COLUMBUS, Ohio (WCMH) — Columbus grew faster than any other city in the nation during the second half of 2023, a new study claims.
The population of Ohio’s capital city grew 1.1% during the third and fourth quarters of 2023, earning the top spot in a new Bank of American Institute Ranking. The institute collected U.S. census data and Bank of America customer data “to provide a more real-time estimate of population trends” in major U.S. cities.
Austin, Texas, was ranked in second place, and San Antonio, Texas, was ranked in third for both quarters. Jacksonville, Florida, placed fourth in quarter three, while Las Vegas placed fourth in quarter four. Tampa, Florida, placed fifth in quarter three and Jacksonville placed fifth in quarter four.
“Overall, the post-pandemic story of people leaving the West and Northeast continues,” the report stated. “We see continued growth in the population of number of southern [Metropolitan statistical areas] such as Tampa, Jacksonville, San Antonio and Austin.”
By contrast, the Institute said many cities in the West and Northeast are still seeing declining populations, including in San Francisco, Los Angeles, New York and Boston. Columbus is the singular outlier, the report showed.
Relative housing affordability remains a key factor driving these differences in population changes in the West, the Institute argues. Where a city has a relatively high median mortgage payment, its population growth has usually been negative or, at best, weakly positive.
“Over time, we would expect these domestic migration flows across the U.S. to lead to some ironing-out in relative housing costs,” the report stated. “[Metropolitan statistical areas] that are losing residents would likely see reduced pressure on house prices and rents, eventually meaning cheaper housing costs compared to areas gaining newcomers.”
Bank of America’s report comes shortly after the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission announced it is projecting that central Ohio’s population will exceed 3 million by 2050. Franklin County is expected to absorb half of the regional growth and will welcome more than twice as many newcomers as Delaware County.
The region’s strong growth can be attributed to strong economic development, MORPC said. The forecasting process anticipates development-induced growth from multibillion-dollar investments from Intel and Honda that “produce jobs in a variety of pay ranges, and support an increasingly diversified talent pool.”
“Our recent growth places us among the fastest-growing large metros in the country,” MORPC said. “We are growing faster than any other region in the state, but at an estimated 0.89% annually, it is a much more manageable rate than metros, such as Austin or Boise, which have been growing at twice the rate of central Ohio.”
View the Bank of America Institute’s report below.
