Central Ohio's population is growing, though maybe not as fast as the Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission (MORPC) expected four years ago.
Still, MORPC's latest projection, released Tuesday afternoon, predicts that between 2.7 and 3.12 million people will live in the region by 2055.
That's despite slowing birth rates. MORPC expects deaths in the region to exceed births starting around 2040, which roughly matches national trends. From that point forward, MORPC said every additional resident will come from migration.
The disparity between MORPC's higher and lower population projections comes down to the number of people who move to the area. Its median projection of about 2.9 million new residents assumes that migration trends from the last 15 years continue consistently.
Immigrants have driven migration into the region in recent years. MORPC reports that from 2020 to 2025, international migration accounted for 96% of the region's net migration. That's about 68,000 people.
In those same years, domestic migration was flat or negative, though central Ohio does attract residents from other parts of the state. MORPC said the region gained around 30,000 households that came from other parts of the state between 2011 and 2023.
Since 2000, central Ohio's population has grown by more than 29%, which is higher than the roughly 21% growth of America's overall population.
Ohio's population has only increased by 4.7% since 2000. The state's population would have decreased were it not for central Ohio's growth.
MORPC characterizes the region's growth as "steady" and "positive." From 2020 to 2025, central Ohio added a little more than 100,000 residents, with about two-thirds of those being people who moved into the region from other places.
While MORPC's new projections for future growth are a bit lower than the organization's estimates in the past, MORPC said that will give communities and businesses time to get ahead of demand, rather than reacting to it.
MORPC said more housing is still needed, and that the region needs to think about affordability, education and quality of life to attract and retain residents. The organization also recommends creating local and regional policies to navigate national migration policies and expected workforce changes from artificial intelligence.
MORPC also warns that growth will not be distributed evenly over the 15 counties included in the report.
Central Ohio counties, including Fayette, Hocking and Logan, are expected to see population decrease regardless of how many people move into the larger region.
Meanwhile, Franklin County's population is expected to exceed 1.5 million by 2055, even in MORPC's most conservative projection.
Delaware County's population is projected to hit at least 314,000 by 2055. In 2025, the county's population was about 242,000.
MORPC noted that its middle and high population estimates are above the Ohio Department of Development's 2023 projections.
MORPC looked at Delaware, Fairfield, Fayette, Franklin, Hocking, Knox, Licking, Logan, Madison, Marion, Marrow, Perry, Pickaway, Ross and Union counties for its report. As of Jan. 1, 2026, about 2,536,000 people lived in those 15 counties.
