Columbus, OH: A Top Local Market to Watch in 2027
There’s always a lot of chatter about Data Center Alley in suburban Virginia west of Washington, DC, having the highest concentration of data centers in the world. But you can’t overlook the explosion of data center construction in the Columbus, OH, MSA, particularly in New Albany, OH, about 15 miles from Columbus.
The billions of dollars of on-going and planned data center construction in this area, as well as semiconductor fab plants, several large hospital projects and the $2-billion renovation of Columbus’ John Glenn Airport and on-going construction on the Ohio State campus support Columbus’ claim of being one of the hottest electrical markets in America.
Intel’s $28-billion plans for two semiconductor fabrication facilities have slowed and the firs fab isn’t expected to open until 2031. On the data center front, Amazon Web Services plans to invest $23 billion in data centers through 2030 in New Albany; Meta plans to invest more than $1.5 billion in its Heath and Hebron, OH, data center campuses; Microsoft has work underway on three campuses in the New Albany area; and the data centers being built by QTS in New Albany.
Other noteworthy projects in the Columbus market include the $900-million construction project underway and the Anduril Arsenal in Rickenbacker, OH; the $226-million OhioHealth Cancer Center in Columbus.
ESTIMATED ELECTRICAL SALES
2Q 2026 Total Sales Estimate: $1,123.9 million
2026 Electrical Contractor Est. ($ Millions): $691.3 million
2026 Estimated Industrial Sales: $207.8 million
POPULATION GROWTH
2025 Population Estimate: 2,242,028
2020-2025 Population # Change: 100,045
2020-2025 Population % Change: 4.7%
New Residents per day: 38
BUILDING PERMITS
June 2026 - Single-family (SF) permits: 2,759 permits
# Change SF YOY: (82) permits
% Change SF YOY: -2.9%
June 2026 -Multi-family (MF) permits: 3,375 permits
# Change MF YOY: (2,581)
% Change MF YOY: -43.3%
Electrical Wholesaling's Top 10 Local Markets to Watch gives you a taste of the mountain of electrical market sales estimates and other local market data available at Electrical Marketing newsletter for just $99 per year. This data includes:
- Local market sales estimates, building permits and population data for more than 300 other Metropolitan Statistical areas
- The Electrical Price Index (EPI) - A monthly compilation of pricing trends for more than 20 key electrical product groups
- Annual product sales estimates from 16 key electrical products
Sources of market data: Local market data collected by Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA) and county. Sales estimates developed with sales-per-employee multipliers from Electrical Wholesaling’s Market Planning Guide ($83572 per electrical contractor employee and $2,7289 per industrial employee) and employment data from the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics. Building permit and population data downloaded from U.S. Census Bureau website.
About the Author
Jim Lucy
Editor-in-Chief
Over the past 40-plus years, hundreds of Jim’s articles have been published in Electrical Wholesaling and Electrical Marketing newsletter on topics such as the impact of new competitors on the electrical market’s channels of distribution, energy-efficient lighting and renewables, and local market economics. In addition to his published work, Jim regularly gives presentations on these topics to C-suite executives, industry groups and investment analysts.
He recently launched a new subscription-based data product for Electrical Marketing that offers electrical sales potential estimates and related market data for more than 300 metropolitan areas, and in 1999 he published his first book, “The Electrical Marketer’s Survival Guide” for electrical industry executives looking for an overview of key market trends.
While managing Electrical Wholesaling’s editorial operations, Jim and the publication’s staff won several Jesse H. Neal awards for editorial excellence, the highest honor in the business press, and numerous national and regional awards from the American Society of Business Press Editors. He has a master’s degree in Communications and a bachelor’s degree in Journalism from Glassboro State College, Glassboro, N.J. (now Rowan University).