Columbus metropolitan area, Ohio in the context of "Madison County, Ohio"

Zanesville is a city in Muskingum County, Ohio, United States, and its county seat. Located at the confluence of the Licking and Muskingum rivers, the city is approximately 52 miles (84 km) east of Columbus and had a population of 24,765 as of the 2020 census, down from 25,487 as of the 2010 census. Historically the state capital of Ohio from 1810 to 1812, Zanesville anchors the Zanesville micropolitan area (population 86,183) and is part of the greater Columbus-Marion-Zanesville combined statistical area.

Columbus (/kəˈlʌmbəs/, kə-LUM-bəs) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Ohio. With a population of 905,748 at the 2020 census, it is the 14th-most populous city in the U.S., second-most populous city in the Midwest (after Chicago), and third-most populous U.S. state capital (after Phoenix, Arizona, and Austin, Texas). The Columbus metropolitan area, with an estimated 2.23 million residents, is the largest metropolitan area entirely in Ohio and 32nd-largest metropolitan area in the U.S. Columbus is the county seat of Franklin County; it also extends into Delaware and Fairfield counties.

Columbus originated as several Native American settlements along the Scioto River. The first European settlement was Franklinton, now a city neighborhood, in 1797. Columbus was founded in 1812 at the confluence of the Scioto and Olentangy rivers and was named after Italian explorer Christopher Columbus. It was planned as the state capital due to its central location and officially became the capital in 1816. The city grew steadily through the 19th century as a transportation and industrial hub via the National Road, Ohio and Erie Canal, and several railroads. Starting in the 1950s, Columbus experienced rapid suburban growth, becoming Ohio's largest city by area and population by the early 1990s.

Lancaster (locally /ˈlæŋk(ə)stər/ LANK-(ə-)stər) is a city in Fairfield County, Ohio, and its county seat. The population was 40,552 at the 2020 United States census, making it Ohio's 30th largest city, having surpassed Warren and Findlay due to its own growth while the latter two cities declined. The city is near the Hocking River in the south-central part of the state, about 33 miles (53 km) southeast of Columbus and 38 miles (61 km) southwest of Zanesville. It is part of the Columbus metropolitan area.

The Cincinnati metropolitan area (also known as the Cincinnati Tri-State area or Greater Cincinnati) is a metropolitan area with its core in Ohio and Kentucky. Its largest city is Cincinnati and includes surrounding counties in the U.S. states of Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana.

The United States Census Bureau's formal name for the area is the Cincinnati, OH–KY–IN Metropolitan Statistical Area. As of the 2020 U.S. census, the metro area had a population of 2,256,884, making Greater Cincinnati the 30th-most populous metropolitan area in the United States, and the largest metro area in Ohio, followed by Columbus and Cleveland. The Cincinnati–Wilmington, OH–KY–IN Combined Statistical Area, adds Clinton County, Ohio (defined as the Wilmington, OH micropolitan area) and, until 2023, Mason County, Kentucky (defined as the Maysville, KY micropolitan area), was part of the CSA. The Cincinnati metropolitan area is considered part of the Great Lakes Megalopolis.