Travel & Transit | 66 | 65 | 96 | 81 | 98 | 100 | 96 | 79 | 77 | 79 | 71 | 66 |
| Legal | 83 | 84 | 72 | 59 | 54 | 50 | 52 | 69 | 100 | 85 | 57 | 62 |
| Professional Services | 92 | 100 | 89 | 61 | 39 | 36 | 41 | 53 | 66 | 73 | 56 | 47 |

### Climbing fastest

The steepest risers in Columbus over the last twelve months of Google Ads volume (Aug 2025 – Jul 2026). Growth compares each keyword's last three months against its own twelve-month average, so it tops out at 300% by construction.

world cup watch party columbus ohio ▲ 293% BREAKOUT

post malone tickets columbus ohio ▲ 291% BREAKOUT

rib fest columbus ▲ 288% BREAKOUT

red white and boom columbus ▲ 288% BREAKOUT

rib and jazz fest columbus ▲ 285% BREAKOUT

Source: Google Ads monthly search volume via [DataForSEO](https://dataforseo.com/), Columbus DMA, Aug 2025 – Jul 2026. Not [Google Trends](https://trends.google.com/), and not a weekly series — the window closes one to two months before the pull.

### Where the demand sits

Priced keywords that name one of the places we mine for Columbus — its seed suburbs plus the boroughs Maps returned at least twice — grouped by that name. A metro is not one market. This ranks the places we look for, not every place that exists — a landmark or district we do not mine is absent however much demand names it, and a metro can miss a place that would have ranked near the top. 8 more clear the bar below these.

Easton NEIGHBORHOOD 152,390/mo

62 keywords · $168.3K/mo in ad-equivalent value

Downtown NEIGHBORHOOD 60,000/mo

82 keywords · $124.8K/mo in ad-equivalent value

Dublin SUBURB 52,330/mo

81 keywords · $102.8K/mo in ad-equivalent value

Franklin Park NEIGHBORHOOD 27,560/mo

3 keywords · $29.3K/mo in ad-equivalent value

Grove City SUBURB 21,810/mo

25 keywords · $35.6K/mo in ad-equivalent value

German Village NEIGHBORHOOD 14,990/mo

23 keywords · $9.4K/mo in ad-equivalent value

Hilliard SUBURB 11,580/mo

32 keywords · $21.8K/mo in ad-equivalent value

Westerville SUBURB 9,530/mo

12 keywords · $15.8K/mo in ad-equivalent value

Clintonville NEIGHBORHOOD 8,840/mo

37 keywords · $17.3K/mo in ad-equivalent value

Fairgrounds NEIGHBORHOOD 3,800/mo

5 keywords · $9.5K/mo in ad-equivalent value

Source: Computed from Google Ads search volume × CPC via [DataForSEO](https://dataforseo.com/), Columbus DMA, September 8, 2026 — keywords grouped by the place name they contain. Rows are grouped by NAME CONTAINMENT, not by place: a keyword joins every row whose name it contains, so it is counted in both when it names two places AND when one row's name sits inside another's. So a shorter name sitting inside a longer one carries the longer one’s keywords too, and those two rows are not independent places. Rows rank names and do not sum to a metro total. Ad-equivalent value is Σ volume × CPC — a ceiling on what the traffic would cost to buy, not spend and not revenue.

**Easton** alone carries 152,390 searches a month across 62 keywords, worth $168.3K a month at Google's posted prices. If your pages only ever say "Columbus", that is demand you are not addressing.

## The money

Attention in this city has a spot price, and Google publishes it: the cost per ad click. Here's what a customer's attention trades for in Columbus.

"COLUMBUS WRONGFUL DEATH LAWYER" · COST OF ONE AD CLICK

$333.83

One click. Not a customer — a *click*. That's what a single visit from this search trades for in Columbus right now.

### Every keyword has a price tag

The 3,581 of 3,767 tracked keywords Google Ads returns a cost-per-click for, on a log scale. Amber gets deeper as the click gets pricier.

Strip plot of 3581 tracked keywords by cost per click, log scale. Cheapest: cvs maize and morse rd at $0.01. Most expensive: columbus wrongful death lawyer at $333.83.

### The price board

The 3,581 of 3,767 tracked keywords Google Ads returns a cost-per-click for. Volume and CPC are twelve-month averages, so neither moves week to week.

| # | KEYWORD | CPC | SEARCHES/MO | COST TO BUY ALL | Δ VS. LAST PULL |
| --- | --- | --- | --- | --- | --- |
| 1 | columbus wrongful death lawyer · LEGAL | $333.83 | 90 | $30.0K | — |
| 2 | garage repair columbus ohio · OTHER | $306.87 | 20 | $6.1K | — |
| 3 | bwc lawyers columbus ohio · LEGAL | $285.13 | 10 | $2.9K | — |
| 4 | best personal injury lawyer columbus ohio · LEGAL | $205.24 | 50 | $10.3K | — |
| 5 | columbus auto injury lawyer · LEGAL | $190.96 | 480 | $91.7K | — |
| 6 | criminal lawyers in columbus · LEGAL | $181.33 | 10 | $1.8K | — |
| 7 | garage door service columbus · HOME SERVICES | $156.67 | 40 | $6.3K | — |
| 8 | gas water heater repair columbus · OTHER | $145.83 | 10 | $1.5K | — |
| 9 | quality air heating and cooling columbus ohio · HOME SERVICES | $142.92 | 10 | $1.4K | — |
| 10 | new windows columbus ohio · OTHER | $138.80 | 20 | $2.8K | — |
| 11 | ace roofing columbus ohio · HOME SERVICES | $128.19 | 20 | $2.6K | — |
| 12 | slate roofing columbus ohio · HOME SERVICES | $126.12 | 10 | $1.3K | — |
| 13 | best replacement windows in columbus ohio · OTHER | $121.91 | 10 | $1.2K | — |
| 14 | garage doors columbus oh · HOME SERVICES | $118.45 | 50 | $5.9K | — |
| 15 | dr ryan dentist columbus ohio · HEALTH & WELLNESS | $117.16 | 10 | $1.2K | — |
| 16 | commercial garage door repair columbus ohio · HOME SERVICES | $114.74 | 40 | $4.6K | — |
| 17 | siding contractors columbus · HOME SERVICES | $112.84 | 210 | $23.7K | — |
| 18 | columbus emergency plumber · HOME SERVICES | $106.92 | 90 | $9.6K | — |
| 19 | personal injury lawyer near me · LEGAL | $104.02 | 1,900 | $197.6K | — |
| 20 | columbus garage door repair · HOME SERVICES | $102.98 | 590 | $60.8K | — |
| 21 | commercial heating and cooling columbus ohio · HOME SERVICES | $94.88 | 10 | $949 | — |
| 22 | columbus injury lawyer · LEGAL | $92.68 | 1,000 | $92.7K | — |
| 23 | ecoshield columbus ohio · OTHER | $91.21 | 10 | $912 | — |
| 24 | metal roofing companies columbus ohio · HOME SERVICES | $89.83 | 30 | $2.7K | — |
| 25 | columbus furnace repair · OTHER | $88.05 | 170 | $15.0K | — |
| 26 | we buy homes columbus ohio · OTHER | $86.76 | 10 | $868 | — |
| 27 | precision door columbus · OTHER | $86.18 | 50 | $4.3K | — |
| 28 | licensed plumbers columbus ohio · HOME SERVICES | $85.33 | 10 | $853 | — |
| 29 | best window company columbus ohio · OTHER | $79.89 | 20 | $1.6K | — |
| 30 | emergency plumber near me · HOME SERVICES | $79.50 | 720 | $57.2K | — |
| 31 | window replacement columbus · OTHER | $76.39 | 390 | $29.8K | — |
| 32 | garage door replacement columbus ohio · HOME SERVICES | $76.33 | 40 | $3.1K | — |
| 33 | air conditioner repair gahanna oh · HOME SERVICES | $76.10 | 20 | $1.5K | — |
| 34 | columbus foreclosure lawyers · LEGAL | $74.09 | 10 | $741 | — |
| 35 | accident lawyer columbus · LEGAL | $69.25 | 110 | $7.6K | — |
| 36 | garage door repair near me · HOME SERVICES | $69.22 | 880 | $60.9K | — |
| 37 | columbus window companies · OTHER | $68.16 | 30 | $2.0K | — |
| 38 | dr baloy dentist columbus ohio · HEALTH & WELLNESS | $67.59 | 10 | $676 | — |
| 39 | 24 hour plumber columbus ohio · HOME SERVICES | $67.58 | 20 | $1.4K | — |
| 40 | happy feet relaxing columbus · OTHER | $67.24 | 10 | $672 | — |
| 41 | dds columbus ohio · OTHER | $65.93 | 30 | $2.0K | — |
| 42 | ac repair columbus · HOME SERVICES | $65.83 | 70 | $4.6K | — |
| 43 | phinney roofing columbus ohio · HOME SERVICES | $64.88 | 10 | $649 | — |
| 44 | ssdi attorney columbus ohio · LEGAL | $64.86 | 10 | $649 | — |
| 45 | cheap plumbers columbus ohio · HOME SERVICES | $63.20 | 30 | $1.9K | — |
| 46 | columbus ac repair · HOME SERVICES | $61.65 | 110 | $6.8K | — |
| 47 | columbus recreation and parks · ATTRACTIONS | $58.42 | 1,600 | $93.5K | — |
| 48 | bathroom remodelers columbus · HOME SERVICES | $57.93 | 390 | $22.6K | — |
| 49 | metal roofing columbus · HOME SERVICES | $57.81 | 170 | $9.8K | — |
| 50 | lifetime quality roofing columbus · HOME SERVICES | $57.75 | 40 | $2.3K | — |

Source: [Google Ads](https://ads.google.com/home/tools/keyword-planner/) search volume and cost-per-click via [DataForSEO](https://dataforseo.com/), Columbus DMA, twelve-month averages · pulled September 8, 2026. Bar length is CPC on a linear scale. "Cost to buy all" is searches × CPC — what the traffic would cost at Google's posted price if every search became a click, which is a ceiling, not a forecast. Δ compares each keyword's CPC against the Aug 30 pull; Google refreshes these figures roughly monthly, so most rows do not move between weekly pulls.

### Why would anyone pay $334 a click?

The businesses bidding here keep bidding. Here's the math that makes a $334 click rational, using legal industry benchmarks.

100 clicks bought −$33,383

15 become phone calls (15% call rate, benchmark)

3 become signed cases (20% close, benchmark)

Revenue from those 3 signed cases +$75,000 · 2.2× the spend

Call and close rates are vertical benchmarks, not promises. But the principle sets every price on the board: **a click costs what the customer behind it is worth.** Bounce rate is priced in.

ONE CUSTOMER FUNDS

How many clicks a single customer's revenue buys back, at that keyword's CPC. Customer values are industry benchmarks.

columbus wrongful death lawyer

~$25,000 case fee (benchmark) · $333.83/click

74 clicks

garage repair columbus ohio

~$9,500 job value (benchmark) · $306.87/click

30 clicks

dr ryan dentist columbus ohio

~$3,200 patient value (benchmark) · $117.16/click

27 clicks

alum creek state park columbus ohio

~$1,800 customer value (benchmark) · $0.01/click

180,000 clicks

Source: CPC: [Google Ads](https://ads.google.com/home/tools/keyword-planner/) search volume and cost-per-click via [DataForSEO](https://dataforseo.com/), Columbus DMA, twelve-month averages · pulled September 8, 2026. Call rate, close rate and customer value are industry benchmarks hardcoded in this page — not measured for this metro, and not for your business. Spend, revenue and the multiple are all products of that one CPC and those assumptions.

Same market, different economies. This is why "is $X a click expensive?" has no answer without knowing what a customer is worth to *you*.

### What owning a vertical costs

Monthly ad-equivalent value of all clicks in each vertical — what you'd pay Google to buy the demand you could rank for.

Home Services $1,400,000/mo

Food & Dining $1,201,000/mo

Health & Wellness $726,000/mo

Legal $688,000/mo

Other $317,000/mo

Attractions $223,000/mo

Ranking organically doesn't pay that bill — it makes it someone else's.

## The fight

A market this valuable doesn't sit unclaimed. Here's who holds Columbus's front page, who's climbing, who's slipping — and where the seats are still empty.

25%

of Columbus's tracked page-one slots are held by one of the 40 national directories we name — www.yelp.com, www.opentable.com, www.tripadvisor.com — their share is large, and it is beatable: Google prefers a good local answer when one exists. The other 75% is everything else — local businesses, and national brands we do not classify.

Waffle chart: 25 of 100 tracked page-one slots held by one of 40 named national directories, 75 by everything else.

out-of-town directories · 25 everything else · 75

Source: Google organic results via [DataForSEO](https://dataforseo.com/), 21 tracked keywords anchored on the Columbus coordinate · pulled September 8, 2026. "Directory" means the domain's registrable label matches one of 40 named national directory brands; everything else is counted as the remainder, which includes national brands we do not classify.

### Two pulls of "restaurants near me"

Page-one position, last pull vs. this one: **www.tripadvisor.com moved ▼ 5 spots**. The chart grows a column with every pull as the archive builds.

Bump chart of page-one positions for restaurants near me between Aug 30 and Sep 8: www.tripadvisor.com moved from position 2 → 7.

### This week's movers

Biggest changes between the Aug 30 and Sep 8 pulls.

▲ 16

Car Wash

map rank for "car wash"

#19 → #3

▼ 11

Aracri Pizzeria on Gay

map rank for "restaurant"

#5 → #16

▼ 7

www.yelp.com

8 queries — columbus movers · restaurants near me · dentist near me +5

2 up · 6 down

▼ 7

www.facebook.com

7 queries — pizza near me · apartments near me · grocery store near me +4

2 up · 5 down

NEW

walkinurgentcare.com

urgent care near me · new to page one

— → #1

NEW

www.yelp.com

plumber near me · new to page one

— → #2

▲ 135

Soul 2 Go Cafe

reviews

2,617 → 2,752

▲ 42

Eco Plumbers, Electricians, and HVAC Technicians

reviews

20,582 → 20,624

▼ 10

Condado Tacos | Mexican

map rank for "restaurant"

#8 → #18

▼ 10

Douglas and Associates Realty LTD: Stephan Douglas

map rank for "homes for sale"

#10 → #20

Movement = week-over-week snapshot diff · arrows and signed numbers, always

### Most contested keywords

Who currently leads the top 6 fights worth having. Leader = top organic result; OPEN RACE = no [map pack](https://seobandwagon.com/seo-glossary#local-pack) on the page.

restaurants near me

823,000 searches/mo

www.experiencecolumbus.com LOCAL

pizza near me

110,000 searches/mo

locations.papajohns.com LOCAL

grocery store near me

60,500 searches/mo

www.yelp.com AGGREGATOR

urgent care near me

40,500 searches/mo

walkinurgentcare.com LOCAL

apartments near me

27,100 searches/mo

www.apartments.com AGGREGATOR

franklin park conservatory ohio

27,100 searches/mo

www.fpconservatory.org OPEN RACE

NO MAP PACK

**6 of the 21 keywords we track show no map pack at all.** Google is answering those with links, not a map — so the way in is a page, not a profile. [See what that takes](https://seobandwagon.com/local-seo/columbus#move).

### What page one is made of

Share of 21 tracked keywords showing each [SERP feature](https://seobandwagon.com/seo-glossary#serp-feature).

People Also Ask 100%

Map pack 71%

Source: Google organic results via [DataForSEO](https://dataforseo.com/), 21 tracked keywords anchored on the Columbus coordinate · pulled September 8, 2026. Feature presence as Google returned it; a featured snippet appeared on none of these SERPs and paid results on 2%, so neither is charted.

[People Also Ask](https://seobandwagon.com/seo-glossary#people-also-ask) boxes show on **100%** of these searches — answer those questions and you're on page one twice.

ANATOMY OF A #1

Trolley Pub Columbus

Top-rated of 98 tracked Restaurant

Rating 5.0 ★ (cat. median 4.5)

Reviews 2,725 (median 472)

Source: [Google Maps](https://www.google.com/maps) results via [DataForSEO](https://dataforseo.com/), Columbus DMA, deduped by place\_id · pulled September 8, 2026. Each category search returns at most 100 results, so this is a ceiling on what we see, not a census of the metro.

None of this is magic. It's 5.8× the category's median review count. The playbook is public.

### Ranking with no website

Of the 1,257 businesses we track in Columbus's map results, **201** have no website at all — 16% of the field, showing up on reputation alone.

201

BUSINESSES RANKING WITHOUT A SITE

The most-reviewed of them has **642 reviews** and a 4.6 rating. If they are beating you, it is not because of their website.

Source: [Google Maps](https://www.google.com/maps) results via [DataForSEO](https://dataforseo.com/), Columbus DMA, deduped by place\_id · pulled September 8, 2026. Each category search returns at most 100 results, so this is a ceiling on what we see, not a census of the metro. "No website" is the absence of a site link on the Google listing.

### Who holds the map pack

36 businesses hold the 45 pack seats across the 15 tracked keywords that return a map pack. # is the best position each held; seats counts the keywords they appear on.

#1

Schiff & Associates Co., LPA

4.7 ★ · 748 reviews

4 SEATS

#1

GB Law

4.9 ★ · 680 reviews

4 SEATS

#1

TRANSIT & FLOW

4.9 ★ · 109 reviews

2 SEATS

#3

Kurgis & Associates

4.6 ★ · 1,100 reviews

2 SEATS

#3

The Fitch Law Firm

4.9 ★ · 221 reviews

2 SEATS

#1

Precision Garage Door of Columbus

4.9 ★ · 3,300 reviews

1 SEAT

#1

The Walrus

4.4 ★ · 2,900 reviews

1 SEAT

#1

1-Tom-Plumber

4.9 ★ · 632 reviews

1 SEAT

A DIFFERENT POOL

**5 of the 36 businesses holding these seats never appear in the category rosters we pull for Columbus.** That gap is a property of OUR roster, not of Google: every metro pulls the same 14 categories, and where they do not overlap the tracked keywords the share runs to 100% before Google is consulted. It says these packs were not measured by our category pull — not that categories do not matter.

Source: Google local pack via [DataForSEO](https://dataforseo.com/), 15 tracked keywords anchored on the Columbus metro coordinate, September 8, 2026. Rank is position within the pack as returned, not a ranking claim. Businesses are keyed on the cid Google returns; ratings and review counts are the listing's own, read once and not averaged.

### Nobody has claimed these

Of the 1,257 businesses we track in Columbus's map results, **195** are ranking on a listing no owner has claimed — 16% of the field, with nobody able to edit the hours, the category or the photos.

195

UNCLAIMED LISTINGS RANKING TODAY

The most-reviewed of them has **1,088 reviews** and a 4.3 rating and still nobody controls the profile. Claiming one is free.

Source: [Google Maps](https://www.google.com/maps) results via [DataForSEO](https://dataforseo.com/), Columbus DMA, deduped by place\_id · pulled September 8, 2026. Each category search returns at most 100 results, so this is a ceiling on what we see, not a census of the metro. "Unclaimed" is Google's own flag on the listing.

## The city itself

Search demand doesn't come from nowhere. What follows is the rest of what we track about Columbus — each line from a named source, and absent where we have none.

898K

PEOPLE

Median age 32.5. Every one of them picks businesses from a search box — Chapter 1's demand is this population talking.

$174,400

MEDIAN HOME VALUE

What the typical owner in the city proper says the home is worth — the city, not the metro.

$1,061

MEDIAN RENT / MO

Median gross rent in the city proper — rent plus the utilities the tenant pays.

Source: US Census Bureau, [American Community Survey](https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs) 5-year estimates (2021 release), place level — Columbus city proper, not the metro; fetched 2026-09-08. Population, median age, home value and rent all come from this one block; nothing on these cards is typed in.

### Columbus vs. the nation

Three household figures — the city proper against the whole country, from the same survey on both sides.

| | COLUMBUS | UNITED STATES | DIFFERENCE |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| Median household income | $58,575 a year | $69,021 | −15% |
| Median home value | $174,400 | $244,900 | −29% |
| Median gross rent | $1,061 a month | $1,163 | −9% |

Source: both sides US Census Bureau, [American Community Survey](https://www.census.gov/programs-surveys/acs) 5-year estimates, 2021 release (2017–2021) — the city at place level (Columbus city proper, not the metro; fetched 2026-09-08) and the nation as one geography (fetched 2026-09-09). Difference is the city over the national figure, computed. Unemployment, taxes, power and broadband are not here: no fetched source on both sides.

### The rest of the ledger

Everything else we track about living and working here — one line each, open what you need.

Colleges 61,665 students Ohio State University

1 institutions and 61,665 enrolled students, led by Ohio State University. A permanent annual influx of new residents who choose dentists, gyms, and mechanics from a Google search.

Broadband 187 Mbps avg 93.6% coverage · 45.3% fiber

Average download of 187 Mbps, 93.6% coverage, 45.3% fiber availability. Fast connections mean impatient visitors: page speed is a ranking and conversion factor here.

This week in town 77 upcoming events Sports Imports Classic (SIU vs YSU & Ohio St vs Winthrop) · Covelli Center Columbus

77 upcoming tracked events, led by Sports Imports Classic (SIU vs YSU & Ohio St vs Winthrop) at Covelli Center Columbus.

METHODOLOGY

Search volume, cost-per-click and SERP data from DataForSEO, collected September 8, 2026. Business listings, ratings and map positions from a live read of Google Maps in the same pull. Rank movement is a diff against the previous pull of our snapshot archive. Ad-equivalent value is searches × CPC — it prices the traffic, not your revenue. Call rates, close rates, and customer values in the unit-economics section are industry benchmarks, not measurements. Every other module on this page renders only where the underlying figure exists; where it does not, the module is absent rather than estimated.

Collected and published by [SEO Bandwagon](https://seobandwagon.com/about), tracking local search since 2010. The Columbus edition comes from the same weekly sweep as [Google Business Profile Benchmarks](https://seobandwagon.com/research/gbp-benchmarks), whose method and verification are published in full. If a number here is wrong, [tell us](https://seobandwagon.com/contact).

## Your move

2.26M

SEARCHES IN PLAY / MO

$334

PRICIEST CLICK

25%

PAGE ONE DIRECTORY SHARE

6 of 21

TRACKED SERPS WITH NO MAP PACK

4 numbers, one conclusion: the demand is real, the price of ignoring it compounds, and the leaderboard is not settled. The only question the ledger can't answer is whether you're on it.

STEP 1 · FREE

### See where you stand

Run the free scan against your site — rankings, backlinks and page speed, free with a Google sign-in.

[Scan your site free](https://seobandwagon.com/local-seo/columbus#scan)

STEP 2 · IF YOU'RE ON THE MAP

### Claim your seat

6 of the 21 contested keywords show no map pack at all — Google answers those with links, not a map.

[Claim your business](https://business.google.com/)

STEP 3 · EVERY PULL

### Read the next edition

The ledger reprints every week — movers, price changes, and open seats, in your inbox before your competitors read it.

[New to this? Start with the blog — plain-English guides, no jargon →](https://seobandwagon.com/blog)

## Linked ledgers

The three nearest tracked metros on the map, and the one our data says behaves most like this one.

[NEAREST · 100 MI Cincinnati, OH 1,984,320 searches/mo · 1,316 listings](https://seobandwagon.com/local-seo/cincinnati) [NEAREST · 126 MI Cleveland, OH 1,130,590 searches/mo · 1,043 listings](https://seobandwagon.com/local-seo/cleveland) [NEAREST · 162 MI Pittsburgh, PA 2,411,540 searches/mo · 1,377 listings](https://seobandwagon.com/local-seo/pittsburgh) [CLOSEST LOOKALIKE Charleston, SC 1,420,220 searches/mo · 1,273 listings](https://seobandwagon.com/local-seo/charleston)

Linked within the 54 metros we track, and nowhere else. Distance is straight-line between each metro's single anchor point — a downtown coordinate, not a centroid. Lookalike is the closest match on four measured features — search volume, ad prices, listing density and review depth — excluding the neighbours above and everything inside 500 km, so it surfaces a market you would not otherwise think to compare. Recomputed on every build, so it moves as the markets do. SRC: the 54-metro collection, pulled across September 8, 2026 and the day either side · [all metros →](https://seobandwagon.com/local-seo#cities)

GO DEEPER · THE LEDGER BY VERTICAL

[FOOD & DINING 1.6M/mo](https://seobandwagon.com/local-seo/columbus/food-dining) [HEALTH & WELLNESS 105K/mo](https://seobandwagon.com/local-seo/columbus/health-wellness) [ENTERTAINMENT 72K/mo](https://seobandwagon.com/local-seo/columbus/entertainment) [REAL ESTATE 71K/mo](https://seobandwagon.com/local-seo/columbus/real-estate) [HOME SERVICES 65K/mo](https://seobandwagon.com/local-seo/columbus/home-services) [LEGAL 17K/mo](https://seobandwagon.com/local-seo/columbus/legal)

---

Canonical page: https://seobandwagon.com/local-seo/columbus
Every metro: https://seobandwagon.com/local-seo#cities
Data reuse license: https://seobandwagon.com/data-license
Site overview for agents: https://seobandwagon.com/llms.txt · API docs: https://seobandwagon.com/docs/api