The Columbus Region's top rankings

Small businesses rate Columbus No. 1 nationally for the quality of its training and networking programs, according to thumbtack.com. Columbus was the easiest city in Ohio for starting a small business. Female business owners in Columbus felt more optimistic about the local economy than their male counterparts.

Movoto ranks Ohio No. 1 for Facebook fandom. "A truly stunning 55 percent of Ohioans have liked the Buckeye state on Facebook, and are happy to brag about where they call home. With awesome places like Columbus to call home, it's no wonder people in the state are so eager to show it," Movoto says.

Dating website Zoosk ranks Columbus third most open-minded city for singles, based on how willing a person is to date someone different from himself or herself.

Social travel iPad app Jetpac ranks Columbus third happiest, based on analysis of millions of Instagram photos of people smiling and laughing.

Columbus is ranked third busiest metro for concentration of fashion designers by CityLab, part of Atlantic Media. The Columbus Region is behind only New York and Los Angeles. The large headquarters of L Brands (which owns Victoria's Secret), The Limited, DSW and Abercrombie & Fitch largely contribute to the ranking.

Columbus is 7th best in the U.S. for female founders, as ranked by Forbes in 2014.

Ranking based on women's annual earnings, Small Business Administration-approved loans, growth in women-owned firms, revenue and percentage of women-owned firms

Columbus is 8th in the nation on Site Selection magazine's Top 10 Metro Areas. (This ranking is for metropolitan areas with a population of more than one million. It is based on the number of new projects, of which Columbus had 102).