 Ohio is commonly noted as the Nation 's Industrial Capital , dating to its roots in the Rust Belt and Ohio 's present @-@ day intelligence and scientific dominance . Ohio was one of four states in the U.S. to have areas make the Intelligent Community Forum 's list of global Smart 21 Communities for 2014 , with Columbus , Ohio receiving the honors . The state has 5 of the top 115 colleges in the nation , according to U.S. News and World Report 's 2010 rankings , while the Ohio State University was ranked # 10 by the same magazine for awarding degrees to Fortune 500 CEOs . The state was ranked # 8 by the same magazine in 2008 for best high schools , while overall , in 2010 the state 's schools were ranked # 5 in the country by Education Week . It was second only to Texas in having the most U.S. cities in the top 30 best places for new college graduates , according to BusinessWeek in 2010 . 
