Columbus, OH (population: 768,662) has two CAD schools within its city limits. Columbus State Community College, the highest ranked school in the city with a CAD program, has a total student population of 28,539. It is the 5363rd highest ranked school in the USA and the 285th highest in the state of Ohio (#1 is Ohio State University-Main Campus).
CAD students from Columbus schools who go on to become drafters, architects, computer aided designers, project architects, etc. have a good chance at finding employment. For example, there are 18,290 people working as drafters alone in the US, and their average annual salary is $48,210. Also, Architectural and civil drafters make on average $47,710 per year and there are about 105,320 of them employed in the US today. In fact, in the Columbus area alone, there are 610 employed architectural and civil drafters earning an average salary of $42,190. Drafters in this area earn $50,740/yr and there are 120 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 0.135 out of every 1000 jobs in Columbus are held by drafters, and 0.670/1000 are held by architectural and civil drafters.
Of the 2 CAD schools in Columbus, only 1 has a student population over 10k. After taking into account tuition, living expenses, and financial aid, ITT Technical Institute-Columbus comes out as the most expensive ($20,530/yr) for CAD students, with Columbus State Community College as the lowest, reported at only $5,330/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 |