Data / Rankings / Civilian labor force / Cities in Ohio

Cities in Ohio by civilian labor force

Columbus, OH had the highest civilian labor force of 71 cities in 2021, at 490,946. Athens, OH had the lowest, at 9,897. The median was 18,659. Source: the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

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Highest490,946Columbus, OH
Lowest9,897Athens, OH
Median18,65971 cities

Top 40 cities, 2021

Columbus, OH: 490,946 personsColumbus, OH490,946Cleveland, OH: 161,413 personsCleveland, OH161,413Cincinnati, OH: 157,954 personsCincinnati, OH157,954Toledo, OH: 123,299 personsToledo, OH123,299Akron, OH: 90,505 personsAkron, OH90,505Dayton, OH: 58,408 personsDayton, OH58,408Parma, OH: 42,364 personsParma, OH42,364Lakewood, OH: 30,595 personsLakewood, OH30,595Canton, OH: 30,006 personsCanton, OH30,006Hamilton, OH: 28,842 personsHamilton, OH28,842Kettering, OH: 28,667 personsKettering, OH28,667Cuyahoga Falls, OH: 28,309 personsCuyahoga Falls, OH28,309Lorain, OH: 27,797 personsLorain, OH27,797Dublin, OH: 25,272 personsDublin, OH25,272Elyria, OH: 25,129 personsElyria, OH25,129Mentor, OH: 24,731 personsMentor, OH24,731Springfield, OH: 24,596 personsSpringfield, OH24,596Middletown, OH: 24,038 personsMiddletown, OH24,038Euclid, OH: 23,963 personsEuclid, OH23,963Newark, OH: 23,499 personsNewark, OH23,499Delaware, OH: 23,030 personsDelaware, OH23,030Strongsville, OH: 22,991 personsStrongsville, OH22,991Fairfield, OH: 22,952 personsFairfield, OH22,952Cleveland Heights, OH: 22,614 personsCleveland Heights, OH22,614Beavercreek, OH: 22,603 personsBeavercreek, OH22,603Grove City, OH: 22,220 personsGrove City, OH22,220Youngstown, OH: 21,788 personsYoungstown, OH21,788Reynoldsburg, OH: 21,377 personsReynoldsburg, OH21,377Huber Heights, OH: 21,099 personsHuber Heights, OH21,099Hilliard, OH: 20,579 personsHilliard, OH20,579Findlay, OH: 20,095 personsFindlay, OH20,095Westerville, OH: 19,789 personsWesterville, OH19,789Brunswick, OH: 19,148 personsBrunswick, OH19,148Gahanna, OH: 18,911 personsGahanna, OH18,911Mason, OH: 18,664 personsMason, OH18,664Lancaster, OH: 18,659 personsLancaster, OH18,659Upper Arlington, OH: 18,077 personsUpper Arlington, OH18,077North Ridgeville, OH: 17,976 personsNorth Ridgeville, OH17,976Mansfield, OH: 17,754 personsMansfield, OH17,754Stow, OH: 17,743 personsStow, OH17,743Columbus, OH: 490,946 personsColumbus, OH490,946Cleveland, OH: 161,413 personsCleveland, OH161,413Cincinnati, OH: 157,954 personsCincinnati, OH157,954Toledo, OH: 123,299 personsToledo, OH123,299Akron, OH: 90,505 personsAkron, OH90,505Dayton, OH: 58,408 personsDayton, OH58,408Parma, OH: 42,364 personsParma, OH42,364Lakewood, OH: 30,595 personsLakewood, OH30,595Canton, OH: 30,006 personsCanton, OH30,006Hamilton, OH: 28,842 personsHamilton, OH28,842Kettering, OH: 28,667 personsKettering, OH28,667Cuyahoga Falls, OH: 28,309 personsCuyahoga Falls, OH28,309Lorain, OH: 27,797 personsLorain, OH27,797Dublin, OH: 25,272 personsDublin, OH25,272Elyria, OH: 25,129 personsElyria, OH25,129Mentor, OH: 24,731 personsMentor, OH24,731Springfield, OH: 24,596 personsSpringfield, OH24,596Middletown, OH: 24,038 personsMiddletown, OH24,038Euclid, OH: 23,963 personsEuclid, OH23,963Newark, OH: 23,499 personsNewark, OH23,499Delaware, OH: 23,030 personsDelaware, OH23,030Strongsville, OH: 22,991 personsStrongsville, OH22,991Fairfield, OH: 22,952 personsFairfield, OH22,952Cleveland Heights, OH: 22,614 personsCleveland Heights, OH22,614Beavercreek, OH: 22,603 personsBeavercreek, OH22,603Grove City, OH: 22,220 personsGrove City, OH22,220Youngstown, OH: 21,788 personsYoungstown, OH21,788Reynoldsburg, OH: 21,377 personsReynoldsburg, OH21,377Huber Heights, OH: 21,099 personsHuber Heights, OH21,099Hilliard, OH: 20,579 personsHilliard, OH20,579Findlay, OH: 20,095 personsFindlay, OH20,095Westerville, OH: 19,789 personsWesterville, OH19,789Brunswick, OH: 19,148 personsBrunswick, OH19,148Gahanna, OH: 18,911 personsGahanna, OH18,911Mason, OH: 18,664 personsMason, OH18,664Lancaster, OH: 18,659 personsLancaster, OH18,659Upper Arlington, OH: 18,077 personsUpper Arlington, OH18,077North Ridgeville, OH: 17,976 personsNorth Ridgeville, OH17,976Mansfield, OH: 17,754 personsMansfield, OH17,754Stow, OH: 17,743 personsStow, OH17,743
persons. Source: BLS, Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Full ranking

RankCities2021
persons		Change on 2020
1Columbus, OH490,946+0.4%
2Cleveland, OH161,413-2.4%
3Cincinnati, OH157,9540%
4Toledo, OH123,299-2.5%
5Akron, OH90,505-1.5%
6Dayton, OH58,408-2.6%
7Parma, OH42,364-0.5%
8Lakewood, OH30,595-0.6%
9Canton, OH30,006-1.6%
10Hamilton, OH28,842+0.1%
11Kettering, OH28,667-1.3%
12Cuyahoga Falls, OH28,3090%
13Lorain, OH27,797-0.8%
14Dublin, OH25,272+1.9%
15Elyria, OH25,129-0.4%
16Mentor, OH24,731+1.3%
17Springfield, OH24,596-0.7%
18Middletown, OH24,038+0.4%
19Euclid, OH23,963-1.2%
20Newark, OH23,499+1%
21Delaware, OH23,030+4.5%
22Strongsville, OH22,991+1.3%
23Fairfield, OH22,952-0.3%
24Cleveland Heights, OH22,614+0.2%
25Beavercreek, OH22,603+0.6%
26Grove City, OH22,220+2.9%
27Youngstown, OH21,788-2.9%
28Reynoldsburg, OH21,377+0.9%
29Huber Heights, OH21,099-1%
30Hilliard, OH20,579+1.5%
31Findlay, OH20,095-1.7%
32Westerville, OH19,789+0.1%
33Brunswick, OH19,148+0.7%
34Gahanna, OH18,911+0.6%
35Mason, OH18,664+2.4%
36Lancaster, OH18,659+1.2%
37Upper Arlington, OH18,077+1.5%
38North Ridgeville, OH17,976+3.3%
39Mansfield, OH17,754-1.3%
40Stow, OH17,743+0.4%
41Fairborn, OH17,309-1.2%
42North Olmsted, OH16,552-0%
43Westlake, OH16,456+1.5%
44North Royalton, OH16,310+1.1%
45Massillon, OH15,8200%
46Lima, OH15,248-2%
47Bowling Green, OH15,024-6.5%
48Shaker Heights, OH14,450+1.4%
49Green, OH13,841+0.4%
50Marysville, OH13,801+4.6%
51Marion, OH13,725-1.9%
52Garfield Heights, OH13,641-1.7%
53Warren, OH13,573-2.1%
54Wooster, OH13,516-2.7%
55Medina, OH13,364+0.9%
56Pickerington, OH13,012+4.4%
57Avon Lake, OH12,990+3.3%
58Troy, OH12,815-1%
59Avon, OH12,578+3.5%
60Perrysburg, OH12,535+1.3%
61Kent, OH12,401-11.2%
62Sandusky, OH12,227-0.5%
63Centerville, OH11,628+1.9%
64Xenia, OH11,373-1%
65South Euclid, OH11,237-0.2%
66Barberton, OH11,206-1.5%
67Riverside, OH11,038-1.3%
68Zanesville, OH10,336+0.2%
69Trotwood, OH10,332-2.4%
70Maple Heights, OH10,214-2.1%
71Athens, OH9,897-10.4%

Other periods

About this ranking

Employed plus unemployed residents, annual average.

More on how it is measured
  • People aged 16 and over by place of residence, from the Local Area Unemployment Statistics (LAUS) program of the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.
  • Active-duty military personnel and people living in institutions are excluded.

United States cities only for now. Counts people where they live, not jobs: for wage and salary jobs by state use oews_employment. BLS estimates cities by splitting county estimates with Census Bureau employment and population data and unemployment insurance claims, so city figures are less precise than state ones. BLS publishes cities of 25,000 or more, and smaller cities in New England.

Every value in the ranking comes from the same publisher and the same period, so the cities are compared on one definition. Equal values share a rank.

How to cite

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Citation styles

The publisher is the author. Invokely is named only as the place the figures were read, where a style asks for it.

APA 7

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. (2026). Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average (Cities in Ohio by civilian labor force, 2021) [Data set]. Retrieved October 12, 2026, from https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24

MLA 9

Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average, Cities in Ohio by civilian labor force, 2021. U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 30 Sept. 2026, https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24. Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/civilian-labor-force/ohio-cities?period=2021. Accessed 12 Oct. 2026.

Chicago (author-date)

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. 2026. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average. Cities in Ohio by civilian labor force, 2021. Dataset. Accessed October 12, 2026. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24. Also distributed by Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/civilian-labor-force/ohio-cities?period=2021.

Harvard

U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics (2026) Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average, Cities in Ohio by civilian labor force, 2021 [Dataset]. Available at: https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24, via Invokely: https://invokely.ai/rankings/civilian-labor-force/ohio-cities?period=2021 (Accessed: 12 October 2026).

BibTeX
@misc{bureau_cities_in_ohio_by_2021,
  author = {{U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics}},
  title = {{Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average: Cities in Ohio by civilian labor force, 2021}},
  year = {2026},
  howpublished = {Data set},
  url = {https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24},
  urldate = {2026-10-12},
  note = {Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/civilian-labor-force/ohio-cities?period=2021. Publisher attribution: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24. Retrieved 2026-10-12.},
}
RIS
TY  - DATA
AU  - U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
TI  - Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average: Cities in Ohio by civilian labor force, 2021
PY  - 2026
DA  - 2026/09/30
PB  - U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics
DB  - Invokely
UR  - https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24
L2  - https://invokely.ai/rankings/civilian-labor-force/ohio-cities?period=2021
Y2  - 2026/10/12
N1  - Accessed via Invokely, https://invokely.ai/rankings/civilian-labor-force/ohio-cities?period=2021.
N1  - Publisher attribution: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average. https://download.bls.gov/pub/time.series/la/la.data.0.CurrentU20-24. Retrieved 2026-10-12.
ER  -
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Rank Cities in Ohio by civilian labor force using official data, and cite the source.
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Questions

Which city has the highest civilian labor force?

Columbus, OH, with 490,946 in 2021, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics.

Which city has the lowest civilian labor force?

Athens, OH, with 9,897 in 2021.

Where does this ranking come from?

Every value comes from one source and one period, so the places are comparable: U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, Local Area Unemployment Statistics, cities and towns, not seasonally adjusted: labor force (measure 06), annual average. Retrieved 2026-10-12.

Civilian labor force: other rankings

Cities in Ohio: more rankings