ZIP code 45601: Chillicothe

Drinking-water compliance

A health-based violation is a contaminant above its limit or a treatment rule not followed; monitoring, reporting and public-notice violations are paperwork. Lead is the 90th-percentile result across sampled homes, not a reading at any one tap.

Source: EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System (Envirofacts, pulled September 2026), violations and lead and copper sampling for the system that serves most of this ZIP · EPA SDWIS (Envirofacts) · EPA ECHO

Byproducts and contaminants

TTHM

26.5 µg/L yearly mean in 2019, the last year in the file (limit 80); worst yearly mean 33.8, highest single sample 50.8; 43 samples from 2012 to 2019

HAA5

3.4 µg/L yearly mean in the last year sampled (limit 60); worst yearly mean 8.8, highest sample 15.2; 43 samples

Nitrate

highest of 8 samples was 0.48 mg/L as nitrogen (2018; limit 10); 0.36 in 2019, the last year sampled. Nitrate above 10 is unsafe for infants

Arsenic

not detected in 3 samples (limit 10)

Solvents and fuels

benzene, carbon tetrachloride, 1,2-dichloroethane, trichloroethylene, tetrachloroethylene, vinyl chloride not detected in 3 samples

Bacteria

0 of 2,882 routine tap samples (0%) tested positive for total coliform in 2012 to 2019, 0 of 360 in 2019. Coliform itself is a warning sign; E. coli means sewage or manure reached the water

Farm chemicals

atrazine, alachlor not detected in 3 samples

Metals

barium in 3 of 3 samples, highest 26 µg/L (limit 2,000); chromium, cadmium, mercury, selenium, thallium not detected in 3 samples

EPA's file stops at 2019; Ohio EPA's Drinking Water Watch has newer results. Byproducts are judged on running yearly averages at each sampling site, so one high sample is not a violation. Nitrate and arsenic are measured where water enters the pipes.

Source: EPA Six-Year Review 4 compliance monitoring data, 2012 to 2019 (TTHM, HAA5 and coliform from distribution-system samples of Chillicothe City; nitrate, arsenic, radionuclides, solvents, herbicides and metals from the entry points of the same system); non-detects counted as zero

PFAS

UCMR 5

3 samples in 2023 at the entry point to the distribution system: PFBS 3 ng/L

Ohio EPA 2020

1 plant tested (latest 2020-09): nothing detected for the six PFAS tested

Ohio EPA latest

1 plant sampled by Ohio EPA, most recently 2026-05 (Ohio EPA statewide sampling status map)

Lithium: not detected in 2 UCMR 5 samples at Chillicothe City (the method reports from 9 µg/L). Lithium is unregulated; EPA's draft health reference level is 10 µg/L, and it occurs naturally in deep groundwater, so well systems in the northwest run highest.

PFAS are the forever chemicals from firefighting foam, plating shops and non-stick coatings. One sample above 4 ng/L is not a violation; compliance is judged on running annual averages, and systems are adding carbon filters ahead of the 2029 deadline. Results are for water leaving the plant, not your tap.

Source: EPA UCMR 5 occurrence data (final release, August 2026) and Ohio EPA statewide PFAS sampling 2019 to 2021 and its current status map, for the system that serves most of this ZIP; EPA SDWIS record OH7100112; results in nanograms per litre (parts per trillion) · Ohio EPA PFAS

Lead at the tap

Latest period

0 ppb in the sampling period ending 2025-12

Highest since 2016

2.3 ppb (2019-12); never above 10 ppb in 4 periods

Service lines

11,363 inventoried: 0 lead, 0 galvanized needing replacement, 0 unknown, 11,363 not lead (reported all required service line types)

Children: the Ohio Department of Health lists this ZIP as high-risk for childhood lead exposure, mostly from old paint and soil, so every child living here should get a blood lead test at ages 1 and 2 (Medicaid covers it, and doctors are required to order it).

Housing age: 37% of the homes here were built before 1960 and 17% before 1940, when lead service lines, lead solder and lead paint were common; 62% predate 1980 (Census ACS 2020 to 2024).

Systems sample taps in the homes most likely to have lead pipes or solder; the 90th-percentile figure means nine in ten sampled homes were at or below it. Lead comes from the service line and the house plumbing, not the source water, so a low system result does not clear an old house. The action level drops from 15 to 10 ppb in 2027, and every lead line must be replaced within ten years of that.

Source: EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System lead and copper 90th-percentile results (Envirofacts) and EPA's service line inventory dashboard (2026 Q2), for Chillicothe City (OH7100112), the system that serves most of this ZIP · ODH childhood lead testing · ODH high-risk ZIP list (CCBH PDF) · Ohio EPA lead and copper · H2Ohio

Fluoride and treatment

Treatment on file: corrosion control, coagulation and settling, chlorine disinfection, lime softening, sand or media filtration.

Measured fluoride: 1.14 mg/L on average at the plant's entry points in 2019 (in the range dentists aim for); samples ran from 1.07 to 1.17 mg/L across 3 samples in 2012 to 2019 (EPA compliance monitoring). Natural fluoride in Ohio well water runs from a trace to over 2 mg/L in parts of the northwest.

The health department counts 85.6% of Ross County residents on community water as receiving fluoridated water.

Ohio law (ORC 6109.20, 1969) makes systems serving 5,000 or more people fluoridate unless the water already carries 0.8 mg/L naturally or the community exempted itself by ordinance or referendum in the months after the law passed; smaller systems choose for themselves. The treatment list is what each system registered with EPA and can lag a plant upgrade.

Source: CDC My Water's Fluoride, fluoridation status of each system as reported by the Ohio Department of Health; EPA Safe Drinking Water Information System treatment table for Chillicothe City (OH7100112); EPA Six-Year Review 4 compliance monitoring, 2012 to 2019; Ohio Department of Health fluoridation report (DataOhio) for the county share · EPA SDWIS search

Algal toxins

Chillicothe City draws groundwater, which Ohio does not monitor for algal toxins; blooms are a surface-water problem.

Source: Ohio EPA public water system harmful algal bloom monitoring (HAB data and map, DrinkingWater/HAB service, fetched 2026-09-09), total microcystins by ELISA in raw and treated water, for the system that serves most of this ZIP · Ohio EPA HAB information for public water systems

Groundwater

Under the surface

sand and gravel with fine layers, part of the Scioto Buried Valley Aquifer (buried valley setting); wells there yield 100 - 500 gallons a minute, deposits > 100 ft thick

Bedrock

Ohio and Olentangy Shales, yielding 0 - 5 gpm to a well

Setting

Sand and Gravel; water table 30-50 ft down, 7-10 in/yr recharge, sandy loam soil (hydrogeologic setting 7D); pesticide index 193

Karst

43 karst and spring points in ODNR's inventory inside the ZIP (0 field-verified), 0.1 per square mile

Well logs

2,399 drilled wells on file (42.2 per 1,000 residents), median 62 ft deep, 10 gallons a minute median test yield, water 28 ft down

Aquifers

38% of wells in bedrock, 62% in sand, gravel and other unconsolidated material; typical well drilled 1967, 283 since 2000; uses: Domestic 1,836, Monitor 168

Wellhead protection

2% of this ZIP lies inside Ohio EPA source water protection areas for 5 public water systems (Ross County Water Co Inc, Chillicothe Correctional Institution, Jackson Co. Water Company-Wtp), 1% inside inner management zones, the ground a well draws from within a year; the largest, Ross County Water Co Inc, is rated high susceptibility in a buried valley setting

Geology

61% of the ZIP is a sensitive geologic setting, where thin or sandy cover leaves the aquifer open to what soaks in from the surface; nearest verified sinkhole 16.6 mi away (Ohio EPA and ODNR Geological Survey)

Injection wells

588 Class V injection wells on Ohio EPA's books inside this ZIP (146 active): 16 stormwater drainage, 61 large septic, 505 cleanup injection, 3 vehicle waste, 3 other; these put fluids underground above or into drinking water aquifers

Water table

RO-6 OH monitoring well (ODNR), 10.6 mi away: water 8 ft below ground on 2026-07-27; averaged 6.6 ft in 2015 to 2019 and 7.3 ft over the latest year, so the table is running about 0.7 ft lower; range 0.1 to 9 ft over 4,226 readings since 2015

Nitrate risk

EPA researchers put the chance that a public water system in the Ross Lake-Scioto River subwatershed exceeds the nitrate limit at 34% if it draws on groundwater and 45% if it draws on rivers or lakes, judged from land use, geology and past results (EnviroAtlas nitrate violation index; the typical Ohio subwatershed scores 23% for groundwater and 39% for surface water)

Quality monitoring

Ohio EPA's nearest ambient groundwater monitoring well is Chillicothe Wellfield (Ross County), 0.6 mi away: 89 ft deep in sand and gravel (Scioto River aquifer); wells there yield over 500 gallons a minute; sampled every three years. 3 active wells within 15 mi

Vulnerability rates how easily a spill at the surface reaches the aquifer, not whether anything has. Well logs include abandoned and replaced wells, so counts overstate wells in use; a private well owner is the only one who tests it.

Source: ODNR Division of Geological Survey, Groundwater Vulnerability (DRASTIC) map (polygon at the ZIP's population-weighted center), karst feature inventory, and the Ohio water well log database (logs inside the ZIP boundary) · ODNR Geological Survey · Ohio EPA GIS services · USGS water data

Aquifer exposure

Karst

no karst-prone bedrock under the population center; no mapped sinkhole inside the ZIP; nearest verified sinkhole 16.6 mi from the center

Wellhead protection

2% of the ZIP lies inside Ohio EPA source water protection areas for 5 public water systems (Ross County Water Co Inc, Chillicothe Correctional Institution, Jackson Co. Water Company-Wtp), 1% inside inner management zones, the ground a well draws from within a year; the largest, Ross County Water Co Inc, is rated high susceptibility in a buried valley setting

Vulnerability index

DRASTIC 173 (ODNR; higher means a spill at the surface reaches the aquifer more easily)

Sensitive settings are outwash plains, buried valleys, karst and shallow bedrock, mapped statewide by Ohio EPA for siting decisions. Exposure is not contamination: it says how quickly a spill, a failing tank or heavy manure would reach the water table, not whether one has.

Source: Ohio EPA Sensitive Geologic Settings and karst geology layers (geology/Geology), ODNR Geological Survey karst and spring points, Ohio EPA source water protection areas (DrinkingWater/SWAP); shares by ZIP boundary overlay, karst by a point query at the population-weighted center · Ohio EPA geology layers · Ohio EPA source water protection (SWAP) · ODNR Geological Survey

Sewage treatment

Size

4.4 million gallons a day design flow; a major facility

Compliance

7 of the last 12 quarters with a violation; currently in violation (not significant); 14 effluent limit exceedances in 3 years

Other discharge permits: 17 facilities inside this ZIP other than sewage plants hold a Clean Water Act permit (factories, water plants, quarries, package plants, storm water), 1 of them major; 24 facility-quarters with a violation in the last three years; largest: Pixelle Specialty Solutions Llc (major); Rustic Acres Subdiv (0.01 MGD).

Sewage sludge: 84 farm fields covering 4,047 acres inside this ZIP are permitted for spreading treated biosolids, mostly from Chillicothe Wwtp (2,178 acres), Chillicothe Correctional Institution (579 acres), Jackson Pike Wwtp (530 acres); 2 more retired (Ohio EPA). Biosolids carry nutrients and, increasingly under scrutiny, PFAS.

Sludge source: 3 permitted biosolids generators are inside this ZIP; nearest Chillicothe Correctional Institution, 1.2 mi away (a major plant); 3 within 10 miles (Ohio EPA).

State water loans: 12 projects inside this ZIP have borrowed $59.4 million from Ohio EPA's revolving loan funds since 2016 (12 sewer, storm water and runoff projects for $59.4 million), with $2.1 million of principal forgiven. Largest: Wastewater Treatment Plant Improvements (Chillicothe, 2023, $57.3 million); latest: Ross County HSTS Repair and Replacement Project 2026 (Ross County, 2026, $200,000). Below-market loans are how most Ohio treatment plants and water mains get rebuilt.

Sewer planning: 0% of it is assigned to Pickaway County as the designated sewage management agency under Ohio's Clean Water Act section 208 plan (generic prescriptions); 100% has no designated agency, which usually means septic systems. The 208 plan decides who may build and extend sewers.

Stormwater: this ZIP lies outside Ohio EPA's regulated MS4 areas, so its storm drains and ditches carry runoff without a municipal stormwater permit. 14 sites with an address in this ZIP hold their own industrial stormwater permits (Fedex Ground, Fedex Freight Inc - Cth, Waste Management Of Ohio - Chillicothe and others) (EPA Facility Finder).

Plants inside this ZIP: Chillicothe Correctional Institute Wastewater Plnt (4.4 MGD, major); Chillicothe Wwtp - Easterly (3.8 MGD, major); Pleasant Valley Regional Sd (0.9 MGD).

Where a home's sewage actually goes depends on the sewer district, and rural homes are on septic systems the county health department permits; the nearest plant is a proxy. Violations range from paperwork to raw discharges.

Source: EPA Enforcement and Compliance History Online (ECHO), Clean Water Act NPDES facilities with a POTW component in Ohio; straight-line miles from the ZIP's population-weighted center. Compliance data lag about a quarter.; other Clean Water Act permit holders inside the ZIP from the same service · EPA ECHO · EPA CSO inventory · Ohio EPA GIS services · EPA Facility Finder

Stream health

Uses failing

aquatic life 31% of the land, recreation (bacteria) 87%, fish consumption 26%

Causes listed

bacteria (pathogens) (87%), unknown cause (28%), other (14%)

Cleanup plans

25% of the land is under a TMDL pollution budget

Watersheds here: Dry Run-Scioto River (not supporting); City of Chillicothe-Paint Creek (not supporting).

Fish advisories (Ohio EPA): Ross Lake: largemouth bass one meal a month (mercury); Paint Creek (Plyley's Lane at Belleview Avenue (Belleview Heights) to mouth (Scioto River)): common carp one meal a month, largemouth bass one meal a month (PCBs, mercury); Salt Creek (State Route 56 near Election Road (Haynes) to mouth): channel catfish one meal a month, sauger one meal a month, smallmouth bass one meal a month and 2 more species (PCBs, mercury). Statewide, every other fish is one meal a week because of mercury.

Nearest stream assessment (Ohio EPA): Scioto R. On North End Of Chillicothe @ U.S. Rt. 35 on the Scioto River, 0.8 mi away, draining 3,846 square miles: full attainment of its exceptional warmwater use; fish IBI 47 of 60 (2016); bug ICI 54 of 60 (2016); habitat QHEI 79.8 of 100. 44 assessed sites inside the ZIP, 6 within 3 miles, 38 within 10. Scores above about 40 (IBI), 36 (ICI) and 60 (QHEI) mean a healthy warmwater stream.

Stream designations (Ohio EPA water quality standards): 255 miles of designated streams cross this ZIP: 134.2 mi warmwater habitat, 97.9 mi exceptional warmwater habitat, 22.9 mi coldwater habitat. Nearest specially protected stream: the North Fork Paint creek (Compton creek (RM 24.57) to the mouth), 1.9 mi away, an Outstanding State Water; 18% of the ZIP lies within a mile of such a stream, where new discharges face the strictest antidegradation review. Exceptional and coldwater streams are the state's healthiest; modified and limited-resource waters are channelized or ditched.

Proposed for 2026: Ohio EPA's pending water quality standards rewrite would add 85.8 miles of stream in this ZIP to the antidegradation tiers: the Scioto River as Outstanding State Water for recreation (Mill creek above O'Shaughnessy reservoir (RM 155.4) to the mouth); the Scioto River as Superior High Quality Water (Dry run (RM 79.8) to unnamed tributary (RM 69.57) and Paint creek (RM 63.50) to Boswell run (RM 32.63) and Camp creek (RM 21.75) to the mouth). Listing raises the bar for any new or expanded discharge.

PFAS in the river (Ohio EPA large river survey): at Scioto R. 0.3 Mi. Dst. Chillicothe Wwtp, 3 mi away, the water carried 93.39 ng/L of total PFAS (PFOA 5.4, PFOS 2.9 ng/L); fish fillets held 19.74 ng/g in catfish. Drinking water limits are 4 ng/L for PFOA and PFOS; river water is not drinking water, but treatment plants that draw from it start from these numbers.

Farm chemicals (USGS estimate, 2018): farms in Ross County used about 159 metric tons of pesticide active ingredient, 228 kg per square mile, 43rd of Ohio's 88 counties. Largest: glyphosate 57 t, atrazine 25 t, metolachlor 18 t, acetochlor 10 t, 2,4-D 6 t. Atrazine, the corn herbicide, is the pesticide that most often shows up in Ohio tap water after spring rains; this county used 25 t of it.

Farms (2022 Census of Agriculture): 1,107 farms work 270,703 acres of Ross County, with 42.2% of its land in cropland, 245 acres to a farm. 12,916 cattle, 375 hogs, 59,911 laying hens, 385 broilers, 10 turkeys; 58,401 acres of corn and 73,605 of soybeans. Sales $145 million, 13% from animals and animal products. Manure and fertilizer from farms like these carry the phosphorus and nitrogen behind Ohio's algae and nitrate problems; withheld figures protect individual farms.

A watershed unit fails when any sampled stream in it fails; ditches in flat farm country fail on habitat and nutrients, city creeks on bacteria and sediment. Ohio's own report is at epa.ohio.gov; the EPA link on each unit's report page has the sampling detail.

Source: EPA ATTAINS (Ohio EPA 2024 Integrated Report), watershed assessment units overlaid on the ZIP boundary in an equal-area projection; shares are of the ZIP's land area · EPA ATTAINS · Ohio integrated report · Ohio sport fish advisory · Ohio EPA advisory map

Watershed

• Lower Scioto67% of residentsDrains to the Ohio River
• Paint33% of residentsDrains to the Ohio River

ZIP codes and subbasins do not share boundaries, so this ZIP is split between them.

H2Ohio: nearest project Fleming Bend Protection and Restoration, inland flow-through and floodplain wetland, funded 2022, in progress, 17.9 mi away: This project enhanced approximately 45 acres of floodplain along the Scioto River that was previously used for agriculture and cattle grazing, two activities wh...; 0 within 5 miles, 0 within 15. H2Ohio pays for wetlands, farm practices and lead line work to cut the nutrients behind Lake Erie's algae.

Watershed grants: 3 state or federal runoff projects inside this ZIP (2 Section 319, 1 SWIF); nearest "North Fork of Paint Creek Implementation Project 2001" by Paint Creek Joint SWCD Board (corrective action, Section 319), 2.4 mi away; 3 within 10 miles (Ohio EPA project lists: Section 319 and GLRI through fiscal 2023, SWIF through 2017).

Road salt: 1 state chloride-reduction grant inside this ZIP; nearest went to City of Chillicothe (facility, 2024-2025), 0.7 mi away; 1 in Ross County. H2Ohio pays for brine makers, calibrated spreaders and covered salt barns so less chloride reaches streams and wells.

The population center sits in the Ross Lake-Scioto River subwatershed; its water runs on through Stony Creek-Scioto River, then Meadow Run-Scioto River, then Boswell Run-Scioto River.

In 2015 Ross County drew about 43 million gallons a day of fresh water (USGS): 9.5 million for public supply (100% from wells, 57,800 people served at 82 gallons a person a day at home), 31.6 million for industry, 0.5 million for irrigation, 0.1 million for mining; 19,400 residents drew their own well water.

EnviroAtlas, Ross Lake-Scioto River: 100 to 200 acres in the Conservation Reserve Program; 2,276 acres of grain crops; 42 miles of streams (1.5 per square mile); water use of 1.2 million gallons a day for homes; 39.2 inches of rain and snow a year; 9.9 kg of nitrogen per hectare falling from the air each year; farm nitrogen of 0.3 kg per hectare a year as manure and 19.2 kg as synthetic fertilizer; 0% of the farmland sits on drained hydric soils; potentially restorable wetlands on farmland cover 3% of the subwatershed; 14% of the land is paved or roofed; 61% of the stream banks keep natural cover (EPA EnviroAtlas national metrics, 2010s vintages).

Stream permits: 36% of this ZIP drains to streams Ohio EPA rates high quality, where a project that fills, pipes or crosses a stream needs an individual Ohio EPA 401 water quality review; 29% drains toward high-quality waters farther down and might qualify for the Army Corps' blanket nationwide permits after a field screening and 35% can use those nationwide permits outright (Ohio EPA 401 nationwide permit eligibility map).

Source: USGS Watershed Boundary Dataset (HUC-8 subbasins by resident share, HUC-12 subwatershed at the population center) · 2020 census blocks · USGS watershed boundaries · EPA EnviroAtlas · Ohio EPA 401 map · USGS county water use 2015 · ODNR H2Ohio projects · ODNR Lake Erie Coastal Management Area · Ohio EPA source water protection (SWAP) · Ohio EPA nine-element plans · Ohio EPA 319, GLRI and SWIF project lists · Ohio EPA chloride reduction grants · NOAA Lake Erie water levels

Homes and income

Household income

$59,748 median

Income spread

17% of households earn under $25,000 a year, 27% $100,000 or more and 5.0% $200,000 or more

Rent

$915 a month, median gross

Owner-occupied

68% of 21,678 occupied homes; 55% of owners carry a mortgage

Typical home built

1971

Value spread

20% of owner-occupied homes are worth under $100,000 and 3.8% $500,000 or more; income per person $32,494 a year

Moved in

the typical owner moved in in 2008, the typical renter in 2019

Median age

41.5 years

Commute

24 minutes each way on average, 16% of commuters travel 45 minutes or more, 5% work from home

Housing stock

71% single-family detached, 9% in buildings of 5 or more units, 10.2% mobile homes; 1.2% of homes are crowded (more than one person a room)

Vacancy

6.5% of 23,192 housing units are vacant: 0.9% held for seasonal or occasional use, 4.9% other, such as homes held off the market, in probate or abandoned

Owner costs

28% of owners with a mortgage and 8% of owners without one spend 30% or more of income on housing

Evictions

4.6 eviction filings a year per 100 renter households in 2016 to 2018, 1.94 ending in a judgement (about 315 filings a year; Eviction Lab)

Fair market rent

$1,080 a month for a two-bedroom (one-bedroom $900, three-bedroom $1,360): HUD's fiscal 2026 small-area fair market rent, the benchmark for housing vouchers in the Ross County area

Tax returns

24,080 returns for 2022 averaging $61,488 of adjusted gross income; 28% reported under $25,000 and 3% reported $200,000 or more; 17% claimed the earned income credit and 28% were filed by people 60 or older (IRS)

Subsidized housing

4 public housing developments with 387 units (Chillicothe Metropolitan Housing Authority); 10 tax-credit (LIHTC) properties with 492 low-income units, newest placed in service 2020; 5 HUD-assisted multifamily properties with 213 assisted units (Section 8 and similar contracts). Housing vouchers used in private rentals are not counted

Banks

12 full-service bank branches from 10 banks inside this ZIP (FDIC); 7 credit union branches from 4 credit unions (NCUA)

Strain

50% of renters pay 30% or more of income in rent; 6.4% of households have no vehicle; the median renter spends 29.9% of income on rent; the median owner with a mortgage spends 19.9% of income on housing costs

Five-year survey averages centered on 2022; small ZIPs carry wide margins of error, and owner-estimated values run below sale prices in a rising market.

Source: Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020 to 2024 five-year estimates by ZIP Code Tabulation Area; Eviction Lab (Princeton) tract estimates 2016 to 2018, weighted to the ZIP; HUD fiscal 2026 Small Area Fair Market Rents; IRS Statistics of Income ZIP data, tax year 2022; Mapping Inequality (University of Richmond), HOLC maps 1935 to 1940; HUD eGIS open data for subsidized housing; FDIC BankFind branch locations; NCUA credit union branch list, March 2026 · Census ACS · Eviction Lab · HUD data · IRS ZIP statistics · Mapping Inequality · HUD eGIS open data · FDIC BankFind · NCUA call report data

Houses and neighborhoods

Homes

14,917 one-family houses, 313 two-family houses, 39 three-family houses, 388 condominiums, 3,706 manufactured homes, 1,012 farmhouses; also 97 apartment buildings and 1,990 other residential parcels

Age

24% built before 1950, 56% before 1978 (1978: the year lead paint was banned for housing)

Size

median living area 1,386 sq ft; median lot 0.45 acres (condominiums left out)

Value

median appraised value $148,545 (tax year 2025): the county auditor's market value for property tax, not a sale price

Sales

419 sales in the 12 months to Feb 6, 2026 (median $205,000); 2,167 sales in 5 years (median $160,000, $128 a sq ft). Counted: sales the auditor marked valid or has not yet reviewed (sales marked not valid, and unreviewed ones under $10,000, are left out), single-parcel sales of homes, one per house (its newest)

Owners

67% owner-occupied (homes receiving the owner-occupancy tax credit); 7% company-owned

Neighborhoods

0 neighborhoods and 3 subdivisions (details load below)

Show neighborhoods and houses

The houses load when you search, pick a filter or press the button (the pack for this part of the state, a few megabytes). Zoomed in on the map, each house of this ZIP draws as a dot that follows the search and filters.

Source: county auditors' appraisal records: Jackson County Auditor (as of Jul 30, 2026); Ross County Auditor (as of Feb 6, 2026); OGRIP Ohio Statewide Parcels, Ohio Department of Administrative Services (Pike County, upload of Jul 10, 2023); residential parcels placed in ZIPs by the atlas; owner names are not carried · Allen County Auditor · Ashland County Auditor · Auglaize County Auditor · Butler County Auditor · Champaign County Auditor · Clark County Auditor · Clinton County Auditor · Coshocton County Auditor · Crawford County Auditor · Fairfield County Auditor · Fayette County Auditor · Franklin County Auditor · Greene County Auditor · Guernsey County Auditor · Hardin County Auditor · Highland County Auditor · Hocking County Auditor · Holmes County Auditor · Jackson County Auditor · Knox County Auditor · Licking County Auditor · Logan County Auditor · Lorain County Auditor · Madison County Auditor · Marion County Auditor · Miami County Auditor · Montgomery County Auditor · Morrow County Auditor · Muskingum County Auditor · Perry County Auditor · Pickaway County Auditor · Richland County Auditor · Ross County Auditor · Stark County Auditor · Tuscarawas County Auditor · Union County Auditor · Wyandot County Auditor · OGRIP Ohio Statewide Parcels · Athens County subdivisions, town plats and additions (Athens County Auditor GIS) · Cincinnati Community Council Boundaries · Cincinnati Statistical Neighborhood Approximations (SNA), 2020 · Clark County recorded subdivision plats · Clermont County recorded subdivision plats · Cleveland Heights neighborhoods · Cleveland Statistical Planning Areas (SPAs) / neighborhoods · Columbus Communities · Columbus Community Planning Areas · Coshocton County subdivisions (recorded plats and town additions) · Dayton neighborhoods · Dublin Civic Associations · Franklin County recorded subdivision and condominium plats · Hamilton (Ohio) 17Strong neighborhoods · Lima neighborhood associations · Logan County subdivision and condominium plats · Madison County subdivisions (recorded plats) · Morgan County subdivision, addition and town plats · Muskingum County subdivision plats · Perry County subdivisions and town additions (recorded plat names on the county engineer's parcels) · Richland County subdivisions and condominiums (recorded plats, county GIS) · Sandusky neighborhoods · Stark County recorded allotment (subdivision) and condominium plats · Toledo neighborhood associations · Union County subdivision plats

Building permits

Mix

126 single-family houses, 0 units in buildings of five or more, 10 in duplexes and small buildings

Value

$33.5 million of construction at the value declared on the permits

By year

2016: 13, 2017: 14, 2018: 9, 2019: 9, 2020: 10, 2021: 11, 2022: 16, 2023: 19, 2024: 18, 2025: 17, 2026 through July: 8

Caveat

8 of the ten years had fewer than 12 months reported by the permit office; the Census Bureau estimates the missing months, so those counts are partly or wholly imputed

Survey counts are permits issued, not houses finished, and cover new residential construction only: additions, remodels, garages and commercial buildings are not in the survey. Values are the applicants' estimates. Where a city runs the building department for its township neighbours, the city's figure covers them too.

Source: Census Bureau Building Permits Survey, annual place files 2016 to 2025 (new privately owned residential units authorized), for the permit-issuing jurisdiction where most of this ZIP's residents live · Census building permits

Home prices

Five years

+51% from 2020 to 2025

Last year

+3% in 2025

Since 2000

prices stand at 2.1 times their 2000 level

Series

tracked since 1976

Zillow's typical home value here is $208K (2026-07), up 4% over the year, up 29% over five years and up 82% over ten. Typical asking rent $1,148 a month (2026-07).

On the market (Realtor.com, August 2026): median asking price $289,900 (up 12.2% in a year), $170 per square foot for a typical 1,521 sq ft listing; 77 active listings, 36 new this month; listings spend a median 48 days on the market (up 14% from a year earlier); 26% of listings have cut their price.

The index follows the same houses through repeat sales and refinance appraisals on conforming mortgages, so it measures price change rather than the price level (the Homes card has the median value). Consumer prices rose about 36% from 2015 to 2025, so a gain under 36% is a loss in real terms.

Source: Federal Housing Finance Agency House Price Index, annual five-digit ZIP all-transactions series (repeat sales and refinance appraisals of conforming-mortgage homes, developmental, not seasonally adjusted), latest release; Zillow Home Value Index (mid-tier, smoothed, seasonally adjusted) and Zillow Observed Rent Index by ZIP, Zillow Research · FHFA house price index · Zillow research data · Realtor.com data

Local taxes

Chillicothe City 42% of residents

26.9 effective mills (51.9 gross); $1,887 a year on a $200,000 home. Operating 16.5, bonds 5.7, improvements 1.3, inside millage 3.5.

Union-Scioto Local 27% of residents

21.2 effective mills (31.8 gross); $1,485 a year on a $200,000 home. Operating 16.7, improvements 1.2, inside millage 3.3.

Municipal income tax

Chillicothe 1.8% (39% of residents); township residents outside a city or village pay none. Charged on wages and business profits where you work and, after credits, where you live.

School district income tax

Chillicothe City none (42% of residents), Union-Scioto Local 0.5% (27% of residents), Zane Trace Local 0.75% (9% of residents), Huntington Local none (9% of residents), Southeastern Local none (8% of residents), Paint Valley Local none (3% of residents). Voted by the district and collected with the state income tax.

Sales tax

7.25% combined rate in Ross County: Ohio's 5.75% plus county and transit levies; this ZIP straddles counties or transit districts, so the rate depends on the address.

A mill is $1 per $1,000 of taxable value, and taxable value is 35% of market value. Effective rates fall as values rise because Ohio holds most voted levies to the dollars first approved. County, municipal or township, library, park and vocational-school levies are added on the same bill and are not counted here.

Source: Ohio Department of Taxation, Aggregate Property Tax Rates by School District, tax year 2025 (composite DTE 515); weighted by the share of this ZIP's residents in each district; The Finder rate tables for municipal, school district and sales taxes, September 2026 · Ohio tax data series · The Finder

Who delivers the electricity

• AEP Ohio investor-owned73% of residentsAmerican Electric Power (AEP)
• South Central Power Company co-op26% of residentsBuckeye Power, Inc.

AEP Ohio outages, 2024: the average customer lost power for 272 minutes (158 minutes leaving out major storm days), about 1.1 interruptions a year.

AEP Ohio standard service offer price, 2024: 19.33 cents per kWh, about $174 a month for the average home, for the 550,768 residential customers who have not chosen a supplier; the other 788,464 pay AEP Ohio 10.75 cents per kWh for delivery plus their supplier's price (EIA-861).

AEP Ohio solar and meters, 2024: 11,606 customers run net-metered solar (158.9 MW, 11,036 of them homes); 79% of its 1,541,883 meters are two-way smart (AMI) meters, 21% drive-by automated reads (EIA-861).

South Central Power Company outages, 2024: the average customer lost power for 320 minutes (201 minutes leaving out major storm days), about 2.5 interruptions a year.

South Central Power Company residential price, 2024: 14.87 cents per kWh, about $160 a month for the average home across 117,469 residential customers (EIA-861).

South Central Power Company solar and meters, 2024: no net-metered solar reported under its own name (Buckeye Power, the co-ops' generation cooperative, files one Ohio net-metering row: 3,058 systems, 32.6 MW in 2024); 100% of its 127,851 meters are two-way smart (AMI) meters (EIA-861).

Energy burden: households here spend an average 3.6% of income on electricity, gas and other fuels (about $2,445 a year against $68,233 of income); the 43% of households below 80% of the area median income spend 8.7%, and 31% of households fall in groups averaging 6% or more, the usual line for a high burden (DOE LEAD Tool, 2022 update, built from 2018 to 2022 survey data).

Source: PUCO certified territories via ODOT · HIFLD retail service territories (EIA Form 861) · 2020 census blocks · outage statistics from EIA-861 Reliability, 2024 with 2023 where a utility skipped a year (SAIDI and SAIFI, IEEE 1366) · residential prices from EIA-861 Sales to Ultimate Customers, net metering and advanced meters from the EIA-861 files of the same years · DOE LEAD Tool 2022 household energy burden by tract, apportioned into ZIPs by block population · PUCO electricity · ODOT territories service · EIA-861 · DOE LEAD Tool · HIFLD retail service territories

Natural gas here

38% of the 21,678 homes here heat with utility gas.

Utility gas 38%Electricity 46%Propane or LP 11%Oil, wood, other 6%

• Columbia Gas of Ohio regulated utility96% of residents, main companyNiSource Inc.
• Pike Natural Gas Company small company4% of residents, main companyUtility Pipeline, Ltd. (UPL)

Pipes under the street: Columbia Gas of Ohio reported 20,620 miles of distribution main to PHMSA for 2025, 64% plastic and 6.6% cast iron or bare steel (the leak-prone materials); 3,271 hazardous leaks repaired in 2025.

PUCO lists 2 companies operating in Ross County: Columbia Gas of Ohio, Pike Natural Gas Company.

Source: PUCO gas distribution companies by county, April 2026 · federal (EIA) territory polygons, 2016 · Census ACS 2020 to 2024 heating fuel · PUCO natural gas · HIFLD

Power plants

Nearest plant of any size: Pixelle Specialty Solutions LLC - Chilli, 1.4 mi (biomass, 32 MW).

2 plants within 10 miles totalling 82 MW: 1 solar (50 MW), 1 biomass (32 MW). Inside this ZIP: Salt City Solar Project - Hybrid (solar, 50 MW); Pixelle Specialty Solutions LLC - Chilli (biomass, 32 MW).

Solar: Salt City Solar Project - Hybrid, 50 MW AC (2022), 292 acres, 6 mi away; 2 utility-scale solar farms within 15 miles, inside the ZIP: Salt City Solar Project - Hybrid.

Capacity is net summer capacity in megawatts (EIA), not output; a solar farm's 200 MW runs a quarter of the hours a gas plant's would. Small peaking engines and landfill-gas units count as plants.

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration Form 860 plant inventory via HIFLD (February 2025); USGS U.S. Wind Turbine Database and U.S. Large-Scale Solar Photovoltaic Database; NRC emergency planning zones around Perry and Davis-Besse (residents inside the roughly 10-mile zone counted by 2020 census block); straight-line miles from the ZIP's population-weighted center · EIA-860 · HIFLD · USGS wind turbines · USGS solar · NRC emergency planning zones

Gas transmission pipelines

6.5 miles of transmission pipe cross this ZIP: Columbia Gas Trans Co 6.5 mi.

Transmission lines run at hundreds of pounds of pressure and are inspected under federal rules; the distribution mains that actually feed homes are a separate, denser network not shown here. By mileage in this EIA layer Ohio's map is dominated by Columbia Gas Transmission and East Ohio Gas's intrastate lines; Texas Eastern and the Rover and Nexus lines built for Utica shale gas are among the other large interstate systems.

Source: U.S. Energy Information Administration Natural Gas Interstate and Intrastate Pipelines layer (data last updated July 2025, pulled September 2026), via the ArcGIS Online copy maintained by Esri's Federal User Community; straight-line miles from the ZIP's population-weighted center; lengths clipped to the ZIP boundary in an equal-area projection · EIA U.S. Energy Atlas · ArcGIS Online item

Incumbent telephone company

• Chillicothe99% of residentsIndependent local companies

Source: PUCO incumbent local exchange carrier service areas · 2020 census blocks · PUCO telephone

Internet

Served, 100/20 Mbps or better 93%Underserved, 25/3 to 100/20 3%Unserved, under 25/3 4%

Fiber reaches 56% of locations, cable 90%; a year earlier 92% were served.

Of 21,678 households, 73% subscribe to cable, fiber or DSL, 13% rely on a cellular plan only, and 9% have no internet at home.

Measured by Ookla speed tests, April to June 2025: typical fixed download 318.3 Mbps, upload 26.6 Mbps, 22 ms latency, across 1,559 tests from up to 555 devices in 351 map tiles.

Source: FCC Broadband Data Collection, June 2024 (availability) · Census ACS 2020 to 2024 (subscriptions) · Ookla Open Data, fixed-network speed tests by tile, 2025 Q2 (measured speeds) · FCC broadband map · Ookla open data · Census ACS

Cell signal

• AT&T4G 91% · 5G 66%
• T-Mobile4G 90% · 5G 80%
• Verizon4G 96% · 5G 29%

Registered towers: 35 antenna structures registered with the FCC inside this ZIP and 4 within 3 miles of its center; the tallest inside is a 449-foot lattice tower. Only structures over 200 feet or near airports must register, so most cell sites on short poles, water towers and rooftops are not counted.

Measured mobile speeds (Ookla speed tests, April to June 2026): typical download 287.2 Mbps, upload 18.5 Mbps, latency 38 ms over 148 tests from up to 105 devices in 85 map tiles.

Coverage as the carriers report it to the FCC for outdoor use at a stationary spot, by land area rather than by residents; indoor signal and rural hollows can be worse.

Source: FCC Mobile Broadband Data Collection via Esri Living Atlas (layer last updated November 2025, i.e. the June 30, 2025 filing round), carrier-reported outdoor coverage by hexagon, summed over the ZIP's land; FCC Antenna Structure Registration database, September 2026; Ookla open data mobile tiles, 2026 Q2 · FCC broadband map · FCC antenna registration · Ookla open data

EV charging

5 public stations inside this ZIP with 9 Level 2 and 11 DC fast ports; the nearest of any kind is YOCTANGEE COC, 0.6 mi. 5 stations within 5 miles of the ZIP's population center, 3 with DC fast charging.

Networks here: ChargePoint (3), EV Connect (1), Tesla Supercharger (1).

Level 2 adds roughly 20 to 30 miles of range an hour; DC fast charging fills most cars in under an hour. Listings are operator-reported and lag new openings and closures.

Source: NREL Alternative Fuels Data Center via the U.S. DOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics (public, open electric stations, the posts at one site merged, restricted-access sites excluded), and chargers in neighbouring states near the border; straight-line miles from the ZIP's population-weighted center; station list as of May 29, 2026 · Alternative Fuels Data Center · BTS Alternative Fueling Stations (NTAD)

Public transit

54 stops inside this ZIP: Chillicothe Transit System (54).

Only fixed-route systems that publish a GTFS feed appear; dial-a-ride and demand-response services do not, and a handful of small fixed-route systems publish no feed at all. Half a mile is roughly a ten-minute walk.

Source: USDOT Bureau of Transportation Statistics, National Transit Map stops (National Transportation Atlas Database, 2025 vintage, fetched September 2026), plus the Springfield, Lancaster-Fairfield, Knox County Transit, WayGo and BGSU Shuttle GTFS feeds; share of 2020 census block population within half a mile of a stop · BTS National Transit Map · BTS transportation atlas · Springfield City Area Transit GTFS feed · Lancaster-Fairfield Public Transit GTFS feed · Knox County Transit GTFS feed · WayGo GTFS feed · BGSU Shuttle GTFS feed

Walkability

Street grid

30 intersections per square mile, long blocks and country roads

Transit

no stop within three-quarters of a mile in the EPA's 2020 transit file

Mix of uses

employment mix 0.53 and mix of homes and job types 0.47 on the EPA's 0 to 1 scales, where 1 is the most varied

Car-free households

6.4% of households have no vehicle (Census ACS 2020 to 2024)

The index scores every block group on intersection density, distance to transit and how mixed its jobs and homes are, then ranks them against the whole country. It measures the street pattern, not sidewalks, safety or hills.

Source: EPA National Walkability Index (Smart Location Database 3.0, 2021) by census block group, population-weighted to the ZIP through 2020 census blocks; car-free households from Census ACS 2020 to 2024 table B25044 (the Homes card), or, where that is missing, the Smart Location Database's own 2014 to 2018 share weighted by households · EPA walkability index · Smart Location Database · Census ACS

Rail crossings

9 with gates; railroads: CSX (7), Norfolk Southern (7), Ohio South Central Railroad (1). Busiest crossing: 26 trains a day reported; fastest line 60 mph.

Collisions: 9 crossing incidents reported to the FRA inside this ZIP since 2010 (3 killed, 1 injured), the latest in 2026; most at Tr 236N/Delano Road (2).

Train accidents: 6 rail equipment accidents inside this ZIP since 2010 (2 derailments); 1 killed, 1 injured; $483,750 in damage. Latest: 2025, hwy-rail crossing (Norfolk Southern Railway Company); the most common cause here is highway user inattentiveness.

Ross County has logged 5 rail accidents since 2010, 2 of them derailments (FRA Form 54). Yard mishaps at walking speed dominate; main-line derailments are the rare, dangerous ones.

Train counts and speeds are the railroad's last inventory update. Crossings with only crossbucks rely on the driver; Ohio has averaged about 77 crossing collisions a year from 2010 to 2025 (FRA Form 57), between 64 and 87 in a year.

Source: Federal Railroad Administration, Grade Crossing Inventory (Form 71, current records); crossings whose point falls inside the ZIP boundary, closed crossings excluded; nearest crossing measured from the population-weighted center. Collisions are FRA Form 57 crossing incidents since 2010, placed by crossing id through the inventory's coordinates; train accidents are FRA Form 54 rail equipment accidents since 2010, placed by their own reported coordinates, counted one per incident rather than one per report (county totals from the same file). All three pulled from data.transportation.gov, September 2026 · FRA crossing inventory (Form 71, current) · FRA crossing incidents (Form 57) · FRA rail equipment accidents (Form 54) · FRA safety data · DOT open data

Bridges

Age

typical bridge built 1968, 67 built before 1950; oldest 1900, Old Route 35 over Walnut Creek

Busiest

US 23 over Scioto River, 47,570 vehicles a day (2021 count)

Owners

county 138, state 97

Rated poor

SR 772 over Ralston Run (1980, 2,704 a day); SR 207 over Stream (1975, 2,409 a day) and 20 more

Ratings come from the inspection every bridge gets at least every two years; poor means deterioration that needs repair, not imminent danger. FHWA's file is a yearly snapshot with inspections through early 2025, so a bridge replaced, re-rated or closed since then still shows its old rating here; ODOT's TIMS bridge inventory carries the current one. Traffic figures are the average daily counts the bridge owners filed with the inventory; most Ohio counts date from 2015 and some are older. County engineers own most of Ohio's small bridges and ODOT the big ones.

Source: Federal Highway Administration, National Bridge Inventory 2025 (Ohio file); structures whose point falls inside the ZIP boundary; condition from NBI items 58, 59, 60 and 62 (deck, superstructure, substructure, culvert) · FHWA bridge inventory · ODOT TIMS bridge inventory (live)

Traffic

Trucks

8,183 a day on US 23, 17% of its traffic

Driving

about 1.9M vehicle-miles a day on the 1,226 counted segments inside the ZIP; the typical segment carries 2,555 vehicles

Busiest local road

county road 550, 14,669 vehicles a day

Annual average daily traffic is both directions combined, averaged over the year. County, township and city roads are labelled by their route number, which ODOT uses instead of the street name. Most city streets have no count, so the busiest local road is the busiest counted one. Interchange ramps are left out of the busiest-road pick; a ZIP with nothing but ramps shows one labelled ramp and its ODOT number.

Road deaths: 41 people died in 37 crashes inside this ZIP in 2020 to 2024 (7 pedestrians, 4 motorcyclists); 7 involved a drinking driver and 12 happened in the dark; most on US-23 (10). That is 14.4 deaths a year per 100,000 residents against 10.6 across Ohio's ZIPs; deaths are counted where the crash happened, and many who die live elsewhere. (NHTSA FARS)

Source: ODOT traffic count segments, 2025 annual average daily traffic (ODOT TIMS); segments assigned to the ZIP holding their midpoint; NHTSA Fatality Analysis Reporting System 2020 to 2024, crashes placed by their coordinates · ODOT TIMS traffic count segments · NHTSA FARS

Airports and trains

Nearest airfield

Ross County (RZT), Chillicothe, 7.3 mi, public use

Amtrak

South Shore-South Portsmouth station, 42.6 mi (South Shore, KY)

Ohio's Amtrak stops are on the Floridian (Amtrak has temporarily combined the Capitol Limited with the Silver Star), the Lake Shore Limited and the Cardinal, all overnight trains; Cincinnati's only calls three times a week. Amtrak's Thruway bus stops, Dayton-Trotwood among them, are not counted as stations here. Airline service at Toledo and Rickenbacker is limited to a few routes; Youngstown-Warren has had no airline flights since 2018.

Source: FAA airport facilities and Amtrak stations via USDOT BTS National Transportation Atlas; straight-line miles from the ZIP's population-weighted center · BTS transportation atlas

Radon in this ZIP

46% of tests at or above EPA's 4 pCi/L action level · median 3.5 · highest 102.0

A ZIP average says nothing about one house; readings next door can differ tenfold. Test yours, and fix it at 4 pCi/L or more.

Source: odh.ohio.gov radon levels by ZIP code, tests since 2010, before mitigation · ODH radon program

Flood zones

13% of the ZIP's land is in that floodplain, and another 0.3% is in the 0.2% (500-year) zone; 0.0% of residents live in the 0.2% zone. Zones mapped here: AE, A.

Design storms (NOAA Atlas 14): a 100-year storm here drops 5.7 inches in 24 hours (2.9 in a single hour, 4.4 in six); a 2-year storm 2.7, 10-year 3.8, 25-year 4.5, 500-year 7.2 inches in 24 hours. Storm sewers, culverts and detention ponds are sized from these numbers, and a "100-year" storm has a 1% chance every year.

Nearest river gauge: Scioto River at Chillicothe OH, 1.2 mi away, draining 3,849 square miles. Record flow 260,000 cubic feet a second at a stage of 39.8 ft on 1913-03-26; the highest since 2016 was 45,100 on 2024-04-05 (USGS, 111 annual peaks, 1908 to 2025).

103 federal flood insurance policies are in force in this ZIP, covering $21 million of buildings; 64% of them are in a mapped high-risk zone; the typical policy costs $1,008 a year (about 1% of households).

102 federal flood insurance claims from this ZIP since 1978, 5 since 2010, paying about $799,112 in all; the worst year was 2005 with 18 claims; 26% of claims came from outside the mapped high-risk zone.

Levees: 1 levee or floodwall segment totalling 4.1 miles crosses this ZIP (Chillicothe, OH LPP), holding back Scioto River. 1 segment is not accredited, so the land behind it stays mapped as floodplain.

Community status: Chillicothe takes part in the National Flood Insurance Program; flood map effective 12/07/23. Ross County's unincorporated areas take part in the National Flood Insurance Program; flood map effective 12/07/23.

Lenders require flood insurance on mortgaged homes in the 1% zone (zones A and AE). Block centers understate narrow floodplains in rural areas, so check the FEMA map for a specific address.

Source: FEMA National Flood Hazard Layer (effective flood insurance rate maps, levee centerlines) · 2020 census block centers · ZIP land area by polygon overlay, open water excluded; NOAA Atlas 14 precipitation frequency at the ZIP center; USGS NWIS annual peak flows; OpenFEMA NFIP policies in force by reported ZIP as of September 2026, NFIP redacted claims and the Community Status Book · FEMA flood hazard layer · FEMA Map Service Center · OpenFEMA · NOAA Atlas 14 · USGS stream gauges

Natural hazard risk

• Lightning97
• Ice storm82

FEMA's expected annual loss here from all hazards: $16 million a year in buildings, crops and lives.

The index blends how often a hazard strikes, what it would cost, and how vulnerable and resilient the community is. Inland flooding (rivers and heavy rain) scores 63, tornado 57, winter weather 67.

Source: FEMA National Risk Index, census tracts, December 2025 release, weighted to this ZIP by 2020 block population · FEMA National Risk Index · NRI census tract layer (ArcGIS)

Climate

Temperature

53.5°F average; typical January low 21°, July high 85°

Hot and cold days

22 days a year reach 90°F; 114 nights fall below freezing, 3 below 0°F; 20 days never climb above freezing

Rain and snow

43.6 inches of precipitation on 82 days with a tenth of an inch or more; 12 inches of snow on 7 days with an inch or more

Degree days

5,145 heating, 986 cooling (base 65°F): the higher the heating number, the bigger the winter gas bill

Drought (U.S. Drought Monitor): since 2020 Ross County has spent 33 weeks in moderate drought or worse, 9 of them severe or worse (most recently 9 weeks in 2024), and 64 weeks at least abnormally dry. The worst since 2000 was exceptional drought in 2024/09; 7% of all weeks since 2000 were in drought. As of 2026-09-01: no drought.

Long run (NOAA, Ross County): the average year ran 53.6 °F over 1996 to 2025 against 51.9 °F over 1901 to 1930, 1.6 °F warmer (1.8 °F warmer than 1951 to 1980); the warmest year on record was 2024 at 56.2 °F, and 2025 came in at 53.7 °F. Precipitation averaged 42.8 inches a year lately against 41.2 a century ago, 4% more; the wettest year was 2018 with 58.6 inches, and 2025 brought 46.3. More rain in bigger bursts is what strains storm sewers and septic fields.

Stations: Chillicothe Mound City (2.6 mi, temperature); Waverly (15.6 mi, precipitation and snowfall; 14 years of snowfall record). Normals are thirty-year averages, so a single winter can run far above or below them; NOAA marks this snowfall normal provisional because the station record is too short or too patchy for a standard normal, and the temperature and precipitation figures here skip stations with under 10 years.

Source: NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, U.S. Climate Normals 1991-2020 (annual/seasonal and monthly); nearest reporting station to the ZIP's population-weighted center for each element; U.S. Drought Monitor county statistics · NOAA climate normals · NOAA climate at a glance · U.S. Drought Monitor

Air quality

Worst days

98th-percentile day 20.5 µg/m³ (24-hour standard 35)

Ozone

72 ppb, 4th-highest daily 8-hour reading at London, 40.4 mi away (standard 70)

County AQI

Ross County has no monitor of its own, so EPA publishes no daily index for it

Air toxics

30 in a million lifetime cancer risk from outdoor air toxics across Ross County (EPA AirToxScreen 2020), mostly formaldehyde (19) and carbon tetrachloride (3)

Permitted sources

17 permitted air sources inside this ZIP under the Clean Air Act (2 major, Title V), 6 synthetic minor; 3 had a violation in the last 3 years; $234,440 in penalties in the last 5 years. Notable: Us Paper Mill LLC (major); Kenworth Truck Company (major); Mar Zane Plant No 30 (1 violation quarter); Shelly Materials Plant 15 (1 violation quarter) (14 permanently closed sources also on file) (EPA ECHO)

Air standards

Ross County meets every national air quality standard and carries no maintenance plan (EPA Green Book)

Ohio has 38 PM2.5 monitors, mostly in cities and near industry, so a rural ZIP borrows a reading from far away. 2025 includes Canadian wildfire smoke days. Air-toxics risk is EPA's modelled lifetime estimate for the county as a whole; EPA's national average is about 30 in a million, and formaldehyde, with the globally mixed carbon tetrachloride background and acetaldehyde, makes up most of it.

Source: EPA Air Quality System, 2025 annual summary files (monitor annual concentrations, county AQI) and the 2026 daily county AQI file; straight-line miles from the ZIP's population-weighted center to the nearest monitor · EPA air data files · EPA AirToxScreen · EPA Green Book · EPA ECHO

Toxic and Superfund sites

11 facilities have reported toxic chemical releases or transfers to EPA's inventory from inside this ZIP, and 0 sites appear in the Superfund program's list (most assessed and never listed).

348 EPA-registered facilities of all kinds in this ZIP: 13 brownfield sites in the cleanup program (Chillicothe City Admin Building, City Centre, Cooper's Glass Field), 152 hazardous-waste handlers, 29 with air permits, 52 with water discharge permits.

Nearest landfill: Paint Street Landfill, 1.4 mi from the center, municipal solid waste landfill (closed); 2 landfill sites within 3 miles of the population center, 6 inside this ZIP. Ohio EPA's list includes closed and historic dumps.

State cleanup program: 5 sites inside this ZIP (CSXT Chillicothe Yard; Chillicothe Landfill; Kenworth Truck and more), 4 within 3 miles of the population center; the nearest is CSXT Chillicothe Yard, 1.6 mi from the center, covenant not to sue, voluntary cleanup (VAP).

Voluntary cleanups: 3 properties inside this ZIP hold an Ohio EPA covenant not to sue after a Voluntary Action Program cleanup; 3 such properties within 3 miles of the population center, nearest CSXT Chillicothe Yard, 1.5 mi. These are former industrial and commercial sites certified clean enough to reuse.

Solid waste: 2 licensed waste facilities inside this ZIP (2 transfer stations); nearest Waste Management of Ohio - Chillicothe (transfer station), 2.2 mi from the center; 2 within 5 miles of the center (Ohio EPA licences, 2026). Compost sites and transfer stations are where most of a county's trash and yard waste actually goes.

Hazardous waste (EPA ECHO): 97 active RCRA handlers inside this ZIP; 1 had a violation in the last 3 years. Notable: Pleasant Valley Iron & Metal (1 violation quarter). Nearest treatment, storage or disposal facility: Ekc Advanced Electronics USA LLC in Circleville, 15.3 mi. Handlers include every business that generates hazardous waste, from body shops to chemical plants.

Underground tanks: 48 sites with 157 registered underground storage tanks in use (287 more tanks closed over the years); 190 leaking-tank releases on record, 6 open at the time, 50 inside a drinking-water source protection area; 11 reported since 2015, the latest in 2018 (EPA UST Finder, Ohio records as of 2018-2019).

Drop-off sites: the nearest scrap tire drop-off is Rumpke/Chillicothe Recycling, Chillicothe, 2.4 mi away (1 inside this ZIP); the nearest household battery drop-off is Ross County Litter Control Office, Chillicothe, 0.7 mi away (2 inside this ZIP) (Ohio EPA).

The inventory covers larger manufacturers and federal facilities that use listed chemicals; reporting means use or release, not a measured hazard to neighbours. Superfund status: on, proposed for, or deleted from the list after cleanup.

Source: EPA Facility Registry Service, Superfund (SEMS and NPL) sites and Toxics Release Inventory reporters, points inside the ZIP boundary; distance from the ZIP's population-weighted center · EPA Facility Registry · EPA Superfund sites · Ohio EPA cleanup sites · EPA UST Finder · EPA ECHO

Toxic releases

Where it went

467,851 lb to the air, 14,239 lb to surface water, 180 lb to land or underground injection; another 292,645 lb was shipped off site for disposal or release

Chemicals

Methanol 317,136 lb, Ammonia 57,100 lb, Chlorine dioxide 45,000 lb

Carcinogens

21,493 lb of the on-site releases were chemicals EPA lists as carcinogens

Facilities

Pixelle Specialty Solutions Llc (Paper): 469,528 lb, mostly Methanol; Kenworth Truck Co (Transportation Equipment): 12,562 lb, mostly Methanol; Us Army National Guard Range - Camp Sherman (Other): 180 lb, mostly Lead

To water

Pixelle Specialty Solutions Llc 14,239 lb

Trend

592,738 lb on site in 2020, so down 19% over four years

Pounds are what facilities report, not what reaches anyone: a ton of ammonia to the air and an ounce of mercury to a river are not the same risk. Off-site transfers go mostly to landfills and treatment plants elsewhere.

Source: EPA Toxics Release Inventory, basic data files for Ohio, reporting years 2020 to 2024 (2024 shown); facilities placed by their coordinates; dioxin rows reported in grams are left out of the pound totals · EPA TRI data files

Dams

Nearest high-hazard dam: Brown & Haskins Lake Dam, 3.7 mi, condition satisfactory (recreation, 27 ft high, 39 acre-feet, built 1967, on Tributary To Paint Creek, private owned).

Inside this ZIP: 12 dams, 4 high-hazard, 5 rated poor: Brown & Haskins Lake Dam (high hazard, condition satisfactory); Caldwell Lake Dam (high hazard, condition satisfactory) and 10 more.

"High hazard" describes what a failure would do downstream, not the dam's shape; Ohio rates more than a third of its inventoried dams in poor condition, mostly small private lake dams. Emergency action plans are required for high-hazard dams.

Source: U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, National Inventory of Dams (August 2026 release); straight-line miles from the ZIP's population-weighted center. Condition assessments come from Ohio's dam safety program. · National Inventory of Dams

Disasters on record

19 federal declarations for Ross County since Ohio's first in 1956 (14 major disasters): severe storm 9, flood 4, biological 2. Latest: Covid-19 Pandemic (2020).

1 earthquake of magnitude 2 or more within 25 miles since 1970, the largest M2.6 8 km SE of Richmond Dale, Ohio in 2015.

Warnings since 2015 (National Weather Service, Ross County): 17 tornado warnings (2017: 1, 2019: 4, 2020: 1, 2021: 3, 2022: 1, 2023: 2, 2024: 2, 2025: 3), 181 severe thunderstorm warnings, 23 flash flood warnings, 24 flood warnings and 126 flood advisories, 19 winter storm or blizzard warnings, 34 heat warnings or advisories, 4 extreme cold or wind chill warnings, 3 snow squall warnings; 1,009 products in all.

Mitigation grants (FEMA): 2 hazard mitigation projects in Ross County since 1992, worth $1.1 million ($630,163 federal), covering 15 properties; mostly property buyouts. Largest: property buyouts for Ross County, $633,300 (fiscal 1992).

Mitigated properties: FEMA money has treated 23 properties in this ZIP between 2003 and 2020: 15 bought out and demolished, 7 safe rooms built, 1 other measure; $325,000 paid. Buyouts turn repeatedly flooded lots into permanent open space.

Disaster aid to households: 418 households in this ZIP registered with FEMA after 5 declared disasters; 325 were approved for $1.9 million of housing and other-needs help. Registrations by event: COVID-19 pandemic (2020): 283; severe winter storms, flooding and mudslides (2005): 97; severe storms, flooding, mudslides and landslides (2004): 31.

151 severe weather reports for Ross County since 2016 in NOAA's Storm Events log: 71 damaging thunderstorm wind, 45 river and street flooding, 19 flash floods, 11 hail. Largest hail 3 in (May 26, 2019); strongest measured gust 73 mph (Jun 10, 2020); 1 death and 1 injury; about $1.0 million in reported damage, the costliest being tornadoes on Oct 16, 2021 ($300K). Zone-wide advisories add 36 winter weather, 14 winter storms, 5 high wind.

Tornado tracks are straight lines from touchdown to lift-off; a near miss counts, a direct hit is not distinguished. Declarations include the 2020 COVID-19 emergency for every county; the latest, declared 2 May 2024 (DR-4777), covers the 14 March 2024 tornadoes in eleven counties, Indian Lake among them.

Source: NOAA Storm Prediction Center tornado database 1950-2025; OpenFEMA disaster declarations summaries; USGS earthquake catalog (M2+, 1970 to date); NOAA Storm Events database 2016 to 2026 by county. Distances from the ZIP's population-weighted center. · NOAA SPC tornado data · OpenFEMA · USGS earthquakes · NOAA storm events · IEM warning archive

Spills and releases

What spilled

diesel and fuel oil (16), unidentified material or sheen (10), oils and hydraulic fluid (9)

Largest

about 10,000 gallons of calcium carbonate (caco3) in 2023, Chillicothe

Reached water

7 of them reached a creek, river, ditch or storm drain (named or unnamed)

By year

2021: 4, 2022: 6, 2023: 12, 2024: 11, 2025: 7, 2026: 9

Anyone who spills more than a reportable quantity must call Ohio EPA within 30 minutes, so the log mixes a few gallons of diesel on a highway shoulder with real releases; the reported volume is the caller's first estimate. Every report in Ohio EPA's open-data layer carries coordinates; air-pollution complaints and calls where nothing was found are left out of this count.

Source: Ohio EPA Emergency Response spill reports (Spills2 open data), reports with coordinates inside the ZIP boundary, 2021 to date · Ohio EPA spills data · Ohio EPA Office of Emergency Response

Oil and gas wells

Status

1 producing, 20 plugged or abandoned, the rest drilled but idle, gas storage, orphan, expired permits or unknown

Operators

Hopco Resources Inc (1 producing)

Ohio has drilled since 1860, so most wells here are old, shallow and plugged; unplugged orphans and injection wells are the ones that matter for groundwater. Well-head points can be a few hundred feet off for the oldest records.

Source: Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Division of Oil and Gas Resources Management, public well inventory (well-head points); counts inside the ZIP boundary and within 1 mile of the ZIP's population-weighted center · ODNR oil and gas · ODNR GIS services

Abandoned mines

Undermined land can subside and old workings can discharge acid mine water; ODNR's Abandoned Mine Land program funds repairs, and mine-subsidence insurance is included automatically in 26 eastern counties and offered as an option in 11 more. Maps drawn before 1977 are incomplete, so "none" means none mapped.

Quarries, pits and working mines: 3 working operations inside this ZIP in 2015 (S & S Aggregate Plant #7, sand & gravel; Shelly Materials, Inc. - Chillicothe, sand & gravel; Towpath-Warwick, sand & gravel); nearest Shelly Materials, Inc. - Chillicothe (sand & gravel, Shelly Materials, Inc., 4,907 tons sold), 3.2 mi away in Ross County; 0 within 3 miles, 3 within 10 (ODNR Industrial Minerals Locations, 2015, which includes surface and underground coal mines).

Source: Ohio Department of Natural Resources, Mines of Ohio (abandoned underground mine maps, coal and industrial minerals, pre-1977), overlaid on the ZIP boundary in an equal-area projection · ODNR mines of Ohio · ODNR Geological Survey

Soils and septic

Soil

Eldean loam, 0 to 2 percent slopes; Eldean makes up 90% of the unit, 1% slope

Water

well drained; flooding none, ponding none

Septic

Very limited for a leach field under Ohio's rule

Basements

Not limited for dwellings with basements

Farmland

All areas are prime farmland

Elevation

640 feet above sea level at the ZIP's population center; Ohio runs from 455 feet where the Ohio River leaves the state to 1,549 feet at Campbell Hill

One point stands for the ZIP; soils change field by field, and a site evaluation is what the health department goes by. "Very limited" means the standard design will not work, not that nothing will.

Source: USDA Natural Resources Conservation Service, SSURGO soil survey via Soil Data Access; the map unit at the ZIP's population-weighted center and its dominant component's interpretations; Copernicus GLO-90 elevation model (via Open-Meteo) at that center · USDA Soil Data Access · Web Soil Survey · Open-Meteo elevation

Parks and public land

Scioto Trail State Forest

state recreation area, 8,816 acres inside the ZIP

Tar Hollow State Forest

state conservation area, 5,786 acres inside the ZIP

Nearest state park: Great Seal State Park, 2.5 mi.

Protected land: 10.1% of this ZIP (22,777 acres) is in the USGS Protected Areas Database inventory of fee-owned parks, preserves and recreation land (public agencies, land trusts, and private clubs, camps and utility land, as their owners report it): 20,375 acres state, 1,342 acres federal, 522 acres private, 389 acres local. Largest: Scioto Trail State Forest (ODNR), 8,817 acres; Tar Hollow State Forest (ODNR), 5,823 acres; Great Seal State Park (ODNR), 1,873 acres. 9% of the ZIP is protected land open to the public.

Trails: 54 miles of named trails cross this ZIP: American Discovery Trail (21.9 mi, national trail); Buckeye Trail (21.9 mi, statewide trail); North Country Trail (10 mi, national trail); 29.6 miles more are proposed or planned. 51.1 miles of state bike route B, E, B&E run through it (ODNR statewide trails inventory).

Open access as reported by each owner; local inventories vary, so a golf course or school field can be listed and a new park missed.

State lands nearby (ODNR facility layers): nearest boat ramp: Boat Ramp at Scioto Trail State Park, 7.7 mi (0 within 5 miles); fishing access: Fishing Access at Scioto Trail State Park, 7.9 mi (0 within 5 miles); swim area: Boat Swim Area at Lake White State Park, 16.1 mi (0 within 5 miles); campground: Camp Sites (41-55) at Scioto Trail State Park, 7.6 mi (0 within 5 miles).

Source: USGS Protected Areas Database of the United States 4.1 (open-access fee, designation and easement polygons), overlaid on the ZIP boundary; straight-line miles from the ZIP's population-weighted center to the nearest ODNR state park · USGS PAD-US · ODNR GIS services

Wetlands

3,452 acres forested/shrub wetland, 890 acres pond, 620 acres emergent wetland. Largest single wetland: 102 acres of freshwater forested/shrub wetland.

Vernal pools: 67 potential high-quality vernal pools covering 43.7 acres lie inside this ZIP (Ohio EPA screening): seasonal woodland pools that dry by summer, hold no fish, and are where salamanders and fairy shrimp breed.

High-quality wetlands: 3 of Ohio EPA's listed high-quality wetland sites (59 acres) are inside this ZIP; nearest is Yoctangee Park and Annex (City of Chillicothe), 14 acres, 0.8 mi away; 3 within 10 miles.

Mitigation sites: nearest Scioto Pike, 13.8 mi away (a mitigation bank); 0 within 10 miles. These are wetlands and streams built or restored to replace ones filled under Clean Water Act permits.

Assessed wetland: 1 Ohio EPA study wetland inside this ZIP; nearest Kinnikinnick, a fen of 5.2 acres, 6.8 mi away: ORAM 66 of 100 (category 3), plant community index 67 of 100 (surveyed 2000); 1 within 10 miles. Category 3 wetlands are the state's best and hardest to fill; category 1 are degraded.

Mapped from aerial photography, mostly 2004 to 2007 (the Lake Erie watersheds were re-mapped from 2021 imagery, a few areas date from 1976 to 2005 or 2014 to 2023), so small and seasonal wetlands are undercounted and ponds dug or filled since then are missing; a site delineation decides whether a lot is jurisdictional. Emergent means marsh, forested and shrub means swamp.

Source: U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service, National Wetlands Inventory (Ohio geodatabase), freshwater wetland and pond polygons clipped to the ZIP boundary; lakes and river channels excluded, imagery mostly 2004 to 2007 (Lake Erie basin 2021) · USFWS wetlands inventory · Ohio EPA GIS services

Land cover

Developed

9.8%: 1% high intensity (downtown blocks, big-box lots), 2% medium (apartments, small-lot houses), 3% low (houses on larger lots), 4.4% open space (lawns, parks, golf courses, road verges)

Farmland

36%: 19% row crops, 17% pasture and hay

Crops 2025

of 46,600 cropped acres, 50% soybeans, 37% corn, 2% wheat and small grains (plus 5% wheat followed by soybeans, counted under soybeans), 4% hay and alfalfa, 8% vegetables, orchards, fallow and other crops; 35,645 acres of pasture and grass (USDA Cropland Data Layer)

Forest

51%, plus 1.1% grass and shrub

Water and wetland

1.1% open water, 1.0% wetland

Paved and roofed

3% of the ZIP's surface is impervious; rain that lands there runs straight to a storm drain or stream instead of soaking in

Tree canopy

45% of the ZIP sits under tree canopy

Area

348.1 square miles of land

Land cover is classified from Landsat imagery at 30 metre pixels, so a house on a wooded lot can read as forest and a farm lane as open space. Stream health starts to slip once about 10% of a watershed is impervious, and is usually poor above 25%.

Source: National Land Cover Database 2021 (USGS and the Multi-Resolution Land Characteristics Consortium): land cover, percent impervious surface and tree canopy at 30 m, summarised over the ZIP boundary · NLCD · USDA Cropland Data Layer · ODNR pre-settlement vegetation

People

Education

18.1% of adults 25+ hold a bachelor's degree or higher, 7.2% a graduate degree; 53.8% stopped at high school or earlier

Ages

19.8% under 18, 17.9% 65 or older

Race and origin

85.7% white, 7.3% Black, 1.7% Hispanic or Latino, 0.6% Asian, 4.6% other or two or more races

Born abroad

1.2% of residents (651 people); largest countries of birth: China (85), Philippines (69), Nigeria (61)

Veterans

7.5% of adults

Households

2.3 people per household on average; 35% of households are one person living alone, 42% married couples

Who lives here

27% of households include children, 33% someone 65 or over and 14.2% are a senior living alone; of people 15 and over, 46% are married, 34% never married, 15% divorced and 6% widowed

Poverty

17.0% of residents live below the poverty line, 27.6% of children and 13.1% of people 65 and over; the Gini index of income inequality is 0.46 (0 would mean every household earns the same, 1 that one household earns everything). County-wide, the Census Bureau's 2024 estimate is 13.4% (18.2% of children) with a median household income of $67,519 (SAIPE)

Ancestry

most often reported: German 18%, English 12%, Irish 12%

Movers

12.7% of residents lived somewhere else a year earlier, 0.6% in another state

Language

0.4% of households speak limited English; 1.7% speak Spanish at home

Group quarters

5,248 of the 56,836 people counted here in 2020 (9.2%) lived in group quarters: 4,692 in prisons and jails, 391 in nursing facilities, 138 in other group housing such as shelters, group homes and worker dormitories, 14 in other institutions, 13 in juvenile facilities (2020 Census)

Moving

2,529 people moved into Ross County between the returns they filed in 2022 and 2023 and 2,573 moved out (net −44, 54,806 stayed put); most arrivals came from Franklin, OH (376), Pike, OH (309), Pickaway, OH (287); most leavers went to Pike, OH (322), Pickaway, OH (272), Franklin, OH (268) (IRS)

Metro or rural

USDA rural-urban continuum code 4 of 9 for Ross County: nonmetro - urban population of 20,000 or more, adjacent to a metro area

Nonprofits

366 tax-exempt organizations registered to addresses in this ZIP, 25 of them reporting $1 million or more in income; 80% are 501(c)(3) charities and 17% churches or religious groups; largest: Adena Health System ($969 million), Hopewell Health Centers Inc ($86 million), Adena Fayette Medical Center ($74 million) (IRS)

County growth

Ross County went from 77,094 people in April 2020 to 76,429 in July 2025 (-0.9%): 3,688 births, 5,304 deaths and a net +983 from migration since 2020; in 2025 alone a net 654 moved in from elsewhere in the U.S. and 1 more left for abroad than arrived (Census estimates)

Since 1900

First counted in 1800 with 8,540 people and 32,074 by 1850, Ross County counted 40,940 people in 1900, 54,424 in 1950, 61,211 in 1970, 73,382 in 2000 and 77,094 in 2020; it peaked at 78,064 in 2010 (1.9 times its 1900 size, decennial censuses)

Commuting area: USDA classes this ZIP as the core of a micropolitan area (a town of 10,000 to 50,000) (rural-urban commuting area code 4 of 10, 2020 edition).

Race shares follow the Census categories, with Hispanic origin counted separately from race. Five-year averages centered on 2022. Moves count people on tax returns whose address changed county, so students and the very poor are undercounted.

Source: Census Bureau, American Community Survey 2020 to 2024 five-year estimates by ZIP Code Tabulation Area (tables B15003, B03002, B05002, B21001, B01001, B25010, B11001, B17001, B19083, B04006, B07003, C16002, B05006, B11005, B11007, B12001); county population estimates, vintage 2025; IRS exempt organization master file; USDA rural-urban continuum codes 2023; USDA ERS rural-urban commuting area codes 2020; 2020 Census PL 94-171 redistricting file, group quarters (table P5); IRS Statistics of Income county migration, returns filed in 2022 and 2023; Census SAIPE 2024 county poverty and median income; decennial county counts from the Census Bureau report Population of States and Counties of the United States 1790 to 1990 · Census ACS · Census population estimates · IRS migration data · USDA ERS county codes · USDA ERS commuting area codes · 2020 Census redistricting data · Census SAIPE · IRS exempt organizations

Jobs and commuting

Largest employers by sector: Health care and social assistance 6,819, Manufacturing 4,535, Retail 3,144. 55% of local jobs pay over $3,333 a month, and 53% of residents' jobs do.

Businesses: 1,070 establishments with 23,036 employees and $1.1 billion a year in payroll in 2023, at least 32 of them with 100 or more workers; most common: retail (217), health care and social assistance (150), restaurants and hotels (124), other services (120) (ZIP Business Patterns).

Workplace safety (OSHA): 40 inspections of workplaces in this ZIP since 2020 (5 after deaths or injury reports, 15 after complaints, 3 planned, 12 on referrals); most inspected: Pixelle Specialty Solutions Llc (4), U.S. Department Of Veterans Affairs (2), Pegasus Industries, Llc (2). 4 worker deaths investigated since 2015 and 5 hospitalisations: 2021, employee with covid-19 infection dies; 2020, employee with covid-19 infection dies.

County labor market: Ross County's unemployment rate was 4.2% in July 2026 (5.3% a year earlier), with 31,932 people in the labor force and 1,341 looking for work. Employers in the county paid an average of $1,163 a week in the first quarter of 2026 (up 2.5% on the year) to 27,842 workers at 1,537 establishments, employment down 3.7%; the largest private sectors are health care and social assistance (5,514 jobs, $1,316 a week), manufacturing (3,617 jobs, $1,552 a week), retail (3,545 jobs, $698 a week). (BLS)

Working-age residents: 52.4% of people 16 and over here are in the labor force, and 4.0% of the civilian labor force was unemployed, averaged over 2020 to 2024 (Census ACS). Residents' most common occupations: office and administrative support 12%, management and business 11%, production 10%; 7% are self-employed and 17% work for a government.

Federal money: in fiscal 2025 the federal government obligated $105 million in contracts performed in Ross County ($1,361 a resident) and $162 million in grants ($2,108 a resident) and $470 million in direct payments to people and organizations (USAspending; Social Security, Medicare and most benefits are not counted).

County economy: Ross County produced $3.1 billion of real GDP in 2024 (2017 dollars, up 5.6% since 2019); personal income came to $48,854 a person in 2024, 76th of Ohio's 88 counties and up 27% since 2019 before inflation (BEA).

County type (USDA ERS, 2015 codes): Ross County is a nonmetro county with a government-dependent economy, flagged for low employment.

Opportunity zone: 16% of residents live in a census tract designated a federal Qualified Opportunity Zone in 2018, where investors who put capital gains into local projects get tax breaks (CDFI Fund list, 2010 tracts carried to 2020 boundaries).

How they get there: 83.6% drive alone, 8.8% carpool, 0.1% transit, 1.6% walk, 0% bike, 5.2% work from home (ACS).

Where residents work: 49% inside this ZIP; 5% in Circleville (43113), 2% in Waverly (45690), 2% in Piketon (45661) (shares of the 20,803 residents with an Ohio workplace).

Unemployment-insurance records tie each job to a workplace and a home address; large employers sometimes report every worker at a headquarters, which inflates a few ZIPs. Self-employment, the military, the Postal Service, most farm work and a large part of federal civilian employment are missing (federal jobs come from OPM records that omit several agencies and, in practice, most of Wright-Patterson).

Source: Census Bureau LEHD Origin-Destination Employment Statistics (LODES 8), 2023, all jobs; populated census blocks assigned to ZIP Code Tabulation Areas by interior point, workplace-only blocks by the majority ZCTA of their block group or tract; Census ZIP Code Business Patterns 2023; OSHA enforcement data via the Labor Department open data catalog; BLS county unemployment (LAUS) and wages (QCEW); Census ACS 2020 to 2024 labor force by ZIP Code Tabulation Area (B23025); USAspending federal awards by county, fiscal 2025; BEA county GDP and personal income · Census LEHD · BLS local unemployment · BLS QCEW · BEA county GDP · USAspending · OSHA enforcement data · Census ZIP Business Patterns · Census ACS · USDA ERS county typology · CDFI Fund Opportunity Zones

Upward mobility

Meaning

below the Ohio median: low-income children here mostly stayed in the lower half

Incarceration

2.29% of those children were in jail or prison on census day 2010

Coverage

80% of the ZIP's residents live in tracts with an estimate

The rank describes people born around 1980 who were children here in the 1980s and 1990s; neighbourhoods change, so it is a record of what the place did for one generation, not a forecast. Estimates for small tracts are noisy.

Source: Opportunity Atlas tract outcomes (Chetty, Friedman, Hendren, Jones and Porter, 2018; Census Bureau and IRS data for children born 1978 to 1983), population-weighted to ZIPs through 2020 census blocks · Opportunity Atlas · Opportunity Insights data

Social vulnerability

Socioeconomic status

59th percentile: poverty, unemployment, housing cost burden, no high school diploma, no health insurance

Household characteristics

49th: people 65 and over or 17 and under, disability, single-parent households, limited English

Racial and ethnic minority status

38th

Housing and transportation

60th: multi-unit and mobile homes, crowding, no vehicle, group quarters

The index ranks tracts on how much help their residents would need in a disaster or disease outbreak, using American Community Survey 2018 to 2022 figures. Ranks are within Ohio; a ZIP is the average of its tracts weighted by residents.

Source: CDC/ATSDR Social Vulnerability Index 2022, census tracts ranked among Ohio tracts, population-weighted to the ZIP through 2020 census blocks · CDC/ATSDR SVI

Community health

Weight and activity

obesity 44.2%, no leisure-time physical activity 30.5%

Chronic conditions

diabetes 14.8%, high blood pressure 40.3%, COPD 9.8%, cancer (any but non-melanoma skin cancer) 8.9%

Habits

current smoking 19.8%, binge drinking 15.2%, short sleep 39.3%

Mind

depression 27.8%, frequent mental distress 19.4%, feeling lonely 36.9%

Access

uninsured under 65 9.4%, yearly checkup 77.8%, dental visit 55.8%

Hardship

any disability 31.4%, food insecurity 16.8%

Heart and lungs

current asthma 11.6%, coronary heart disease 8.0%, stroke 4.1%, arthritis 31.7%

Keeping up

78.3% of adults with high blood pressure take medicine for it, 83.9% had a cholesterol check in 5 years

Social needs

housing insecurity 12.9%, no reliable transportation 9.0%, utility shut-off threat 9.5%, lacking emotional support 23.1%

Provider shortage

100% live in an area HRSA designates a primary care shortage area for its low-income residents (score 15 of 25); 100% live in an area HRSA designates a dental shortage area for its low-income residents (score 17 of 26); 100% live in a designated mental health shortage area (score 13 of 25) (HRSA; higher scores mean greater need)

Coverage (Census)

5.9% of residents have no health insurance (3.6% of children); 23% are on Medicaid and 46% have coverage through an employer

Disability (Census)

19.3% of residents report a disability, 40% of those 65 and over

County (County Health Rankings 2025): Ross County sits in health group 6 of 10 among U.S. counties for population health (1 is healthiest) and group 5 for community conditions. Premature death 12,209 (Ohio 9,740) years of life lost before 75 per 100,000; one primary care doctor for every 1,508 people (Ohio 1,328), one mental health provider for every 164 people (Ohio 286), one dentist for every 1,741 people (Ohio 1,535); preventable hospital stays 1,898 (Ohio 3,033) per 100,000 Medicare enrollees; injury deaths 140.5 (Ohio 100.7) and suicides 15.9 (Ohio 14.7) per 100,000; infant deaths 5.9 (Ohio 7.0) per 1,000 births; teen births 28.8 (Ohio 17.4) per 1,000 girls 15 to 19; children in poverty 22.8 (Ohio 17.5) percent; fine-particle air pollution 8.1 (Ohio 7.8) micrograms per cubic metre; no community water system in the county had a health-based drinking water violation in 2023. Drug overdoses: 20 deaths in the 12 months ending December 2025 (35 a year earlier, 64 at the highest since 2020, in the 12 months ending March 2022), about 26.1 per 100,000 residents against 20.8 statewide (CDC provisional counts).

Cancer (NCI State Cancer Profiles): Ross County records 522.9 new cancers a year per 100,000 people, age-adjusted, for 2018 to 2022 (Ohio 472.9, U.S. 448.6), about 529 cases a year, with the rate stable; cancer deaths 178.5 per 100,000 (Ohio 160.3, U.S. 145.4), falling. By site, per 100,000 (Ohio in parentheses): lung 92.7 (63.6), colorectal 43.3 (38.4), female breast 123 (133), prostate 101.1 (120.8), bladder 21.3 (21.8), leukemia 18.4 (13).

Medicare: 17,256 people in Ross County were on Medicare in 2025 (23% of residents): 14,594 aged 65 or over and 2,662 younger people with disabilities. 57% chose a Medicare Advantage plan, 19% also had Medicaid and 83% had Part D drug coverage; enrollment is up 6% since 2020 (CMS).

Modelled from a national telephone survey and the ZIP's demographics, so these are estimates of what residents would report, not counts of patients; small ZIPs carry wide margins.

Source: CDC PLACES, 2025 release (BRFSS 2023 and 2022, ACS 2019-2023), model-based ZCTA estimates of crude adult prevalence; County Health Rankings 2025 and CDC provisional overdose counts for the county; HRSA shortage area designations weighted to the ZIP; Census ACS 2020 to 2024 (insurance, disability); CMS Medicare Monthly Enrollment, county, 2025 · CDC PLACES · County Health Rankings · CDC overdose data · NCI cancer profiles · HRSA data

Life expectancy

Ohio's statewide figure for the same years was 77.6; the United States 78.7. Differences of a year or two between neighbouring ZIPs are within the estimates' error; differences of five or more are real and track income, smoking and access to care.

Source: CDC National Center for Health Statistics, U.S. Small-area Life Expectancy Estimates Project (USALEEP), 2010-2015, census tracts weighted by 2020 block population · CDC USALEEP

Nearest hospital

266 beds · no trauma designation listed · 1 general or critical-access hospital within 10 miles, 4 within 25.

Medicare rating: ★★★☆☆ · emergency room: yes · typical ER visit 199 minutes door to discharge (Ohio median 155)

Patients' verdict: 54% would definitely recommend it, 59% rated their stay 9 or 10 out of 10 (★★☆☆☆ patient-experience rating, 1,085 surveys).

Outcomes: 30-day death rates after heart failure 11.8% (about the national rate), heart attack 12.7% (about the national rate), pneumonia 16.2% (about the national rate), July 2022 to June 2025; the patient-safety composite for serious complications (July 2022 to June 2024) is worse than the national value (Medicare).

Community health center: 3 inside this ZIP, nearest Chillicothe Dental, Chillicothe, 0.4 mi away; 3 within 3 miles, 3 within 10. These federally funded clinics see anyone and charge on a sliding scale.

Veterans: nearest VA site is Chillicothe VA Mobile Clinic, Chillicothe (other outpatient site), 3.8 mi away; 2 VA sites within 10 miles, 2 within 25; 2 inside this ZIP.

Providers: 3,336 active health care providers list a practice address in this ZIP: 424 physicians, 208 nurse practitioners and physician assistants, 72 dentists, 610 mental health professionals, 21 pharmacies, 4 urgent care centers, 17 hospitals, 14 nursing or assisted-living facilities, 32 home health or hospice agencies; most common physician specialties: Family Medicine (75), Internal Medicine (70), Psychiatry (36) (NPPES registry, August 2026).

Dialysis: 1 center inside this ZIP, nearest Davita Adena Dialysis, Chillicothe, 1.8 mi away, 17 stations, Medicare ★★★★☆ (DaVita); 1 within 5 miles, 2 within 15.

Source: federal HIFLD hospital inventory (via FEMA) with Medicare Care Compare star ratings, emergency-service flags, median emergency department times (measure OP_18b), HCAHPS patient survey results and 30-day death rates and patient-safety composites (Complications and Deaths file; a campus with no record of its own carries its parent hospital's figures, labelled); NPPES NPI registry, August 2026 monthly file, active records by practice ZIP; straight-line miles from the ZIP's population-weighted center (some listings lag closures and mergers); HRSA health center sites, CMS dialysis facilities (geocoded with the Census geocoder) and the VA facility list · CMS Care Compare data · HIFLD · HRSA data · CMS NPI files

Nursing homes

4 certified homes within 5 miles, 7 within 15; 4 inside this ZIP.

Medicare rating

★☆☆☆☆ overall; inspections ★☆☆☆☆; staffing ★☆☆☆☆

Beds

139 certified

Ownership

For profit, corporation

Penalties

no federal fines or payment denials since 2023 (CMS)

In this ZIP: CHILLICOTHE POST ACUTE (3★, 99 beds); Hopewell Grove Rehabilitation and Healthcare (1★, 100 beds); NATIONAL CHURCH RESIDENCES CHILLICOTHE (4★, 48 beds) and 1 more.

Stars are Medicare's Care Compare ratings; a 1-star home failed inspections or is thinly staffed, and the abuse flag means a citation for harm in the past year or two. Ratings shift every quarter.

Source: Medicare Care Compare nursing home provider and penalties files (CMS), geocoded with the Census Bureau; straight-line miles from the ZIP's population-weighted center · CMS Care Compare data

Crime

Violent

45 offenses: 0 murders, 12 rapes, 5 robberies, 28 aggravated assaults (2.1 per 1,000 residents; Ohio 3.2)

Property

1,033 offenses: 92 burglaries, 896 thefts, 41 vehicle thefts (47.3 per 1,000; Ohio 16.9)

Other

198 simple assaults, 214 vandalism reports, 417 drug offenses, 44 weapons violations

Reporting

12 months of 2024 on file; 21,848 residents served; this department covers the 39% of the ZIP's residents in its territory, the rest fall under others

Trend

violent offenses down 2% from 46 in 2023; property up 2% from 1,010

Rates cover the whole agency's territory, not this ZIP alone: a city's downtown and its quiet edges share one number. Murders, rapes and assaults are counted once per victim and other offenses once per incident, as the FBI's Crime Data Explorer does; a large department's figures can still fall somewhat short of the Explorer's, which takes in later submissions, and a sheriff's population is only the unincorporated area it serves.

Source: FBI Crime Data Explorer, NIBRS incident data for Ohio, 2024 (2023 for the trend): Group A offenses per reporting agency (violent = murder, rape, robbery, aggravated assault; property = burglary, larceny, motor vehicle theft, arson), murders, rapes and assaults counted once per victim; the agency is the police department of the ZIP's largest local government (city, village or township) when it has one of its own, found in the FBI's 2023 and 2024 rosters or the USGS police station inventory, otherwise the sheriff of the ZIP's county; a rate needs at least six months of 2024 on file and is annualized from fewer than 12; the Ohio figures pool the 511 police departments and sheriff's offices with all 12 months on file · FBI Crime Data Explorer · USGS structures service

Police and post office

2 stations within 3 miles, 2 within 8. Inside this ZIP: Chillicothe Police Department; Ross County Sheriff's Office.

Nearest post office: Story Place Post Office, 0.4 mi; 2 inside this ZIP.

Townships without their own department are policed by the county sheriff, whose office may be at the county seat; the state highway patrol covers the roads. The inventory lists stations, not patrol zones. It also misses some departments and still lists some that have closed; the atlas adds the departments that reported at least six months of 2024 crimes to the FBI but had no station in it, and drops the closed and duplicate records it found.

Source: USGS National Map structures inventory (police stations, post offices), with closed and duplicate records dropped, wrong names corrected and departments it lacks added from OpenStreetMap and the Census Bureau geocoder (September 2026); straight-line miles from the ZIP's population-weighted center · USGS structures service · OpenStreetMap · Census Bureau geocoder

Fire and EMS

4 stations within 3 miles, 11 within 8.

Inside this ZIP: Chillicothe Fire Department Station 1; Chillicothe Fire Department Station 4; Scioto Township Fire Department Station 2 and 12 more.

Source: USGS National Map structures inventory (fire and EMS stations; most Ohio records last updated 2019 to 2022), Columbus- and Cleveland-area stations checked against the cities' station lists, September 2026. Indiana, Michigan and Pennsylvania stations near the line are included; Kentucky and West Virginia stations across the Ohio River are not. Straight-line miles from the ZIP's population-weighted center. Stations open or close without the inventory always catching up. · USGS structures service · Columbus fire stations · Cleveland fire stations

Public library

3 libraries within 3 miles, 3 within 8.

Open

about 60 hours a week

Building

10,400 square feet

Chillicothe and Ross County Public Library

8 buildings, serves 77K people, 2.8 visits per resident a year, 429K items lent, 1,536 programs, $5.5M annual income

Inside this ZIP: Chillicothe and Ross County Public Library; Mt. Logan Satellite Branch; Northside Branch.

Museums: 8 inside this ZIP (Adena Mansion and Gardens Society, Adena State Memorial, Hopewell Culture National Historical Park and 5 more); nearest South Central Ohio Preservation Society, historical society, Chillicothe, 0.2 mi away; 8 within 5 miles, 10 within 15 (IMLS 2018 directory: museums, historical societies, gardens and zoos).

Source: Institute of Museum and Library Services, Public Libraries Survey fiscal 2024 (outlet and system files) and Museum Data Files 2018 (museums); straight-line miles from the ZIP's population-weighted center · IMLS Public Libraries Survey · IMLS Museum Data Files

Grocery access

Distance

82% of residents live more than half a mile from a supermarket, 59% more than 1 mile, under 1% more than 10 miles

Without a car

12% live in a tract flagged for low income and low vehicle access; 6.4% of households have no vehicle (Census ACS 2020 to 2024)

Poverty

18.2% of residents below the poverty line

SNAP stores

9 supermarkets or superstores and 0 grocery stores inside this ZIP take SNAP, alongside 28 convenience stores, 1 farmers market, 14 other outlets (dollar, drug and discount stores); nearest supermarket or grocery store Sack N Save (supermarket), 0.8 mi from the ZIP's center; 7 supermarkets and grocery stores within 3 miles (USDA, 2026)

SNAP households

16% of households received SNAP benefits in the past year (Census ACS 2020 to 2024)

Setting

54% of residents in urban tracts, across 21 tracts, 1 flagged

A "supermarket" here is a large grocery store, supercenter or club; dollar stores and corner groceries do not count, and stores that opened since 2019 are missing from the distance figures; the SNAP store list is current. Rural distance flags mean a long drive, not necessarily hardship.

Source: USDA Economic Research Service, Food Access Research Atlas: 2019 Large Retailer Access Map (2010 census tracts, 2019 supermarket list; ERS's name for this file since July 2026), tract values weighted into ZIPs by 2020 census block population; SNAP store counts from USDA Food and Nutrition Service retailer locations, 2026; SNAP and no-vehicle households from Census ACS 2020 to 2024 · USDA ERS Large Retailer Access Map · USDA SNAP retailers · Census ACS

History

The history of this area has not been researched yet; the work runs county by county outward from Franklin County.

Source: Local history researched from Wikipedia, the 1880 county histories on archive.org, Ohio History Connection, National Register listings, Ohio historical markers, local historical societies and Wikimedia Commons, one file per municipality and township, loaded on demand; Native American history per county and statewide from the same sources and the nations' own histories · Ohio History Connection · Internet Archive (county histories) · Wikimedia Commons · Remarkable Ohio (historical markers)

Historic places

• Anderson, Levi, House (building)
• Canal Warehouse (building)
• Chillicothe Water and Power Company Pumping Station (building)
• and 15 more

Place names (USGS): 51 named communities (Antonis, Belleview Heights, Brewer Heights, Brownsville, Metzger and more); 42 named streams end here (Biers Run, Black Run, Blackwater Creek, Cattail Run and more); 10 named lakes or reservoirs (Lake Ellensmere, Pine Lake, Sun Valley Lake and more); 22 named summits (Bald Hill, Ball Knob and more); 22 valleys, 2 ridges, 2 cliffs. Federal maps carry these names; the communities include hamlets and crossroads that never incorporated.

Listing recognizes significance and brings review of federally funded projects; it does not restrict a private owner. Historic districts count once, at their center.

Source: National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places spatial data (point file); listings whose point falls inside the ZIP boundary · National Register data · USGS GNIS

School district

• Chillicothe City42% of residentsCity school district
• Union-Scioto Local27% of residentsLocal school district
• Zane Trace Local9% of residentsLocal school district
• Huntington Local9% of residentsLocal school district
• Southeastern Local8% of residentsLocal school district
• Paint Valley Local3% of residentsLocal school district

ZIP codes and school districts do not share boundaries, so this ZIP is split between them.

19 public schools inside this ZIP: Chillicothe High School (2.5 stars); Chillicothe Intermediate School (2.5 stars); Chillicothe Middle School (4 stars); Chillicothe Primary School (3.5 stars) and 15 more. Nearest to the population center: Chillicothe Primary School (3.5 stars), 0 mi; 4 within a mile, 9 within 3.

2 private schools inside this ZIP with 536 students in kindergarten through 12th grade (2 religious): Ross County Christian Academy (364 students, conservative Christian); Bishop Flaget School (172 students, Catholic) (NCES Private School Survey 2023-24; the survey's student counts, here and per school, exclude prekindergarten).

Enrolled here: 8,701 students attend the 19 public schools inside this ZIP with 2023-24 enrollment on file; 1 of them is a charter school (42 students), 17.4 students per teacher. 5 of them serve free meals to every student under the community eligibility provision. (NCES)

Enrollment: 8,068 residents attend kindergarten through 12th grade, 14% of them at private schools; 1,979 are in college or graduate school (Census ACS 2020 to 2024).

Money, fiscal 2023: Chillicothe City took in $46 million, 39% from the state, 38% local and 23% federal, and spent $14,203 per pupil on day-to-day operations for 2,741 students, 60% of it on instruction; capital outlay $1.9 million (Census school finance survey via NCES).

Child poverty: the Census Bureau's 2024 estimate puts 20% of Chillicothe City's school-age children below the poverty line (674 of 3,447 aged 5 to 17; SAIPE).

Source: Ohio school district boundaries (OGRIP, 2014 edition, via ODOT) · 2020 census blocks · public school locations from NCES EDGE, 2024-25 · enrollment and meals from the NCES Common Core of Data 2023-24 · private schools from the NCES Private School Survey 2023-24 · district finances from the Census F-33 survey, fiscal 2023 · child poverty from Census SAIPE 2024 · ODOT GIS · NCES EDGE · NCES Common Core of Data · NCES private schools · Census SAIPE · Census school finances (F-33)

School report card

Components

achievement 2 stars, progress 2 stars, gap closing 3 stars, early literacy 2 stars, graduation 2 stars, college and career readiness 1 star

Achievement

performance index 66.6% of ODE's maximum score for the year (the average of the top 2% of district scores, not the highest score possible) (score 73.2, 71.6 the year before)

Graduation

86.3% of the class of 2024 graduated in four years; 46.4% of that class (graduates or not) showed college, career, workforce or military readiness

Spending

$12,012 per pupil in 2023-24 against $12,759 statewide

Teachers

average salary $68,546, 7 years of experience, 42.8% with a master's degree, 16.1% in their first years of teaching

Enrollment

2,453 students in 2024-25

Three stars means the district meets state standards, five that it significantly exceeds them, one that it needs significant support. Achievement stars follow family income closely; the progress component (growth from year to year) is the fairer measure of teaching. Charter and private schools are not in the district figures.

Source: Ohio Department of Education and Workforce, 2024-2025 School Report Cards (district overview, achievement, expenditures per pupil and educator files), for the district with the largest share (42%) of this ZIP's residents · Ohio school report cards

Colleges

Ohio University-Chillicothe Campus is a public university with 3,591 students over the 2023-24 year; published tuition and fees $6,178 a year in state, $9,170 out of state; 14% of a 223-student entering class graduated (six-year bachelor).

3 institutions within 10 miles, 5 within 25. Inside this ZIP: Hair Academy; Ohio University-Chillicothe Campus; Pickaway Ross Joint Vocational School District.

Next nearest: Hair Academy (1 mi).

Universities, community colleges, career schools and private colleges all count; branch campuses appear only where IPEDS lists them separately. Graduation rates follow first-time full-time students for 150% of normal time.

Source: NCES IPEDS 2024 directory, 12-month enrollment 2023-24, tuition and fees 2023-24 and graduation rates for the 2017 entering cohort at four-year institutions and the 2020 cohort at two-year ones; straight-line miles from the ZIP's population-weighted center · NCES IPEDS

Local government

• Chillicothe (city)39% of residentsCity
• Union Township, Ross County21% of residentsTownship
• Scioto Township, Ross County10% of residentsTownship
• Huntington Township, Ross County9% of residentsTownship
• Green Township, Ross County5% of residentsTownship
• Springfield Township, Ross County5% of residentsTownship
• Twin Township, Ross County3% of residentsTownship
• Liberty Township, Ross County3% of residentsTownship

ZIP codes and municipal and township boundaries do not share boundaries, so this ZIP is split between them.

Source: ODOT municipal corporation and township boundaries · 2020 census blocks · Ohio EPA grants awarded in 2025 (OEPA_Achievements map service) · Auditor of State unauditable entities list · ODOT GIS · Auditor of State · Ohio EPA grants (OEPA_Achievements)

Who represents this ZIP

U.S. Senate: Bernie Moreno (R), Jon Husted (R)

• David Taylor RU.S. House OH-2Amelia · since 2025 · site
• Shane Wilkin ROhio Senate 17Jasper Township · since 2022 · site
• Mark Johnson ROhio House 92 · 96%Chillicothe · since 2020 · site
• Bob Peterson R 91 · 4%Sabina · since 2022 · site

District lines cut through this ZIP, so more than one member serves its residents; the share is by 2020 population.

Source: ODOT district boundaries · members from the U.S. House, Ohio Senate and Ohio House directories, September 2026 · U.S. House · Ohio Senate · Ohio House · ODOT GIS