on $100k a year, leaving Dayton

change
Columbus, OH cityscape

if you left dayton

Columbus

oh · metro 2.2M

a dispatch from

columbus

OH

39.96°N

83.00°W

Columbus is Ohio State on autumn Saturdays (the Horseshoe holds 100,000+ and they all wear scarlet), German Village's cobblestone streets and brick cottages, and a Short North gallery scene that punches well above its weight. It's quietly become a test market for the rest of America because the demographics line up so neatly. The food scene leans young, weird, and good. 'Buckeyes' here can mean either the football team or the chocolate-peanut-butter candy.

metro2.2M

01 · the verdict

the verdict

$190

pricier each month than Dayton

Almost a wash on cost. The case for Columbus is about what you'd do there, not what you'd save.
landable, recorded on the columbus entry

02 · the money

a quick ledger.

01rent

$1,511/mo

14% more expensive than Dayton(vs $1,321/mo)

02state income tax

3.99%

vs 3.99% in Dayton

03after rent

$6,490/mo

$190 less than Dayton

gross of federal tax. a comparison, not a paycheck.

04a house here

$350k

152% more expensive than Dayton

vs $139k in Dayton

05metro size

2.2M

vs 808k in Dayton

03 · the life

field notes, weather & such.

171

pleasant days a year, in columbus.

Dayton barely cracks 171 pleasant ones.

A month here packs 8.3× the events of Dayton.
on a typical month
·outdoorscore

57/100

8% lower than Dayton

vs 62/100 in Dayton

Closest outdoor draw: Alum Creek State Park, 16.2 mi.

·walk score®

85/100

4% lower than Dayton

vs 89/100 in Dayton

Walk Score® methodology

·nonstops

32

100% more than Dayton

vs 16 nonstops in Dayton

04 · see also

in the same ballpark as columbus:

compare columbus with: