Portsmouth, Ohio

What Portsmouth OH is made of: the communities whose institutions are here, the sectors its 1,960 businesses sit in, the franchises already on the ground, and the services a newcomer could start.

1,960 businesses on file · 129 trades · 33 sectors · census population 17,919 · registry population 18,252 · built from geonet.charleston on 2026-10-07

Businesses1,960
100% carry coordinates
Specialised in12
trades above the national pattern
Best suited toStudents and young adults
on the census signals below
Franchise brands42
already operating here

Visiting rather than moving? The free guidebook for Portsmouth OH → — the free guidebook for this region: why go, what to see, what is open when it rains.

1

The local economy

What the business base is made of, what it is specialised in against the national pattern, and what that mix implies. This is the part a development office would read first.

Composition, not health. geonet records what trades exist and where; it does not record formation, closure, employment or revenue, so none of those appear here. What makes this economics rather than a directory is the NAICS coding: it lets the local mix be read against the BLS survival curves and against the 323 industry groups this research has screened.

The two biggest markets here

Every industry group on this page links through to its NAICS page, and to the screened market report where this research has one — that is what the trait-to-NAICS coding buys.

Business density109.4
businesses per 1,000 residents, against the 2021 census count of 17,919
Breadth of the base311
broad — 92 industry groups, top three 19.3%
Survival the mix implies56.9%
at five years, against 51.4% for all private establishments
Coded to NAICS61.8%
of which 73% unambiguous

What this city is specialised in

Location quotient is this city's share of a trade divided by the same share across 10 US metro tables. Above 1.25 is the conventional threshold for a local specialisation.

Thin against the national pattern

Common trades that are under-represented here. For someone deciding what to open, this is the more useful half of the table — though a gap can mean unmet demand or a market that does not work here, and this does not tell you which.

The base against the entry screen

Businesses by the entry signal of the industry group they sit in, from the /markets screen. A large "structure decides" share means most local trades are ones where being better than the incumbent does not by itself win. A trade is matched to the screened record at whatever level the research wrote it — the same code, a broader one, or a narrower one. Where a group holds several screened sub-markets the count is shown, because no single one of them speaks for the whole group.

Enter
24.3%
295 businesses
Caution
54.7%
663 businesses
Structure decides
21%
254 businesses
Not screened
0%
0 businesses

How to read the survival figure

Each sector's five-year establishment survival rate, weighted by how many of this city's businesses sit in that sector. It is a property of the MIX, not of these businesses — it says what survival this composition would imply at US private-sector rates, because no Canadian equivalent series exists.

Weighted over 94.5% of the coded base — public administration carries no curve. Source: Business Employment Dynamics — Table 7, Survival of private sector establishments by opening year, US Bureau of Labor Statistics.

And what it does not measure

A "mixed" trait is one that genuinely spans codes — "computers" covers systems design, repair and supply. The clear share is how much of this reading rests on unambiguous coding. Business density also reflects how completely the directory covers a place, not only how many businesses are in it — so it compares poorly between a city the register knows well and one it does not.

2

Who lives here, and who the city is for

The census: the only figures on this page that count people rather than businesses, and the three cohort readings they make possible.

The register says what trades exist. The census says who lives here — and it is the only thing on this page that counts people. Figures are American Community Survey 2019–2023 five-year estimates for Portsmouth city, Ohio, the incorporated place, which is the city proper, and every comparison is against the United States as a whole, from the same ACS tables.

Detailed language is not published for American places. B16001, the table with individual languages, has no place-level rows; C16001 is what exists, and it names six languages and groups the rest into families. A Canadian city on this site names about forty.

Population17,919
census 2021
Median age37.1
against 38.7 nationally
Immigrants2.1%
against 13.9% nationally
Median rent$758
against $1,348 nationally

Who the city is for

Three readings, each built from real numbers against real benchmarks. This is not an index. Every signal is shown with its own value, its benchmark and which way it points, and the band simply counts how many point the same way — so a reader who disagrees with one signal can drop it and still use the rest.

Seniors

moderate

Is this a place to grow old, and is the care here?

Residents 65 and over 18.7% ▲16.8%
Residents 85 and overthe group that needs care rather than the group that is merely retired 1.7% ▼1.9%
Median age 37.1 years –38.7 years
Poverty ratethe US poverty threshold — a different definition from the Canadian pages, and not comparable to them 37.5% ▼12.4%
Medical clinics per 1,000 residentsfrom the business register 0.11 –
Pharmacies per 1,000 residentsfrom the business register 1.06 –
Median rent 758 $/mo ▲1348 $/mo

A high share of over-65s says other people made this choice; it does not say the care exists. The register has no category for a hospital at all, so distance to an emergency department is still missing.

Students and young adults

strong

Is there a reason to be here between 19 and 25, and can they afford it?

Residents 20 to 24 8.9% ▲6.5%
Residents 15 to 19the cohort arriving next 8% ▲6.5%
Renter householdsa rental market is what makes a place possible to move to 53.2% ▲35%
Median rent 758 $/mo ▲1348 $/mo
Unemployment rate 10.4% ▼5.2%
Degree holders in the adult population 18% ▼35%
Drinking places and recreationfrom the register 11 –

Post-secondary institutions in the city are listed further down this page; where there are none, a high 20-to-24 share usually means work rather than study.

Newcomers and other-language speakers

thin

Is there already a community here, and has anyone built anything for it?

Foreign-born residents 2.1% ▼13.9%
Arrived 2010 or laterthe band the ACS publishes; the Canadian pages use 2016 to 2021, so the two are not comparable 29.5% –29.4%
Speak a language other than English at home 1.7% –
Language groups above the reporting floor 2 –
Median household income 35319 $ ▼78538 $

The American census does not publish individual languages for a city — only the eleven groups below, six of which are single languages. A Canadian city on this site names about forty, so the two sections are not the same depth and should not be read as if they were.

What is spoken at home, and whether anyone built for it

The register-versus-census cross-check on the Canadian pages is not possible here: the ACS publishes language in groups, so "Other Indo-European languages" cannot be matched against an institution that names a community.

Spoken most often at homeSpeakers ShareCommunity in the register Institutions
Spanish 203 1.1% not mapped to a marker 0
German or other West Germanic languages 106 0.6% not mapped to a marker 0

The rest of the profile

CharacteristicHereCanada
Residents 65 and over 18.7% 16.8%
Residents 85 and over 1.7% 1.9%
Residents 20 to 24 8.9% 6.5%
Arrived 2016 to 2021 29.5% 29.4%
Non-permanent residents — —
Speak a non-official language at home 1.7% —
Renter households 53.2% 35%
Spending 30% or more on shelter — —
Participation rate 46.4% 63.5%
Unemployment rate 10.4% 5.2%
Median household income, 2020 35319 $ —
Median after-tax household income, 2020 — —
Prevalence of low income (LIM-AT) 37.5% —
Bachelor degree or higher 18% —

The one thing to keep in mind

Five-year estimates pooled over 2019–2023, so a figure is an average of the period rather than a single year, and every value carries a margin of error this extract does not keep. Unlike the Canadian census, which counts everyone, the ACS is a sample — a small place's figures are correspondingly uncertain. ACS five-year estimate for the incorporated place, which is the city proper. It will differ from the figure in wander.regions, which is sometimes a metropolitan population.

Source: American Community Survey 2019–2023 five-year estimates — Table-based summary file, 2023, United States Census Bureau, under the US federal government work, public domain. National comparison: The United States row of the same ACS tables, not an average of places — roughly a third of Americans live outside any incorporated place, so summing places would understate the country.

3

The communities the register shows

A community appears in the business register before it appears in prose — a national church, a society, a credit union, a newspaper. Those are counted as institutions, and they are what suggests residents. A restaurant serving a cuisine is counted separately as trade, because every city has those and they say nothing about who lives nearby. The ranking is by institutions.

CommunityInstitutions WorshipTrade Where it shows
Spanish-speaking — — 2
Chinese — — 1
Italian — — 1
Caribbean — — 1
5

What the city is made of

Every business on file, grouped by the sector it trades in. This is the economic-development view: where the 1,960 businesses actually are, and the specific trades inside each sector.

SectorBusinesses ShareWhat is in it
Living 171 8.7% place of worship (76) · cleaning (21) · apartment (21) · furniture (13) · daycare (12) · appliances (8) · fire safety (7) · janitor (4)
Construction 130 6.6% plumbing (25) · home builder (22) · painting (18) · general contractor (16) · heating and cooling (9) · concrete (7) · carpet (7) · flooring (6)
Health 114 5.8% physician (54) · home healthcare (14) · pharmacy (14) · optical (5) · medical supplier (2) · medical clinic (2) · cardiologist (2) · chiro (2)
Business 107 5.5% government (63) · accounting (12) · association (9) · consulting (8) · cemetary (3) · vending (3) · foundation (2) · bank (2)
Automotive 101 5.2% autos (70) · auto parts (6) · motorcycle (3) · scooter (3) · detailing (1) · auto repair (1)
Dining 93 4.7% restaurant (65) · pizza (10) · pubs (8) · steakhouse (3) · fast food (3) · burgers (3) · diner (1)
Finance 74 3.8% insurance (44) · bank (18) · real estate (3) · stock broker (2) · credit union (2) · loans (1)
Beauty 73 3.7% hair stylist (36) · dentist (17) · barber (9)
Retail 72 3.7% gifts (14) · convenience (12) · fuel (9) · jeweler (7) · flowers (7) · toys (7) · department store (6) · antiques (5)
Education 48 2.4% school (41) · library (4) · garden (1) · writing (1)
Law 42 2.1% lawyer (4) · mediator (1)
Food 41 2.1% grocer (27) · baker (9) · catering (2) · ice cream (2) · seafood (1)
Realty 40 2% real estate (40)
Logistics 36 1.8% truck transportation (17) · railroad (7) · storage (6)
Manufacturing 28 1.4% industrial supplier (10) · salvage (5) · chemical (4) · fabrication (2) · garden (2) · pulp and paper (1) · machinery (1)
Agribusiness 25 1.3% landscaping (12) · dairy (6) · livestock (4) · forestry (3)
Living & Home 23 1.2% greenhouse (2)
Retail Goods 22 1.1%
Tech 19 1% computers (11) · wireless (5) · telecom (3)
Media 18 0.9% books (6) · signs (6) · printing (5) · advertising (1)
6

The franchises already here

Brands from a register of 2,024 franchise systems, matched into this city by name. A high count is a signal in both directions: the territory works, and it may be taken.

11 of these brands are a single common word — Metro, Avenue, Budget — so their counts include businesses that merely share the word. They are marked rather than dropped.

BrandCategory HereWorldwide
CVS Pharmacy pharmacy 4 6,100
U-Haul car 3 13,700
Dollar General convenience 2 8,205
Golden Corral food 2 357
Pizza Hut pizza 2 10,000
ACE Cash Express cash 1 1,573
ACE Hardware hardware 1 4,700
Advance Auto Parts auto 1 3,000
Bob Evans food 1 600
Boston Pizza pizza 1 250
Burger King fastfood 1 11,000
Coverall Cleaning Concepts cleaner 1 90
Dairy Queen fastfood 1 5,900
Enterprise Rent A Car car 1 5,400
Fantastic Sams hair 1 1,350
Fashion Bug retail 1 1,000
Finish Line retail 1 700
Holiday Inn businesshotel 1 —
Holiday Inn Express familyhotel 1 —
Huddle House food 1 400
Kay Jewelers retail 1 839
Merle Norman Cosmetics retail 1 2,000
Movie Gallery video 1 4,700
Ramada Inn familyhotel 1 740
Rent-A-Center retail 1 3,500
Salvation Army retail 1 —
Stanley Steemer Carpet Cleaner cleaner 1 300
Super 8 economyhotel 1 —
Taco Bell tacos 1 5,845
Tim Hortons coffee 1 2,890
Wal-Mart retail 1 6,500
Manor name only retail 5 —
AllState name only insurance 3 —
Hallmark name only greetingcards 3 5,600
Limited name only retail 2 —
Aldi name only supermarket 1 5,000
AutoZone name only auto 1 3,800
Honda name only car 1 —
Kroger name only supermarket 1 2,507
Progressive name only supermarket 1 150
Toops name only liquor 1 —
Toyota name only car 1 —
7

Real estate as a local trade

Four unrelated jobs share the name: selling existing homes, owning and letting them, managing them for someone else, and building new ones. For anyone weighing a move or a licence these are the counts — and the ownership question goes to /property, which answers it building by building.

Real estate is a local job market in its own right, and four unrelated trades get the same name. Counts are businesses filed under each trade in the register, which lists a brokerage once however many agents work there — so this measures firms, not licensees.

Selling homes

5312
43 firms · LQ 0.45

Offices of agents and brokers — the resale market, and the biggest single trade in most Canadian cities.

Named in the register
  • Addis Realty — 1707 Grandview Ave
  • Arimatheae Group — 1144 9th St
  • Bluemont — P.O. BOX 1265
  • Century 21 — 902 Gallia St
  • Charles Euton Real Estate — 1115 Gay St
  • Ellis Greathouse — 1555 Hogan St
  • Exsell Realty Group — 1428 Gallia St
  • Gene Vice Realty — 1514 6th St
  • Hlm Properties — 1914 Baird Ave
  • John R Estep Realty — 1403 Galena Pike
  • Progressive Rentals — 725 5th St
  • Robert E Gambill Appraisals — 904 Gallia St
  • Scioto Rental Management — P.O. BOX 882
  • State View Properties — 1315 Albert St

Owning and letting

5311
21 firms · LQ 1.5

Lessors of real estate: the buildings themselves, filed under the building rather than the owner.

Named in the register
  • A D and S Rentals — 926 Gay St
  • Alexandria House — 811 Findlay St
  • B T Washington Apartments — 1106 11th St
  • Equity Residential — 1519 Kendall Ave APT 62
  • Findlay Manor — 925 15th St
  • Findlay Street Group Homes — 1206 Waller St
  • George W Farley Square — 1221 Farley Ct
  • Hurth Apartments — 222 Chillicothe St
  • Park Apartments — 301 Chillicothe St
  • PGS Rentals — 1037 Kent St
  • Riverview Retirement Center — 500 2nd St
  • Scioto Valley Apartments — 1420 16th St
  • Shawnee Apartments — 315 Market St
  • Traylor Apartments — 416 Gay St

Managing for owners

5313
2 firms · LQ 0.53

Property managers, who run buildings the landlord does not.

Named in the register
  • Angels Floor Care Janitorial — 1529 Swauger Valley Rd
  • Josh Malone — 2001 Grant St

Building new homes

2361
42 firms · LQ 1.22

Residential builders and the general contractors who work for them.

Named in the register
  • Brush Michael — 1328 Normandy Rd
  • C Force — 2313 17th St
  • Dain Lyon — 1122 18th St
  • DandD Project Management and Const — 99 Cedar Dr
  • Distel Construction — 2351 Charles St
  • Elsea Home Center — 4058 US Highway 23
  • Jerrys Home Maintenance — 2719 Sherman Rd
  • Johnsons Construction — 2024 7th St
  • Portco — 608 Elm St
  • Portsmouth Mobile Home Park — 930 Twenty Nineth St
  • Reliable Home Improvement — P.O. BOX 851
  • Stevens Construction — 2415 Scioto Trl
  • Thomas Terrance Hammond — 611 Boundary St
  • Working Man — 1731 Logan St

Financing it

5222
1 firms · LQ 0.14

Mortgage brokers and non-bank lenders.

Named in the register
  • Eagle Loan Co Of Ohio — 702 Washington St

On "how many doors"

How many doors a landlord holds is not in any of this. The register files an apartment building under the building, not its owner, and carries no unit count; there is no open dataset of Canadian landlords by portfolio. Where this research has established ownership it is in the /property record for the city, building by building, which is a different and much slower exercise.

8

Work where you go to them

The Ultimate 411 half of local: everything where the customer does not have to come to you.

A shop needs the customer to walk in. These 157 services do the opposite — the mobile mechanic, the mobile groomer, the bookkeeper, the junk haul — and they are the ones a person can start without a lease. 0 of them already match a trait filed in this city's register.

The 157 Service=1 rows in search.local: work where the provider travels to the customer. "present" counts businesses already filed under that exact trait name; a blank is a coverage gap, not proof of absence, because the two vocabularies were built separately.

home services

Short-Term Rental TurnoverAppliance InstallationBabyproofing & Safety InstallsCarpet & Upholstery CleaningDeep CleaningDrywall RepairErrand RunningExterior PaintingFence & Deck StainingFurniture AssemblyGarden Weeding & MaintenanceGrocery Pickup & DeliveryGutter CleaningHandyman (General Repairs)Hedge & Shrub TrimmingHouse CleaningHouse SittingInterior PaintingJunk Removal & Dump RunsLandscape Design & PlantingLawn MowingFall Leaf CleanupMove-In / Move-Out CleaningMoving Help (Labour Only)Moving with TruckOffice CleaningPersonal ShopperPressure WashingMove Things Around the HouseSnow Shovelling & RemovalPacking & UnpackingTV & Picture MountingWardrobe StylingWindow Cleaning

events

BartenderDesignated Driver (Your Car)CateringTents, Tables & ChairsFloristFuneral & Celebration of Life ArrangementsGame-Day Bus or VanBook a Pub for Your GroupKaraoke Machine RentalParty Bus & Group ShuttlePub Crawl HostTaxi to the PubSports & Game PhotographyStag & Doe / Jack & Jill PlanningTailgate Party SetupTrivia Night HostVenue SourcingBig-Game Watch Party SetupWedding OfficiantWedding Planner / Coordinator

pets

Aquarium & Terrarium CleaningCatio (Cat Patio) BuildChicken Coop BuildDog House BuildDog TrainingDog WalkingHome Pet BoardingLost Pet SearchMobile Dog GroomingOvernight Pet SittingBuild & Install a Pet DoorPet Cages & EnclosuresPet Fencing & Dog RunsPet PhotographyPet-Proofing Your HomePet Sitting & Dog WalkingPet TaxiYard Poop Scooping

luxury

Chauffeur & Luxury CarDJ & Sound Gear RentalDJEvent PhotographerEvent PlannerLive MusiciansHair & Makeup ArtistMatchmakerPersonal ConciergePortrait & Headshot PhotographerPrivate ChefVideographerVIP / Social Club MembershipWedding PhotographerYacht & Boat Charter

healthcare

Wheelchair-Accessible TransportGrab Bars, Ramps & Home AccessibilityLight Housekeeping for SeniorsCooking & Meal Prep for SeniorsMedical Appointment EscortMedication & Appointment RemindersMobility Equipment RentalRespite Care for Family CaregiversSenior CompanionshipTech Help for SeniorsWalking Companion

sporting goods

Bike Tune-UpBorrow a Bike or E-BikeBorrow Camping GearBorrow Golf ClubsBorrow Hockey GearBorrow Ice SkatesBorrow a Kayak, Canoe or PaddleboardBorrow Skis, Poles & Ski BootsBorrow a Snowboard & Snow BootsSkate SharpeningSki & Snowboard Tuning

sports

Backyard Rink BuildLocal Fishing GuideGolf CaddieFind Players for a Pickup GamePrivate Sports LessonJoin or Build a Rec League TeamBook Ice, Courts & FieldsWorkout & Sports BuddyRoommates Who Also Like Sports

business

BookkeepingStart a Local BusinessCareer Coaching & RésumésFind a Local ManufacturerFind Local Work / Contract GigsLocal Advertising PlacementPrototype & Small-Batch ProductionTranslation & InterpretationWebsite & Online Presence

outdoors

Brush & Land ClearingChainsaw Rental (from a local owner)Firewood (Cut, Split & Delivered)Log Bucking & Cutting (Chainsaw)Portable SawmillingSmall-Lot Logging & Land ClearingStump GrindingTree FellingWood Splitting

construction

CarpenterElectricianHeating & Cooling (HVAC)Mobile MechanicPlumberRoof RepairSmall Engine RepairWelder / Metal Fabrication

travel

Airport Transfer & Car ServiceCorporate & Business TravelCruise BookingFamily Travel for a WeddingBereavement / Funeral TravelLeisure Travel PlanningLocal Tour Guide

tools

Camera & Lens RentalGenerator RentalLog Splitter RentalParty Equipment RentalPower Tool RentalTrailer & Truck Rental
9

Schools and colleges

wander.schools is a post-secondary table — universities and colleges. K-12 public and private schools are not in it, and only 7 of its 1,686 rows carry coordinates, so these are listed and not mapped.

In the business register

Where schooling shows up as a business rather than an institution — which is where K-12, tutoring and childcare appear.

school 41daycare 12
10

Health and care

What a person moving a parent here would ask first. The register files clinics and pharmacies; it has no category for a hospital at all, so hospitals are matched by name and the limit is stated rather than hidden.

Medical clinics2
Pharmacies14
Dental practices17

Matched on the name "hospital"

  • Premier Therapy and Health Center — 1033 Gallia St
  • Shawnee Mental Health Center — 901 Washington St
  • Wheelersburg Animal Hospital — 7429 Ohio River Rd

geonet carries no 'hospital' trait, so these are matched on the business name. A distance-to-hospital figure needs a source that states hospital locations.

12

What this record cannot tell you

Named in full, because the gaps are the part most likely to be misread as an answer.

  • Census figures are 2021, taken on 11 May 2021: income is for 2020 and the labour figures were measured mid-pandemic, so the unemployment rate on this page is a 2021 reading rather than a current one.
  • wander.schools is now readable, but it holds universities and colleges only and 1,679 of its 1,686 rows have no coordinates. K-12 public and private schools need a separate source — in Ontario the Ministry of Education school finder, in British Columbia the provincial school list. wander.citytowns, hotels and territories remain denied to the ru user.
  • No 'hospital' trait exists in geonet; distance to a hospital needs an external source such as StatCan's Open Database of Healthcare Facilities.
  • 0.0% of businesses here carry no coordinates, so a map or address lookup would miss them. Postal codes reach 100%.

Built from

  • geonet.charleston — the local business register
  • wander.regions — city name, population, metro
  • search.local — trait vocabulary and the come-to-you services
  • search.cozfranchises — 2,024 franchise brands