Economy of Ohio facts for kids

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Economy of Ohio
Statistics
Dr. Kathryn Dwyer Sullivan, a resident of Columbus, was the first American woman to walk in space.
GDP	$656.19 billion (3rd quarter 2017)
Population below poverty line	15.4%
Gini coefficient	0.4594
Labor force	5,883,960
Unemployment	4.3%
Public finances
Revenues	$27.3 billion
Expenses	$31 billion

Ohio unemployment rate, 1976–2021 US unemployment rate

The economy of Ohio nominally would be the 21st largest global economy behind Saudi Arabia and ahead of Argentina according to the 2017 International Monetary Fund GDP estimates. The state had a GDP of $656.19 billion in 3rd quarter of 2017, up from $517.1 billion in 2012, and up from $501.3 billion in 2011, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis. In 2013, Ohio was ranked in the top ten states for best business climate by Site Selection magazine, based on a business-activity database. The state was edged out only by Texas and Nebraska for the 2013 Governor's Cup award from the magazine, based on business growth and economic development.

Ohio is commonly noted as the Nation's Industrial Capital, dating to its roots in the Rust Belt and Ohio's present-day intelligence and scientific dominance. Ohio was one of four states in the U.S. to have areas make the Intelligent Community Forum's list of global Smart 21 Communities for 2014, with Columbus, Ohio receiving the honors. Ohio has six of the top 146 public school national universities in the nation, according to U.S. News and World Report's 2020 rankings. The state was ranked No. 8 by the same magazine in 2008 for best high schools, while overall, in 2010 the state's schools were ranked No. 5 in the country by Education Week. However, by 2016 the state's high school rankings had slipped to #11 according to U.S. News and World Report, and #22 overall in quality by Education Week in 2017. It was second only to Texas in having the most U.S. cities in the top 30 best places for new college graduates, according to BusinessWeek in 2010. The year ending July 2011 saw the state ranked fourth in the nation in job creation behind Texas, California, and New York. By 2016 the state wasn't in the top 10 for job growth, but between 2017 and 2018 the state saw an increase in job creation of 44,600.

After California and Texas, Ohio is the third largest U.S. manufacturing state, with total output in 2017 approaching $108 billion. Home to more than 12,000 manufacturers, 12.6% of the Ohio work force is dedicated to manufacturing.

Ohio is considered a center of science and industry, with museums dedicated to such in Columbus, COSI, the Great Lakes Science Center in Cleveland, the Imagination Station in Toledo, and the Boonshoft Museum of Discovery in Dayton. The state includes many historically strong industries, such as banking and insurance, which accounts for 8% of the gross state product, motor vehicle manufacturing, research and development, and steel production, accounting for 14-17% of the nation's raw output. More traditional industries include agriculture, employing one out of seven Ohioans, and new and developing sectors include bioscience, green, information, and food processing industries. Ohio is the biggest manufacturer of plastics and rubber in the country, has the largest bioscience sector in the Midwest, and ranked fourth in the country for green economic growth through 2007.

The state is recognized internationally as the "Fuel Cell Corridor", while Toledo is recognized as a national solar center, Cleveland a regenerative medicine research hub, Dayton an aerospace and defense hub, Columbus a technological research and development hub, and Cincinnati a mercantile hub.

Wal-Mart is the largest private sector employer in Ohio with approximately 50,500 employees in 2017. The largest Ohio employer with headquarters in Ohio is the Cleveland Clinic, with approximately 49,050 employees and headquarters in Cleveland. The largest employer at a single location in Ohio is Wright Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton. 70% of the nation's electrometallurgical ferroalloy manufacturing employees are located in Ohio.

Overview

Kroger, a supermarket company based in Cincinnati, is the largest employer of those companies headquartered in the state.

Ohio's state quarter lays claim to the "Birthplace of Aviation Pioneers," in which Ohio's aerospace and defense industry is still economically strong.

The economy of Ohio nominally would be the 25th largest global economy behind Sweden and ahead of Nigeria according to the 2013 World Bank projections, and the 24th largest global economy behind Sweden and ahead of Norway according to the 2013 International Monetary Fund projections. The state had a projected GDP of $526.1 billion in 2013, up from 517.1 in 2012, and up from 501.3 in 2011, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis.

A new report by the Quantitative Economics and Statistics Practices (QUEST) of Ernst & Young in conjunction with the Council On State Taxation (COST), ranks Ohio as third in the nation for friendliest tax environment. The study, "Competitiveness of state and local business taxes on new investment," provides a state-by-state comparison of tax liabilities. The top five states ranked with the lowest effective tax rate on new investment are: (1) Maine (3.0%); (2) Oregon (3.8%); (3) Ohio (4.4%); (4) Wisconsin (4.5%); and (5) Illinois (4.6%). In 2013, Ohio was ranked in the top ten states for best business climate by Site Selection magazine, based on a business-activity database. The state was edged out by Texas and Nebraska for the 2013 Governor's Cup award from the magazine, based on business growth and economic development. Ohio was ranked #11 by the council for best friendly-policy states according to their Small Business Survival Index 2009. The Directorship's Boardroom Guide ranked the state #13 overall for best business climate, including #7 for best litigation climate. Forbes ranked the state #8 for best regulatory environment in 2009. Ohio has 5 of the top 115 colleges in the nation, according to U.S. News and World Report's 2010 rankings, and was ranked #8 by the same magazine in 2008 for best high schools. Overall, the state's schools were ranked #5 in the country in 2010. However, by 2016 the state's high school rankings had slipped to #11 according to U.S. News and World Report, and #22 overall in quality by Education Week in 2017. The year ending July 2011 saw the state ranked fourth in the nation in job creation behind Texas, California, and New York. By 2016 the state wasn't in the top 10 for job growth, and between 2015-2016, the state saw a decrease in job creation of 38,800. Since February 2010 state was 2.5% below the national average.

Ohio's private sector is composed of 921,000 employers, which hire around 50.4% of Ohio's non-farm private workforce. Ohio has a developing technology sector and is home to over 28,000 employers that employ nearly 820,000 people; its rate of technology operations is 14% higher than the US average. Between 2006 and 2014, Ohio's employment is expected to grow by 290,700 jobs, or approximately 5.0%. Personal income grew an average of 3.1% in 2008. About 659,900 people are employed in Ohio's manufacturing sector. Major manufacturing employers include AK Steel, Timken, and Honda. In 2007, foreign-based companies employed 229,500 Ohioans, led by Japan, United Kingdom, Germany, France, and Switzerland.

Ohio's exports constituted 3.2% of total U.S. exports in 2009, with top destinations being Canada at $14.2 billion, followed by Mexico, China, United Kingdom, Greece, Brazil, Japan, Germany, France, and Australia. In 2009 the state was the nation's 7th largest exporter with $34.1 billion. 13, 092 companies exported in 2009, with transportation equipment accounting for $9.9 billion, machinery $4.9 billion, chemicals $4.4 billion, and computer and electronics products $2.4 billion.

As of 2010, Ohio was #6 in the country for Fortune 500 companies with 23. They include Cardinal Health at #17, Procter & Gamble at #22, Kroger at #23, Macy's at #103, Nationwide Insurance at #118, Goodyear Tire and Rubber at #141, Progressive Insurance at #161, American Electric Power at #172, Eaton Corporation at #194, and Owens Corning at #432.

Personal income

For more details, see Ohio locations by per capita income

Ohio had an estimated $505 billion in total personal income in 2015. The average income for the top 5% in the state was $174,026 in 2008. Over two decades, the bottom 20% average income bracket increased 11.6% to $18,337, while the middle 20% increased by 8.9% to $49,051.

According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics in 2008, the average annual salary for Ohioans was $39,820. The highest paid professionals in the state were concentrated in the medical fields. Anesthesiologists, with average annual income of $211,060, were the highest paid, followed by oral and maxillofacial surgeons at $206,670, surgeons at $206,570, orthodontists at $200,770, obstetricians and gynecologists at $186,740, physicians at $170,730, and dentists at $165,400. Average annual income for other selected professionals include airline pilots at $121,330, computer and information research scientists at $99,730, physicists at $98,150, chief executives at $159,730, financial managers at $109,740, aerospace engineers at $94,530, biomedical engineers at $72,150, art directors at $83,110, police officers at $49,890, chefs at $43,230, housekeepers at $19,450, construction laborers at $37,600, steel workers at $50,690, and elevator repairmen at $70,270

The state of Ohio's residents have an overall $35,511 per capita personal income as of 2009, up from $33,338 in 2006.

Incomes vary by county. The median family income in Cuyahoga County is $54,506, where the Cleveland Clinic is the single largest employer. Cleveland also has emerging biotechnology and financial concentrations. It is also worthwhile to note that while some cities in Ohio have declining populations, the overall growth in per capita income in Ohio increased by 4.6% from 2005 to 2006.

Images for kids

Procter & Gamble headquarters in Cincinnati.
GE Aviation, headquartered in Evendale, is a major manufacturer of aircraft engines. In 2010, EPISCENTER, a new R&D center for the corporation to be located in Dayton, was announced by the Third Frontier program. Aircraft engine manufacturing accounts for nearly 75% of Ohio's aerospace and defense industry workforce.
Weapon systems are integrated onto the M1131 Fire Support Vehicle, or Stryker FSV, at the Joint Systems Manufacturing Center in Lima.
General Electric's Global Operations Center is headquartered in Downtown Cincinnati
Wade Lagoon in University Circle, home to the Case Medical Center and neighboring Cleveland Clinic, which is set to begin human clinical trials of their breast cancer vaccine in 2011. Netherlands-based Philips Healthcare is currently constructing a medical imaging research and development center in the neighborhood, referred to as the Cleveland Health-Tech Corridor.
Miami Valley Hospital is ranked one of the nation's top hospitals with ratings from US News and World Report, Forbes, and HealthGrades.
Tomatoes are an example of why Ohio's agriculture industry has deep relations with Ohio's food processing industry. Ohio is the 3rd largest producer of tomatoes out of all 50 states in the United States, and, in turn, the world's largest ketchup processing plant is located in Fremont.
The British Petroleum Tower located in Cleveland.
Ohio insurance employees work in a broad array of sub-industries. Around 44.8% of insurance employees work in fire, marine, and casualty insurance; this helps make Ohio the 4th largest casualty insurance state, in the measure of employees, trailing behind only California, New York, and Illinois.
Cincinnati hosts several large financial institutions and insurance companies
The Honda Accord was the single model that was most produced in Ohio. Almost all Accords are assembled in Marysville. The Accord's Ohio production exceeded 200,000, one of only five models to do so in Ohio.
The rubber and plastics industry in Ohio is largely dominated by Goodyear Tire & Rubber, in terms of revenue, although there are more non-rubber producing Fortune 500 rubber and plastics companies in Ohio than Ohio Fortune 500 rubber and plastics companies that do produce rubber.
The Longaberger Company former headquarters in Newark.
The Liquid Crystal Institute, headquartered on the campus of Kent State University, made early contributions to the liquid crystal display.
Hyland Software, headquartered in Westlake, is the developer of the enterprise content management software OnBase.
Macy's moved its headquarters to Cincinnati after it merged with Federated Department Stores in 1994
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is a well-visited tourist attraction in Cleveland. This is one of many tourist attractions that help make up Ohio's diverse tourism industry.
Put-in-bay, located on the Bass Islands in Lake Erie, attracts international tourism.
Ohio tourism expenditures by category. About 34.4% of the expenditures were on food, making food the highest of all Ohio tourism expenditures.

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