Columbus, OH (population: 768,662) has two biotechnology schools within its city limits. Ohio State University-Main Campus, the highest ranked school in the city with a biotechnology program, has a total student population of 55,014. It is the 33rd highest ranked school in the USA and the highest in the state of Ohio.
Biotechnology students from Columbus schools who go on to become biotechnologists, bioengineers, biomedical engineers, biophysicists, etc. have a good chance at finding employment. For example, there are 166,860 people working as medical and clinical laboratory technologists alone in the US, and their average annual salary is $55,620. Also, Biochemists and biophysicists make on average $88,550 per year and there are about 22,860 of them employed in the US today. In fact, in the Columbus area alone, there are 80 employed biochemists and biophysicists earning an average salary of $60,520. Medical and clinical laboratory technologists in this area earn $50,540/yr and there are 1,090 employed.
Columbus lies in Delaware county, which is one of the 36 counties in Ohio. Overall, the Columbus area has 908,190 total employed workers according to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics, with a 0.9% unemployment rate, $20.70/hr average worker wage, and a $43,070 average annual salary. Thus, about 1.204 out of every 1000 jobs in Columbus are held by medical and clinical laboratory technologists, and 0.090/1000 are held by biochemists and biophysicists.
Of the 2 biotechnology schools in Columbus, only 1 has a student population over 10k. After taking into account tuition, living expenses, and financial aid, DeVry University-Ohio comes out as the most expensive ($22,210/yr) for biotechnology students, with Ohio State University-Main Campus as the lowest, reported at only $16,868/yr.
| Name | State | Population | # of Schools | Avg School Rank | Total Programs | Distance from Columbus |
| Hilliard | OH | - | 1 | 21.2344 | 13 | 9.4 miles |
| Canal Winchester | OH | - | 1 | 0.0 | 0 | 13.7 miles |
| Concord Twp | OH | - | 1 | 37.8234 | 22 | 46.5 miles |
| Yellow Springs | OH | - | 2 | 0.482738 | 0 | 49.3 miles |
| Zanesville | OH | - | 4 | 22.0879 | 68 | 51.9 miles |
| Kettering | OH | 52,835 | 4 | 32.9219 | 30 | 64.8 miles |
| Dayton | OH | 151,594 | 15 | 24.3199 | 569 | 65.8 miles |
| Piqua | OH | - | 2 | 25.7036 | 76 | 67.2 miles |
| Saint Martin | OH | - | 1 | 11.3716 | 2 | 72.1 miles |
| Tiffin | OH | - | 3 | 36.5272 | 159 | 78.4 miles |
| Lima | OH | - | 5 | 21.8501 | 114 | 78.5 miles |
| Middletown | OH | 51,674 | 7 | 25.6111 | 228 | 80.5 miles |
| Findlay | OH | - | 4 | 17.9539 | 100 | 80.8 miles |
| Rio Grande | OH | - | 3 | 18.3873 | 146 | 83.4 miles |
| New Boston | OH | - | 1 | 21.3268 | 7 | 85.7 miles |
| New Philadelphia | OH | - | 2 | 20.6614 | 41 | 88.6 miles |
| Vienna | WV | - | 2 | 36.4588 | 41 | 89.4 miles |
| Milan | OH | - | 1 | 27.8478 | 15 | 92.7 miles |
| Medina | OH | - | 2 | 28.5662 | 14 | 99.1 miles |
| Oxford | OH | - | 1 | 41.8383 | 150 | 99.1 miles |