Columbus, OH (population: 768,662) has eight child development schools within a 100-mile radius of its city center. Ohio University-Main Campus, the highest ranked school in this group with a child development program, has a total student population of 22,647. It is the 128th highest ranked school in the USA and one of the highest in the state .
Child Development students from Columbus schools who go on to become child development specialists, child psychologists, etc. have a good chance at finding employment. For example, there are 277,670 people working as child, family, and school social workers alone in the US, and their average annual salary is $43,540. Also, Preschool teachers make on average $27,450 per year and there are about 389,660 of them employed in the US today. In fact, in the Columbus area alone, there are 3,720 employed preschool teachers earning an average salary of $21,920. Child, family, and school social workers in this area earn $42,140/yr and there are 1,580 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 1.738 out of every 1000 jobs in Columbus are held by child, family, and school social workers, and 4.097/1000 are held by preschool teachers.
Of the 8 child development schools with a 100-mile radius of Columbus, only 1 has a student population over 10k. After taking into account tuition, living expenses, and financial aid, Ohio University-Main Campus comes out as the most expensive ($17,497/yr) for child development students, with North Central State College as the lowest, reported at only $3,968/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 |