The 614 area code
is the place to be
Columbus was founded in 1812, and specifically built to be the central capital city of the state of Ohio. It was named after Christopher Columbus and started out as only a sparsely populated forested area. In 1831 it was connected by roadway with the Ohio and Erie Canal and population began to grow.
During the civil war, the city served as a base for the Union Army and was also a central point on the Underground Railroad. The buggy and steel industries began to prosper in the city after the war, and it was able to weather the Great Depression better than most other Midwest cities. In World War II the jobs and population grew again, and by the 1990’s Columbus was firmly entrenched as Ohio’s largest city.
Columbus is the second most populous metropolitan area in the Midwest after Chicago, so business in area code 614 is booming. It contains five Fortune 500 headquarters: Big Lots, Cardinal Health, Nationwide Insurance, L Brands, and American Electric Power.
Columbus also has a notable food industry, with Wendy’s, Bob Evans, Max & Erma’s and White Castle headquarters located in the city. Additionally, the city boasts Ohio State University, which is one of the largest universities in the US and has over 66,000 students and 45,000 employees.
Columbus has a diverse economy with businesses in every industry, including the Battelle Memorial Institute, the largest private research and development foundation in the world, which focuses on non-profit work in the science and technology industries. Columbus also hosts the Chemical Abstracts Service which is the biggest clearinghouse of chemical information in the world, and NetJets, the largest a private air fleet in the world with over 700 jets.
Job growth in Columbus over the next ten years is expected at almost 40%. The average household income in area code 614 is $45,000, which is less than the US average of $53,000. The most common occupation for Columbus residents is health care and social assistance, followed by retail trade. Educational services round out the top three.
Columbus has received recognition from many different publications in the past ten years.
Forbes named Columbus the #1 “Up-and-Coming Tech City” in America in 2008 and chose it as one of the “Top Cities for Business” in 2013. Money Magazine also listed Columbus as one of their “6 Best Big Cities” in 2016 because of the cities highly educated workforce and excellent wage growth.
Some major events in the Columbus area code every year include The Arnold Sports Festival, the country’s largest multi-sport festival, the Memorial Golf Tournament hosting some of the PGA’s best golfers, and the Ohio State Fair.
