Union County, just north of Columbus, is no longer the sleepy outer-ring county it once was. It has muscled its way into the national top five for housing growth, adding thousands of homes since 2020 and rapidly reshaping its suburban towns. New subdivisions and construction projects in and around Marysville and Plain City are leading the surge, and the shift now shows up clearly in county-level housing statistics.
According to a breakdown by The Columbus Dispatch, Union County ranked fourth among all U.S. counties for housing unit growth from 2020 to 2025. The ranking is based on newly released federal housing estimates and state data compilations that put the county’s building spree into a national context.
What the numbers show
U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts data show Union County with 28,408 housing units as of July 1, 2025. State records list 23,141 housing units in the 2020 census. That gap of roughly 5,267 additional units, or about a 23% jump, is what pushed the county near the top of the national rankings. Figures from the Ohio Dept. of Development show that about 1,474 of those units were added between 2024 and 2025 alone.
Why it is happening
Central Ohio’s housing market has been steadily pushing outward as prices climb and inventory tightens in core Columbus neighborhoods. That pattern has nudged both builders and buyers into surrounding counties such as Union. The Mid-Ohio Regional Planning Commission has documented rising sale prices and a persistent supply shortfall in recent briefings, while reporting from Axios has highlighted how the suburbs are picking up much of the spring market action.
Local impact and what to watch
All that construction brings obvious benefits, from more options for homebuyers to a growing tax base, but it also raises the pressure on local systems. County planners and school officials are watching permits, road capacity and sewer and water demands as new developments roll forward. Local reporting has noted these capacity concerns, and city and regional leaders have been pulling together coalitions and technical support to keep the growth from outrunning infrastructure.
The Columbus Dispatch details some of the conversations underway, while a regional housing coalition effort lays out how local officials hope to manage explosive growth across Central Ohio…