Fairfield County, Ohio

Fairfield County is a county in Ohio, United States, about 33 miles southeast of Columbus. It had
a population of 158,921 at the 2020 census, an estimated 169,752 by 2025, and covers 509 square
miles (1,320 km2) centred near 39°45′N 82°38′W.

Lancaster is the county seat and largest city; its postal code is 43130. The county holds 4
cities, 10 incorporated villages and 3 census-designated places across 13 townships, and it runs
on Eastern Time. Its FIPS code is 39045.

Towns & Villages in Fairfield County

Fairfield County has 17 named places on record: 4 cities, 10 incorporated villages and 3
census-designated places with no local government of their own. CDP stands for census designated
place; Unincorp. covers communities with no formal boundary.

Two places on this list straddle county lines. Pickerington and Canal Winchester both sit mostly
in Franklin County; the populations above are citywide, and only their eastern edges reach into
Fairfield. Lithopolis runs the other way — most of the village is in Fairfield’s Bloom and
Violet townships, with a small western strip extending into Franklin County. Hide-A-Way Hills is
split between Fairfield’s Rush Creek Township and Marion Township in neighboring Hocking County;
the count above is for the whole community. West Rushville, an unincorporated crossroads near
Rushville, has no separate census count and is not listed as its own row.

Townships

Rush Creek Township is the only one of the county’s 13 townships with a separately published
2020 census figure among the sources checked for this page; the rest are folded into their cities
and villages or into the county’s unincorporated totals, so their standalone counts are left
blank rather than estimated.

ZIP Codes

• 43130 — Lancaster (the county’s most populous ZIP, covers most of Hocking Township)
• 43147 — Pickerington
• 43110 — Canal Winchester
• 43105 — Baltimore
• 43136 — Lithopolis
• 43107 — Bremen
• 43102 — Amanda
• 43157 — Thurston
• 43148 — Pleasantville
• 43046 — Millersport
• 43154 — Stoutsville
• 43112 — Carroll
• 43155 — Sugar Grove
• 43150 — Rushville

Fairfield Beach, Hide-A-Way Hills, Hamburg and West Rushville have no ZIP code of their own;
mail there is delivered under the nearest incorporated village or Lancaster’s code.

Geography

Fairfield County straddles the line between two Ohio landscapes. The northern half is glaciated
flatland typical of central Ohio, while the south, around the village of Carroll, rises into the
foothills of the Appalachian Plateau. Of the county’s 509 square miles, about 504 are land and
4.2 are water — just under one percent. The Hocking River runs through Lancaster and drains
most of the county’s southern half; Buckeye Lake, a reservoir built in the 1830s for the Ohio and
Erie Canal, extends into the county’s northeastern corner from neighboring Licking and Perry
counties.

Licking County lies to the north, Perry County to the northeast, Hocking County to the south,
Pickaway County to the southwest, and Franklin County, home to Columbus, to the northwest. Licking County, Perry County, Hocking County, Pickaway County and Franklin County all border
Fairfield directly.

Demographics

Fairfield County had a population of 158,921 at the 2020 census, and the latest estimate puts
the county near 167,762 residents. Lancaster and Pickerington are the two largest communities,
together holding well over a third of the county’s population. Median household income runs
$91,034 (2024 ACS), notably higher than Ohio’s statewide figure of $67,769 (2023 ACS) —
Fairfield County benefits from its position inside the Columbus metropolitan area, where
Pickerington and Canal Winchester residents commute west for higher-paying work. Population
density works out to roughly 315 people per square mile of land.

Economy & Local Life

Health care and social assistance employs the most workers in the county, about 12,797 people,
followed by retail trade at 9,100 and manufacturing at 6,950. Fairfield Medical Center, based in
Lancaster, is the county’s single largest employer with roughly 2,314 workers. Anchor Hocking,
the glassware manufacturer founded in Lancaster in 1905, remains a major employer with about
1,782 workers, and the county government and Lancaster City Schools each employ over a thousand
people locally. Millersport hosts the county’s biggest annual event, the Sweet Corn Festival,
held every year during the first week of September.

History

The Ohio territorial government organized Fairfield County on 9 December 1800, one of the
state’s earliest counties, carved from land that then also included parts of present-day Hocking,
Perry, Pickaway, Licking and Knox counties. Lancaster, then called New Lancaster, was founded the
same year on the site of a former Wyandot village on the Hocking River; German-descended settlers
from Lancaster, Pennsylvania, gave the town and eventually the county their name.

Anchor Hocking traces to a small Lancaster glassworks opened in 1905, and the company became one
of the world’s largest glass tableware makers through the twentieth century, anchoring the local
economy for generations. The Lancaster Lateral Canal, a branch of the Ohio and Erie Canal, opened
in 1834 and connected the city to eastern markets before the railroad era.

Getting There

Interstate 70 crosses the county’s northern edge near Baltimore. US Routes 22 and 33 both run
through the county and through Lancaster.

• Columbus — about 33 miles northwest
• Zanesville — about 30 miles northeast
• Chillicothe — about 35 miles southwest
• Athens — about 45 miles south

John Glenn Columbus International Airport, about 35 miles northwest of Lancaster, is the
nearest major commercial airport. Fairfield County Airport, three nautical miles northwest of
downtown Lancaster, handles general aviation only. No Amtrak service reaches Fairfield County;
the nearest station is in Cincinnati or Pittsburgh, both well outside a practical day trip.

Frequently Asked Questions

Where is Fairfield County located?
It sits in central Ohio, about 33 miles southeast of Columbus, bordered by Licking, Perry,
Hocking, Pickaway and Franklin counties.

What is the population of Fairfield County?
158,921 at the 2020 census, with a 2025 estimate near 169,752.

How big is Fairfield County?
509 square miles (1,320 km2), of which about 504 square miles are land.

What is the county seat of Fairfield County?
Lancaster, founded in 1800, is the county seat and largest city.

How many towns and cities are in Fairfield County?
Four cities — Lancaster, Pickerington (partly), Canal Winchester (partly) — plus ten
incorporated villages including Baltimore, Lithopolis, Bremen and Amanda, and three
census-designated places: Fairfield Beach, Hide-A-Way Hills and Hamburg.

What ZIP codes does Fairfield County use?
43130 for Lancaster, 43147 for Pickerington, 43110 for Canal Winchester, plus separate codes for
each of the county’s smaller villages, from 43046 (Millersport) to 43157 (Thurston).

What is Fairfield County known for?
Anchor Hocking glassware, founded in Lancaster in 1905, and Millersport’s annual Sweet Corn
Festival each September.

More counties in this state: Towns and villages in Ohio.