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Franklin County, OH — Auto repair Saturation

How many auto repair exist per person present — residents plus daytime workers — by ZIP code, compared with the U.S. average. Establishment data: Census ZBP 2023. Population: ACS 2024 5-year. 48 ZIP codes analyzed.

Includes: Auto repair & maintenance shops · Body, paint & interior repair. Counted together because official statistics use one 811121 code.

Measured density: Range spans bands — 0.56× the U.S. rate (between 0.56× and 0.87× once withheld ZIP cells are counted)

Why a range: Census does not publish a ZIP-by-industry count when that ZIP has 0–2 businesses. 28 ZIP cells in this county are withheld, 23 of them with residents. Each could hold 0, 1, or 2 businesses: counting them all as 0 gives the low end, counting them all as 2 gives the high end — the data cannot say where the truth sits. The density range uses only the populated cells, since ZIPs without residents are excluded from per-person rates. How ranges work

Range spans the U.S. rate   Franklin County auto repair — 56–87% of the U.S. rate

83 auto repair are counted in Franklin County — 0.5 per 10,000 people present (residents + daytime workers), 56% of the U.S. rate of 0.9.

On the comparable ZIP set (ZIPs with a published count in every year), the total has risen 13% between 2015 and 2023 (53 → 60). That set is smaller than today's county total. 2020–2021 were pandemic-distorted, and Census rounds counts, so small moves are within noise.

Measured supply density is highest in 43223 (Columbus), 43209 (Columbus), 43207 (Columbus) — well above the national rate. On measured density alone, the lowest-density residential ZIPs with a published count are 43081 (Westerville), 43230 (Columbus), 43026 (Hilliard).

BLS QCEW puts the latest county-wide count (2026 Q1) at 117 establishments, the freshest available signal.

Measured density: Franklin County sits at 56% of the U.S. rate for auto repair. 23 ZIPs with population have no published count (each 0–2 businesses), so the true per-capita rate is between 56% and 87% of the U.S. rate. Why. The highest measured density is in 43223 and 43209; the lowest measured density is in 43081 and 43230.

This is a supply-side read: it counts existing auto repair and the people present, not foot traffic, income, rent, or whether locals want more. Treat low density as a question to check, not an answer.

Auto repair
83–139
published count; upper bound counts each withheld ZIP cell as 2 (28 cells) (2023)
Per 10,000 present
0.5
residents + daytime workers
U.S. average
0.9
per 10,000 present
County index
0.56×
vs. U.S.
Latest quarter (QCEW)
117
2026 Q1 — county total
Residents
1,366,493
43 ZIPs with data
Workers
707,277
jobs located in county

Is the area growing?

Population
1,356,303
Census PEP, July 1 2024
Change since 2020
+2.4%
+31,798 people
Net migration 2024
+10,283
international +20,257, domestic −9,974
Jobs located here
798,714
LODES 2022, +0.1% since 2019

Franklin County had an estimated 1,356,303 residents on July 1, 2024 — 2.4% more than in 2020 (+31,798). In the latest year it gained 17,400 people: births minus deaths +7,157, international migration +20,257, domestic migration −9,974. Components are published separately and may not sum exactly.

798,714 jobs were located in the county in 2022 (+0.1% since 2019), and 629,276 employed residents lived there (−1.5% since 2019). LODES counts wage and salary jobs covered by unemployment insurance plus federal jobs; it excludes the self-employed and military, and counts jobs rather than unique people. 2019→2022 spans the pandemic, so read it as one change, not a trend.

Population and migration say whether the customer base is growing. They do not say whether people want another business of this type. Definitions and limits →  ·  Full county detail →

ZIP gaining residents
2015–19 → 2020–24
Change
43016 Dublin
+25.7%
43215 Columbus
+16.6%
43068 Reynoldsburg
+9.8%
ZIP losing residents
2015–19 → 2020–24
Change

No ZIP had a statistically significant decrease.

ACS 5-year estimates for 2015–2019 and 2020–2024. Only ZIPs with at least 2,000 residents in both windows and a change larger than the survey margin of error (90%) are listed — small ZIPs move a lot on paper without a real signal.

Nonemployer businesses

Not shown. Census publishes only a broader group that also includes auto glass shops, so an auto-repair-only nonemployer count is not published.

Census Nonemployer Statistics 2024 (NAICS 2022). We do not approximate this figure.

Saturation map

Each ZIP area is shaded by its density of this business type per person present (residents + workers) vs. the U.S. average. Click any ZIP to zoom to its boundary, see its numbers, and switch to aerial imagery. Individual mapped shops appear as dots at street level — Show locations zooms you in to them (scroll or double-click to zoom).

Basemap:
Under 50% 50–100% 100–150% 150–250% 250%+ 0–2 (not published) / no data ZIP total (dot size) Mapped shop (OpenStreetMap, street level)

Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors, tiles by OpenFreeMap.

White dots are ZIP totals from the official Census count — the bigger the dot, the more auto repair in that ZIP. They are aggregated, not individual shops. Turquoise dots are individual locations mapped in OpenStreetMap, shown only at street level; they are crowd-sourced and indicative, may be incomplete, and do not equal the official counts. Only the official ZIP totals feed the saturation index.

Market trend — up 13% since 2015

Number of auto repair in Franklin County across 2015–2023, on a consistent set of ZIP codes present in every year — so changes are real, not ZIP-boundary artifacts. 2015/2018 are pre-pandemic baselines; 2020/2021 are COVID-distorted.

53
2015
56
2018
56
2020
57
2021
58
2022
60
2023

Highest measured density

ZIP
vs. U.S. average
Index
43223 Columbus
292%
43209 Columbus
146%
43207 Columbus
141%
43220 Columbus
134%
43125 Groveport
134%
43232 Columbus
133%
43231 Columbus
122%
43219 Columbus
118%
43212 Columbus
110%
43235 Columbus
109%
43213 Columbus
99%
43228 Columbus
87%
43201 Columbus
86%
43224 Columbus
74%
43204 Columbus
72%

Lowest measured density

ZIP
vs. U.S. average
Index
43081 Westerville
44%
43230 Columbus
49%
43026 Hilliard
61%
43123 Grove City
71%
43204 Columbus
72%
43224 Columbus
74%
43201 Columbus
86%
43228 Columbus
87%
43213 Columbus
99%
43235 Columbus
109%
43212 Columbus
110%
43219 Columbus
118%
43231 Columbus
122%
43232 Columbus
133%
43125 Groveport
134%
Low measured density is not evidence of opportunity. A ZIP with few auto repair may simply lack foot traffic, retail space, or demand. We rank only residential and mixed ZIPs here; employment hubs and visitor destinations are listed separately below. ZIPs where Census did not publish a count (0–2 businesses) are not ranked: they may be the least served of all, but the data cannot tell 0 from 1 or 2. Verify those locally.

Employment hubs & destinations

These ZIPs have far more workers (or visitors) than residents, so their counts are driven by daytime and visitor demand — not a place to read "shortage" from resident numbers alone.

ZIPNeighborhoodType ResidentsWorkersAuto repairIndex
43109Brice Employment hub 152420 0–2 —
43137Lockbourne Employment hub 2,4155,722 0–2 —
43215Columbus Employment hub 17,83681,402 0–2 —

Scroll the table sideways to see all columns.

All ZIP codes

Click a column header to sort. Index = auto repair per 10,000 people present (residents + 0.5×workers) ÷ the U.S. average. 100% = exactly average.

ZIPNeighborhood ResidentsWorkersAuto repair Per 10kIndexStatus
43223Columbus 28,1876,907 8 2.5 292% Very high density
43209Columbus 28,1936,987 4 1.3 146% Above average
43207Columbus 47,27219,877 7 1.2 141% Above average
43220Columbus 28,79211,163 4 1.2 134% Above average
43125Groveport 14,80322,323 3 1.2 134% Above average
43232Columbus 47,3649,656 6 1.1 133% Above average
43231Columbus 23,00910,825 3 1.1 122% Above average
43219Columbus 32,33852,768 6 1.0 118% Above average
43212Columbus 23,40516,465 3 0.9 110% Above average
43235Columbus 44,58916,817 5 0.9 109% Above average
43213Columbus 36,27320,633 4 0.9 99% Below average
43228Columbus 59,07740,646 6 0.8 87% Below average
43201Columbus 34,32212,049 3 0.7 86% Below average
43224Columbus 44,3195,211 3 0.6 74% Below average
43204Columbus 42,96210,264 3 0.6 72% Below average
43123Grove City 67,62628,211 5 0.6 71% Below average
43026Hilliard 65,23820,895 4 0.5 61% Below average
43230Columbus 58,07626,798 3 0.4 49% Far below average
43081Westerville 65,02027,088 3 0.4 44% Far below average
43085Columbus 26,60118,851 ~0 0.0 0% Far below average
43004Blacklick 31,4773,385 0–2 — — Not published
43016Dublin 46,36221,786 0–2 — — Not published
43017Dublin 41,61341,270 0–2 — — Not published
43054New Albany 27,59423,717 0–2 — — Not published
43068Reynoldsburg 60,14821,702 0–2 — — Not published
43086Westerville —44 0–2 — — Not published
43109Brice 152420 0–2 — — Not published
43110Canal Winchester 43,5449,919 0–2 — — Not published
43119Galloway 29,6601,635 0–2 — — Not published
43126Harrisburg 306156 0–2 — — Not published
43137Lockbourne 2,4155,722 0–2 — — Not published
43202Columbus 20,8544,762 0–2 — — Not published
43203Columbus 8,6181,133 0–2 — — Not published
43205Columbus 12,61815,507 0–2 — — Not published
43206Columbus 21,9966,245 0–2 — — Not published
43210Columbus 12,16411,062 0–2 — — Not published
43211Columbus 22,3133,165 0–2 — — Not published
43214Columbus 26,77623,249 0–2 — — Not published
43215Columbus 17,83681,402 0–2 — — Not published
43216Columbus —1,479 0–2 — — Not published
43217Columbus 2,0913,429 0–2 — — Not published
43218Columbus 0243 0–2 — — Not published
43221Columbus 35,2937,315 0–2 — — Not published
43222Columbus 4,8199,053 0–2 — — Not published
43227Columbus 25,3582,548 0–2 — — Not published
43229Columbus 55,02024,261 0–2 — — Not published
43236Columbus —42 0–2 — — Not published
43287Columbus —624 0–2 — — Not published

Scroll the table sideways to see all columns.

Find an actual space in Columbus

The numbers above tell you how the market looks. To find a specific storefront, these marketplaces list available retail space for lease.

LoopNet
Largest commercial marketplace
Browse Columbus retail space →
Crexi
Free listings + market data
Browse Columbus retail space →
CityFeet
Retail space for lease
Browse Columbus retail space →

Open vacancy data (actual empty units) is only published by some cities; where it exists we show it directly. Listings above are third-party.

Census withholds some ZIP-by-industry cells to protect small businesses. 0–2 means the cell was not published (Census publishes industry counts only at 3+ per ZIP), so the ZIP is left unranked rather than counted as zero. ~ means the count is estimated from the broader industry group and can be off by a business or two.

Follow Franklin County and auto repair

When a data vintage changes or a section of this report is revised, we post it to a public update feed. No email address, no account, no tracking — and nothing is sent unless something actually changed.

Subscribe to updates (RSS) How these numbers are built →

Methodology & sources

Establishments. U.S. Census ZIP Code Business Patterns (ZBP 2023), NAICS 811121 — automotive body, paint & interior repair. Counts establishments with paid employees. ZBP is published annually with a ~2-year lag.

Fresh county signal. BLS QCEW (quarterly) is newer than ZBP — 2026 Q1 shows 117 establishments county-wide for this industry. It cannot be broken down by ZIP.

Population. U.S. Census American Community Survey 2024 5-year ZCTA population (table B01003). Workers are the ZIP's total employment from the same 2023 ZBP file.

Demand ("people present"). Demand comes from residents and daytime workers: residents + 0.5 × workers. This is the single documented assumption in the model and can be tuned.

Index. index = (ZIP establishments ÷ ZIP demand × 10,000) ÷ the U.S. average for this industry (0.87 per 10,000 present). It is a supply-side density measure; it does not capture income, rent, tourism, or whether locals actually want more.

Read the full methodology →  ·  Data sources & vintages →

BizGapMap — free, no-login small-business saturation reports for major U.S. counties. Built entirely from public U.S. Census, BLS, and IRS data (ZBP 2023, ACS 2024 5-year, PEP 2024, LODES, QCEW, IRS SOI). No forecasts, no revenue guesses — withheld cells are marked, and the few derived counts are labelled as estimates.