Living in Hilliard, OH

Franklin County

Hilliard is a genuinely, currently fast-growing Columbus suburb -- its population grew approximately 5.63% since the 2020 Census, to a 2026 estimate of approximately 39,270, a real contrast from several more mature Columbus-region suburbs documented elsewhere in this project. Hilliard City School District carries a genuinely strong, well-documented reputation -- the 8th-largest district in Ohio, serving 16,000+ students, with two named high schools ranking within Ohio's top 100 -- a real, specific driver of Hilliard's family-relocation search intent. The city's economy runs genuinely strong: Advanced Drainage Systems (NYSE: WMS) is headquartered in Hilliard, the city was named 'Best Suburb To Do Business' by Columbus CEO magazine readers for two consecutive years, and more than $3 billion has been invested by businesses across Hilliard since 2021. Hilliard's own median household income ran a genuinely affluent approximately $128,189 (2024). This record discloses one especially important, precise Ohio tax distinction: unlike Columbus, Cincinnati, and Westerville (all documented elsewhere in this project as self-collecting their own municipal income tax), Hilliard IS a RITA (Regional Income Tax Agency) member -- its own 2.5% municipal income tax is filed and collected through RITA rather than a city-run tax office. Hilliard's own effective property tax rate ran a genuinely high 2.34% per Ownwell, the highest cited within Franklin County per that source. Crime data reads genuinely favorably in absolute terms, though this record discloses honestly that Hilliard's rate runs higher than approximately 70% of Ohio's cities/towns of all sizes even as it runs lower than average among similarly sized communities specifically -- both real, disclosed comparisons rather than one flattened verdict. Housing runs genuinely fast-moving (homes pending in around 3 days) with a real, wide-disclosed price spread across sources ($350,707-$477,900).

Explore Hilliard in depth

• Moving to Hilliard: Pros, Cons & What to Know
• Cost of Living in Hilliard
• Housing Market in Hilliard
• Buying a Home in Hilliard
• Renting in Hilliard
• Taxes in Hilliard
• Homeowners Insurance & Natural Hazard Costs in Hilliard
• Climate & Weather in Hilliard
• Jobs & Economy in Hilliard
• Schools in Hilliard
• Crime & Safety in Hilliard
• Healthcare in Hilliard
• Traffic & Transportation in Hilliard
• Best Areas to Live in Hilliard
• Pros and Cons of Living in Hilliard
• Retiring in Hilliard
• Who Should / Shouldn’t Move to Hilliard

Housing

Taxes

The tradeoffs

Who this fits

Best for: Best fits families prioritizing Hilliard City School District's genuinely strong, named-and-ranked reputation, and professionals or households connected to (or drawn to) Hilliard's real, verified corporate anchor in Advanced Drainage Systems and its broader, genuinely strong business-attraction momentum, who can budget for a genuinely high property tax rate and fast-moving, competitive housing market.

Maybe not for you if: Probably not the right fit for buyers prioritizing the lowest Columbus-region property tax rates (Hilliard's own rate runs genuinely high, the highest cited within Franklin County per one source), or for anyone who assumes every Ohio suburb self-collects its own municipal income tax the way Columbus, Cincinnati, and Westerville do -- confirm Hilliard's real RITA-member status directly before assuming a self-collection process.