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Commercial Real Estate Lead Generation in Columbus, OH

Across 10 counties, the Columbus metro counts 46,419 business locations employing 985,064 people. The 3,309 with 50–499 employees are the starting pool for a commercial real estate campaign, and Sapper works them by phone first.

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Columbus by the numbers

46,419

business locations in the Columbus metro (Census, 2023)

3,309

have 50–499 employees

29,070

general and operations managers in the metro

5,750

financial managers in the metro

What this means for your outreach: 172 Columbus locations have 500 or more employees. The 3,309 with 50–499 employees outnumber them about 19 to 1, so they are the bigger list to work.

Where Columbus’s tenant buyers are

Sector	Locations	Jobs	50–499 employees	500+ employees	Change since 2022
Health care	6,208	173,317	545	26	+203
Professional services	5,419	67,347	208	7	+107
Wholesale trade	1,938	40,706	172	3	−42
Construction	3,645	46,557	166	6	+63
Finance & insurance	2,782	70,661	115	24	−22
Corporate HQs & management offices	367	34,953	97	18	−47
Information	863	16,744	58	3	−17

Where to start: Health care and professional services hold the most mid-size locations, 753 between them. Health care added the most locations between 2022 and 2023 (+203).

The counties behind the Columbus metro

County	All locations	Finance	Health care	Prof. services
Franklin, OH	30,700	1,892	4,436	3,750
Delaware, OH	5,365	354	664	823
Licking, OH	3,277	186	311	255
Fairfield, OH	2,846	142	398	250
Union, OH	1,240	66	85	171

Where the market sits: Franklin County and Delaware County hold 77.7% of the metro’s business locations across 10 counties. By count, Franklin County leads with 30,700 locations and Delaware County follows with 5,365.

Columbus roles worth a first call

29,070

general and operations managers, 17% more per job than the US average

5,750

financial managers, about the US average per job

2,670

property and real estate managers, 21% more per job than the US average

What it suggests: Columbus has a higher-than-average concentration of property and real estate managers: 21% more per job than the US. That makes the title worth testing when it matches what you sell.

Who else is calling Columbus buyers

The metro has 932 real estate agent and broker offices, 2,487 real estate locations overall. That is a lot of outreach competing for the same attention, so the first message has to be specific.

What wins: naming the buyer’s problem in their words, then asking one question. A list of services sounds like everyone else in Columbus.

From Columbus target list to booked meeting

1. We agree on the accounts first

You approve the target list. It is exclusive to you.

2. We introduce you, then keep going

Phone first, backed by email, LinkedIn and mail.

3. We qualify before we book

Need, timing and who else is involved, confirmed.

4. You walk into a warm conversation

With the account history and a confirmed time.

For a commercial real estate firm, we build the list around the property types and company sizes you work with, and the people who make space decisions. The Columbus data points to health care first, with 545 locations of 50–499 employees, and the largest share of locations in Franklin County. How appointment setting works →

Want Columbus buyers to find you, too?

Pair outbound with a website built for commercial real estate firms: up to 100 pages in the first 30 days, call and form tracking from launch, and new updates every business day. See how it works →

Columbus questions, answered

How many companies in Columbus could buy what you sell?

The 10-county Columbus metro has 46,419 business locations. 3,309 have 50–499 employees and 172 have 500 or more (Census County Business Patterns, 2023).

Where should a Columbus commercial real estate campaign start?

The most mid-size locations are in health care (545), followed by professional services (208).

Who should the first Columbus meetings be with?

Titles to test first include general and operations managers. The metro has 29,070 of them, plus 5,750 financial managers. The final titles depend on what you sell, and you approve the list before anyone calls.

Nearby markets: Commercial Real Estate in Dayton (65 mi), Commercial Real Estate in Cincinnati (99 mi) and Commercial Real Estate in Cleveland (126 mi).

Abstrakt, Sapper’s parent company, covers Columbus contractors and home-service companies on its Columbus page.

Let’s build your Columbus target list

Get the full Columbus commercial real estate market brief, or tell us who you sell to and we’ll tell you honestly whether we can reach them.