Short answer
The Columbus, Ohio metro had 1,071 insurance establishments with paid employees in 2023, employing 27,696 people, according to Census County Business Patterns. 218 were carrier offices with 16,868 employees and 776 were agencies and brokerages. Root, Inc. is the SEC-listed insurer headquartered in Columbus; Nationwide, which One Columbus lists with 16,000 employees, is run from there too. The Ohio Department of Insurance, also in Columbus, licenses insurers and agents.
- 1,071 insurance establishments and 27,696 jobs in the metro in 2023; Franklin County has 724 and 23,735.
- Carriers are 20.4% of establishments and 60.9% of jobs; 29 carrier offices have 100 or more employees.
- Tennessee's insurer registry shows 35 Ohio-chartered insurers managed from Columbus, nine with Nationwide in the name.
- Root reported $1.52 billion of 2025 revenue and sells partly through embedded partnerships such as Carvana.
- The 776 agencies and brokerages average 7.4 employees and $90,050 in pay.
On this page
This page covers Columbus, Ohio. It's for people choosing an insurer or fighting a claim, for anyone weighing a job at one of the city's carriers or agencies, and for businesses that sell to them. You'll find the Census counts by county and segment, the insurers based or managed here with their sources, Ohio's tools for checking a company or agent, and how buying works on each side. It doesn't recommend carriers.
Who is based here
Listed. Root, Inc. is the only SEC-listed insurance company with its headquarters in the metro: its 2025 10-K gives 80 E. Rich Street, Columbus, and total revenue of $1.52 billion. The filing describes an embedded insurance model and a partnership channel, including a partnership with Carvana, alongside digital media, independent agents and referrals.
Unlisted. Nationwide is the region's largest insurance employer. One Columbus, the regional economic development organization, lists it with 16,000 employees, headquartered in Columbus (the list doesn't date the figure). Tennessee's list of licensed insurers (as of 30 September 2026), which records each insurer's state of charter and main office, shows 35 Ohio-chartered insurers managed from Columbus. Nine carry the Nationwide name, among them Nationwide Mutual Insurance Company and Nationwide Life Insurance Company. Others include Grange Insurance Company and Grange Life Insurance Company, Motorists Mutual Insurance Company, State Automobile Mutual Insurance Company, Root Insurance Company, Ohio Indemnity Company and Wilson Mutual Insurance Company. Century Surety Company is managed from Westerville. The list covers only insurers licensed in Tennessee; Ohio's Authorized Companies search, below, is complete.
For how the national groups compare, see the largest insurance companies in the US.
The Census picture
County Business Patterns 2023, Columbus, OH metro (CBSA 18140). We calculated average pay by dividing payroll by employees.
| Segment | NAICS | Establishments | Employees | Average pay |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Insurance carriers | 5241 | 218 | 16,868 | $105,762 |
| Property and casualty insurers | 524126 | 79 | 9,834 | $108,303 |
| Health and medical insurers | 524114 | 46 | 2,026 | $70,865 |
| Life insurers | 524113 | 58 | not reported (high-noise figure) | not reported |
| Title insurers | 524127 | 28 | 218 | $91,468 |
| Agencies and brokerages | 524210 | 776 | 5,753 | $90,050 |
| Third-party administrators | 524292 | 53 | not reported (high-noise figure) | not reported |
| All insurance | 524 | 1,071 | 27,696 | $92,605 |
"Not reported" marks figures the Census Bureau published but flagged: the noise it adds to protect confidentiality changed them by 5% or more. Property and casualty carriers are the core, with 9,834 employees at 79 establishments, 17 of them with 100 or more employees.
| County | Establishments | Employees | Carrier offices | Carrier employees |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Franklin | 724 | 23,735 | 165 | 14,132 |
| Delaware | 136 | 1,880 | 29 | 1,406 |
| Licking | 78 | not reported (high-noise figure) | 9 | not reported |
| Fairfield | 57 | 195 | 8 | not reported |
| Union | 27 | 89 | 4 | not reported |
| Pickaway | 18 | 73 | not published | not published |
Franklin County has 84% of the carrier jobs. Size classes for the whole metro:
| Employees at the establishment | Establishments |
|---|---|
| 1 to 4 | 688 |
| 5 to 9 | 172 |
| 10 to 19 | 87 |
| 20 to 49 | 60 |
| 50 to 99 | 19 |
| 100 to 249 | 19 |
| 250 to 499 | 13 |
| 500 to 999 | 9 |
| 1,000 or more | 4 |
That is 947 establishments under 20 employees, 79 with 20 to 99 and 45 with 100 or more, an average of 25.9. They're establishments with paid employees, not companies: a carrier's downtown tower and its suburban campus count separately, and solo agents without staff aren't counted.
Checking an Ohio insurer or agent
The Ohio Department of Insurance (ODI) sits at 50 W Town Street, downtown.
- Is the agent licensed? Use ODI's Agent/Agency Locator, linked from its Agents and Agencies page.
- Is the insurer authorized? Use ODI's Authorized Companies search on the same page, with the legal company name from your policy rather than the brand.
- What's its complaint record? The NAIC's Consumer Insurance Search gives complaint, license and financial reports by company.
- Need help? After trying the company, submit ODI's online complaint form or call Consumer Services on 800-686-1526. Medicare questions go to ODI's Medicare line, 800-686-1578.
Working in Columbus insurance
Carriers paid an average of $105,762 in 2023, close to the national carrier average of $107,137, and property and casualty insurers $108,303. Agencies averaged $90,050, in line with the national $90,831 (our calculation from County Business Patterns). With 29 carrier offices of 100 or more employees, the city has more large insurer employers than its size suggests, and the regulator's own staff adds public-sector insurance jobs.
Selling to Columbus carriers and agencies
Carrier buying here runs through product, data science, claims and IT teams, often with a partnerships or distribution group alongside, as Root's filing shows. They buy data, analytics and models, policy and claims systems, cloud and security, and contract talent. The 776 agencies, 554 of them under five employees, buy agency management and quoting systems and marketing. The Ohio Insurance Institute is the carriers' trade group.
Illustrative example. The company, rates and results are invented.
Olentangy Data (olentangy-data.example) sells vehicle and driver data that personal auto insurers use in pricing and claims. It targets property and casualty carrier establishments in the metro with 20 or more employees: 12 plus 8 plus 7 plus 4 plus 3 plus 3, or 37. It keeps those that write personal auto, an assumed half, or about 18. For each, it maps three people (pricing, claims analytics and the data science lead) and sends each a tailored note; at a 16% account reply rate that's 3 accounts in conversation, and one pilot at $120,000 a year would pay for the effort. With 18 accounts, the work is research, not volume; Bebop builds that research for each account.
Next step: compare Northeast Ohio, where Progressive is based, in insurance companies in Cleveland.
Sources
- County Business Patterns (CBP), 2023: metro and county files, NAICS 524 and its industries, US Census Bureau, accessed 30 October 2026
- Root, Inc. Form 10-K for 2025, Root (SEC EDGAR), 25 February 2026
- Top Employers, One Columbus, accessed 30 October 2026
- List of Licensed Insurance Companies (as of 30 September 2026), Tennessee Department of Commerce and Insurance, accessed 30 October 2026
- Agents and Agencies, Ohio Department of Insurance, accessed 30 October 2026
- Insurance Data and Statistics (contact details), Ohio Department of Insurance, accessed 30 October 2026
- Consumer Insurance Search (CIS), National Association of Insurance Commissioners, accessed 30 October 2026
- Ohio Insurance Institute, Ohio Insurance Institute, accessed 30 October 2026
Written by the Bebop team at Blackpearl Group. Published .
Questions people ask
How many insurance companies are in Columbus, Ohio?
Census County Business Patterns counted 1,071 insurance establishments with paid employees in the Columbus metro in 2023, employing 27,696 people. 218 were carrier offices with 16,868 employees and 776 were agencies and brokerages. Franklin County had 724 of the establishments. The counts are of offices, not firms, and leave out agents who work alone without staff.
What insurance companies are headquartered in Columbus, Ohio?
Root, Inc. is the SEC-listed insurer headquartered in Columbus, per its 2025 annual report. Nationwide is also based there; One Columbus lists it with 16,000 employees. A state registry of licensed insurers shows other Ohio-chartered insurers managed from Columbus, including Grange Insurance Company, Motorists Mutual Insurance Company and State Automobile Mutual Insurance Company.
Where is the Ohio Department of Insurance?
The Ohio Department of Insurance is at 50 W Town Street, Suite 300, in Columbus. Its Consumer Services line is 800-686-1526 and its Medicare line 800-686-1578. Its website links an Agent/Agency Locator, an Authorized Companies search and an online complaint form, so you can check an agent or insurer and file a complaint without visiting.
How much do insurance jobs in Columbus pay?
Columbus-area insurance carriers paid an average of $105,762 per employee in 2023, by our calculation from Census County Business Patterns, and property and casualty insurers $108,303. Agencies and brokerages averaged $90,050. Health insurers paid less, at $70,865. These are averages across all staff on the payroll, from customer service to executives.