Village · Muskingum County, Ohio

South Zanesville, Ohio

South Zanesville is a village in Muskingum County, Ohio, part of the Zanesville, OH metro area. It has 2,211 residents. South Zanesville, Ohio has a quality-of-life score of 20 out of 100 (low), ranking #12,480 of 15,651 US cities and towns. Within Ohio it ranks #629 of 684 cities and towns. It ranks best on hospital quality rating (high), drought exposure (low) and rent-burdened households (low). It ranks worst on mental health care shortage (high), median household income (low) and bachelor's degree or higher (low).

20Low

Quality-of-life score: #12,480 of 15,651 cities and towns
Ohio: #629 of 684 in OH
Population: 2,211 (2020-2024)
Land area: 1 mi²
Density: 2,750.4 /mi²
FIPS code: 3973894

Percentile-based score (100 is the best in the country) from 74 of 80 indicators, with the default “Explorer” weights.

Open in the map

Scores by category

Each category averages its indicators' percentile scores among US cities and towns.

Safety27#11,377/15,637
Economy24#11,927/15,631
Housing89#1,626/14,977
Health17#13,024/15,609
Healthcare33#10,426/15,650
Environment20#12,296/15,453
Education29#11,117/15,649
Infrastructure30#10,982/15,650
Community21#12,322/15,651
Leisure & amenities35#10,233/15,651

Strengths · Weaknesses

Indicators where South Zanesville, Ohio ranks highest and lowest among US cities and towns (score = percentile, 100 = best). Values marked “Muskingum County value” are the county’s: the source publishes no figure for this city or town, and the county holding most of its residents stands in.

Strengths

Hospital quality rating · high5.0
98/100Ohio 3.6United States 3.2Jul 2026Centers for Medicare & Medicaid ServicesMuskingum County value
Drought exposure · low0%
97/100Ohio 9%United States 43%Nov 2025–Oct 2026National Drought Mitigation Center (University of Nebraska–Lincoln), USDA and NOAAMuskingum County value
Rent-burdened households · low32.5%
92/100Ohio 45.9%United States 51.1%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25070
Mammography screening · high55.0%
91/100Ohio 49.0%United States 46.0%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteMuskingum County value
Home price to income ratio · low1.9×
90/100Ohio 3.0×United States 4.1×2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25077High uncertainty
Rent as share of income · low23.7%
90/100Ohio 28.3%United States 30.6%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B25071

Weaknesses

Mental health care shortage · high19.0
3/100Ohio 11.9United States 9.9Oct 2026Health Resources and Services AdministrationMuskingum County value
Median household income · low$38,824
5/100Ohio $72,259United States $81,6042020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B19013
Bachelor's degree or higher · low9.4%
6/100Ohio 31.5%United States 35.7%2020-2024U.S. Census Bureau Census table B15003
Depression · high29.4%
7/100Ohio 26.2%United States 20.7%2023Centers for Disease Control and PreventionModel-based estimate
Adult obesity · high43.6%
8/100Ohio 39.3%United States 38.2%2023University of Wisconsin Population Health InstituteModel-based estimate
Comfortable days · low23.4%
12/100Ohio 23.4%United States 26.8%2016-2025NOAA National Centers for Environmental InformationMuskingum County value

Trends

The largest changes over about five years, next to the country's over the same periods.

Rent-burdened householdsImproving
60.7% (2015-2019) → 32.5% (2020-2024)
−28 pts5 yearsCensus table B25070US 49.6% → 51.1%
Rent as share of incomeImproving
36.0% (2015-2019) → 23.7% (2020-2024)
−12 pts5 yearsCensus table B25071US 29.8% → 30.6%
Broadband subscriptionsImproving
77.7% (2015-2019) → 87.7% (2020-2024)
+9.9 pts5 yearsCensus table B28002US 82.7% → 91.0%
Unemployment rateImproving
6.7% (2015-2019) → 2.6% (2020-2024)
−4.1 pts5 yearsCensus table B23025US 3.7% → 4.0%
Home price to income ratioWorsening
1.6× (2015-2019) → 1.9× (2020-2024)
+19%5 yearsCensus table B25077US 3.5× → 4.1×
Child poverty rateImproving
19.2% (2015-2019) → 15.4% (2020-2024)
−3.8 pts5 yearsCensus table B17001US 16.8% → 15.5%

What changed in five years

How each measure moved between two periods about five years apart, read against whether more or less is better, the published margin of error and the same change in other places.

Over about five years, South Zanesville, Ohio improved on 3 of 11 measures with a comparison and declined on 0. 8 moved within the margin of error and 0 barely changed.

Earlier (2015-2019)
Latest (2020-2024)
Lower standingHigher standing

Position is the place's standing among cities and towns: further right is better, whichever way the measure counts.

Improved3

Rent burden−28 points60.7% → 32.5%
Rent / income−12 points36.0% → 23.7%
Broadband+9.9 points77.7% → 87.7%

Declined0

No measure declined by more than its margin of error.

All 11 measures

Change of every measure of South Zanesville, Ohio between two periods about five years apart
Measure	Before	After	Change	Reading	Favourable vs peers
Average commute time	21.2 min2015-2019	22.5 min2020-2024	+1.4 min	Within the margin of error	33%
Bachelor's degree or higher	6.1%2015-2019	9.5%2020-2024	+3.4 points	Within the margin of error	55%
Broadband subscriptions	77.7%2015-2019	87.7%2020-2024	+9.9 points	Improved	59%
Effective property tax rate	0.97%2015-2019	0.99%2020-2024	+0 points	Within the margin of error	13%
High school diploma or higher	88.7%2015-2019	91.5%2020-2024	+2.8 points	Within the margin of error	66%
Income inequality (Gini index)	0.3942015-2019	0.4262020-2024	+0.032	Within the margin of error	25%
Median household income	$35,2602015-2019	$38,8242020-2024	+10%	Within the margin of error	17%
Poverty rate	13.5%2015-2019	15.8%2020-2024	+2.2 points	Within the margin of error	25%
Rent as share of income	36.0%2015-2019	23.7%2020-2024	−12 points	Improved	95%
Rent-burdened households	60.7%2015-2019	32.5%2020-2024	−28 points	Improved	97%
Uninsured residents (under 65)	10.4%2015-2019	9.3%2020-2024	−1.1 points	Within the margin of error	59%

“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 14640 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.

Sources: American Community Survey 5-Year Estimates. Values are the latest and the one five years earlier of the same publisher dataset; datasets that changed publisher in between are never compared.

Survey estimates (American Community Survey) compare the two most recent 5-year windows that do not share years, so the margin of error of the difference holds. The 2015-2019 window predates the pandemic and 2020-2024 includes it.
A change counts only when it is larger than 1.645 times the square root of the two standard errors squared, summed (a 90% margin). Measures published without a margin must change by at least 5% to count.
“Against peers” compares the change with the same change in the 15651 cities and towns that have the same two periods. It describes how common a change is, not why it happened.
Standing is a percentile among the same places: 0 is the lowest value on the measure (or the worst when lower is better), 100 the best.

Cities and towns like South Zanesville, Ohio five years ago that improved

The places whose measures looked most like those of South Zanesville, Ohio in the earlier period, ranked by how many measures improved beyond the margin of error, minus how many declined. A comparison of published data, not a forecast and not advice.

For comparison, South Zanesville, Ohio itself moved +11.3 points in standing on average over the same 9 measures (standings of all places average about zero).

How the ranking works

Similarity is the root-mean-square difference of standings in the earlier period over the measures most places have. Places are ranked by measures that improved beyond the margin of error minus those that declined (a count that estimation noise in small places cannot inflate), then by the mean change of standing over the measures a place has in both periods. Only places with more improvements than declines and a rise in standing are listed. Standings are relative, so a place can improve in absolute terms and still lose standing.

Who lives here

Age, race and education of residents, from the American Community Survey. Shares are of all residents (age), residents of every origin (race) or adults 25 and over (education).

Age and sex

2,211 residents (±359)

Men
Women

80 and over†
70–79†
60–69†

Income

How household income is spread, not just the middle: each bar is the share of households in that income range.

Household income

964 households (±141)

South Zanesville, Ohio
Ohio share

Under $25k30%†287
$25k–50k30%†288
$50k–75k

Homes

Who owns and who rents, what homes cost, and what the housing stock looks like.

Owners and renters

964 households (±141)

South Zanesville, Ohio
Ohio share

Own65%623
Rent35%341

No change since 2015–2019 is larger than the margin of error.

Table view

Getting to work

How workers travel to their job and how long it takes them.

How people get to work

954 workers (±235)

South Zanesville, Ohio
Ohio share

Drive alone81%774
Carpool14%†137
Public transit0.0%0

Jobs and pay

What the largest occupations here pay, from the Bureau of Labor Statistics' Occupational Employment and Wage Statistics survey.

The Bureau of Labor Statistics publishes pay by metro area, not by county or city. The metro area page lists its largest occupations and lets you look up any job.

Pay in the Zanesville, OH

Local businesses

Employer businesses and sole proprietors by industry, per resident and against the state and the nation. Counts of businesses next to counts of people, not a measure of demand.

The Census Bureau publishes business counts by county, not by city, so these are the figures of Muskingum County, the county holding most of South Zanesville's residents.

Muskingum County has 1,737 employer establishments, 202 for every 10,000 residents (0.81× the US rate of 248; 0.93× Ohio's), with 29,977 paid employees at an average annual pay of $50,176. The Census Bureau also counts 5,803 nonemployer businesses, mostly sole proprietors.

Establishments: 1,737; 5,803 nonemployers
Per 10,000 residents: 202; US 248 · Ohio 216
Paid employees: 29,977
Average annual pay: $50,176; US $68,342

Employer establishments, employees, average pay and nonemployers of Muskingum County by industry, with the density per resident against the nation

Restaurants and other eating places	160	18.6	1.01×About typical	3,374	$18,545	30
Ambulatory health care services	130	15.1	0.72×Fewer than typical	2,470	$87,662	211
Specialty trade contractors	109	12.6	0.82×About typical	745	$61,721	552
Limited-service restaurants	92	10.7	1.33×More than typical	1,779	$17,500	11
Religious organizations	70	8.1	1.46×More than typical	351	$20,259	—
Automotive repair and maintenance	53	6.1	1.22×About typical	275	$37,138	107
Full-service restaurants	50	5.8	0.76×Fewer than typical	1,422	$19,559	9
Gasoline stations	47	5.5	1.68×More than typical	475	$23,819	—
Services to buildings and dwellings	42	4.9	0.72×Fewer than typical	229	$40,690	371
Construction of buildings	41	4.8	0.63×Fewer than typical	210	$42,310	196
Building equipment contractors	40	4.6	0.77×Fewer than typical	329	$64,623	95
Truck transportation	39	4.5	0.89×About typical	457	$79,341	133

Rank places for an industry Open Muskingum County

County Business Patterns (2023); Nonemployer Statistics (2024)

Per-resident figures divide by the population estimate of 2023: 86,187 residents here, 336,755,052 in the United States. County Business Patterns counts establishments in 2023; the Nonemployer Statistics count businesses in 2024.
“More than typical” is a density at least 1.25 times the nation's per resident, “fewer” at most 0.8 times, with at least 10 establishments. It compares counts of businesses with counts of people: it says nothing about demand, incomes, size, quality or profit, and visitors and commuters are not residents.
The Census Bureau adds noise to employment and payroll to protect confidentiality, and withholds some figures: an industry with few establishments can show employees or pay as unavailable.
Industries overlap: a narrower industry (full-service restaurants) is part of a broader one (restaurants), so the rows do not add up.
Industries follow the North American Industry Classification System; the two surveys use different editions (NAICS 2017 and 2022), which this page matches industry by industry.

Federal contracts performed here

No federal contract obligations recorded here in FY2026.

Grants and other federal assistance are counted by county here, not split among cities: South Zanesville is mostly in Muskingum County.

See federal money in Muskingum County

Representation in Congress

Members serving today, with their record in the current Congress (party-unity votes cast with their caucus, roll calls missed). Not a grade.

South Zanesville, Ohio is represented in the 119th Congress by these members.

House

Troy BaldersonR-OH-12 · 100% of residentsWith party 99%Missed 1.3%

Senate

Explore Congress The 2026 races

County

A city can lie in several counties. Some indicators are published for counties only: the page marks them.

Muskingum County35100% of residents

Metro area

The metro or micro area the city belongs to.

Zanesville, OH29

Other cities and towns in Muskingum County

Largest first.

Similar cities and towns

Closest indicator profiles across the country (no model: score distances).

Data and sources

Latest published value of each indicator; periods differ by source. Values flagged by their publisher are marked.

PLACES: Local Data for Better HealthCenters for Disease Control and Prevention · release 2025
Local Area Unemployment StatisticsU.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics · release 2025
American Community Survey 5-Year EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2017-2024
Building Permits SurveyU.S. Census Bureau · release 2026-08
Population Estimates ProgramU.S. Census Bureau · release 2025
Small Area Health Insurance EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
Small Area Income and Poverty EstimatesU.S. Census Bureau · release 2024
County Health Rankings & RoadmapsUniversity of Wisconsin Population Health Institute · release 2022-2025+2026-03-supplement

JSON · /api/v1/places/3973894

Scores by category

Strengths · Weaknesses

Strengths

Weaknesses

Trends