New Albany, OH
What New Albany is actually like
New Albany was founded in 1837 by Nobel Landon and William Yantis in what was then Plain Township, incorporating in 1856 with about 50 residents and S. Ogden as its first mayor (Wikipedia); the settlement stayed a small farm village for more than a century afterward.
Starting in the 1980s, Limited Brands (later L Brands) founder Leslie Wexner began buying land around New Albany, and in 1998 formalized his holdings as the New Albany Company, which he has co-chaired with developer Jack Kessler. The company adopted Georgian-Palladian architectural design guidelines — white horse fencing, uniform street lighting and wooden signage among them — inspired in part by the English village of Cotswold, and deliberately built around a rejection of standard postwar suburban sprawl (The New Albany Company). The same era brought the 4,500-acre New Albany International Business Park, now home to major employers including Google, Amazon, Meta, Abercrombie & Fitch and Discover Financial Services, and the village's population grew from 414 in 1980 to 10,825 by the 2020 census (Commercial Observer; Wikipedia).
New Albany's population reached an estimated 11,803 as of July 1, 2025, according to the U.S. Census Bureau (U.S. Census Bureau QuickFacts), and the city today spans two counties — most of it in Franklin County, with a smaller portion extending into Licking County (Wikipedia).
Home values in New Albany
The median New Albany home sold for $949,524 over the three months ending July 2026, up 13.8% year-over-year, per Redfin — the highest typical value among the suburbs covered in this guide by a wide margin.
Evenings and weekends
The Jeanne B. McCoy Community Center for the Arts, a 35,000-square-foot facility built on land the New Albany Company donated, anchors the city's performing-arts and community-event calendar (City of New Albany).
Getting around
New Albany's Market Square and Main Street area, built to the New Albany Company's Georgian design standards, is walkable on its own, with white horse fencing and uniform streetlights lining the route, but most of the city's larger-lot neighborhoods require a car for anything beyond a walk around the block.
New Albany FAQ
Is New Albany, Ohio a good place to live?
New Albany offers a highly planned, architecturally consistent community and a major nearby business park, but it comes at a price: the median home sale was around $950,000 in mid-2026, well above every other suburb in this guide.
Who developed New Albany, Ohio?
L Brands founder Leslie Wexner began buying land in the 1980s and formalized his holdings as the New Albany Company in 1998, alongside developer Jack Kessler; the company still sets the town's Georgian-Palladian architectural design standards today.
What counties is New Albany, Ohio in?
New Albany is mostly in Franklin County, with a smaller portion extending into adjacent Licking County.
What school district serves New Albany, Ohio?
New Albany-Plain Local Schools, which operates a downtown learning campus next to the Jeanne B. McCoy Community Center for the Arts, built on land donated by the New Albany Company.
How far is New Albany from downtown Columbus?
About 18 miles, typically a 25-30 minute drive via SR-161.
Nearby alternatives*We're not ranking these — every place has real trade-offs, and which ones matter is up to you.
Gahanna
Gahanna sits southwest of New Albany along the same Big Walnut Creek corridor, with substantially lower typical home values.
Westerville
Westerville lies west of New Albany and shares access to SR-161.
Newark
Newark, the Licking County seat, is about 20 miles east and anchors the county that New Albany's smaller eastern portion sits in.
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