1. Worldmark Encyclopedia of the States
  2. Ohio
  3. Population

Ohio

Population

Ohio ranked 7th in population in the US with an estimated total of 11,421,267 in 2002, an increase of 0.6% since 2000. Between

Ohio
Ohio Counties, County Seats, and County Areas and Populations
Ohio Counties, County Seats, and County Areas and Populations

Ohio Counties, County Seats, and County Areas and Populations

COUNTY COUNTY SEAT LAND AREA (SQ MI) POPULATION (2002 EST.) COUNTY COUNTY SEAT LAND AREA (SQ MI) POPULATION (2002 EST.)
Adams West Union 586 27,804 Logan Bellefontaine 458 46,262
Allen Lima 405 108,120 Lorain Elyria 495 288,360
Ashland Ashland 424 52,900 Lucas Toledo 341 453,506
Ashtabula Jefferson 703 102,515 Madison London 467 40,365
Athens Athens 508 63,256 Mahoning Youngstown 417 253,308
Auglaize Wapakoneta 398 46,464 Marion Marion 403 66,028
Belmont St. Clairsville 537 69,448 Medina Medina 422 158,439
Brown Georgetown 493 43,464 Meigs Pomeroy 432 23,111
Butler Hamilton 469 340,543 Mercer Celina 457 40,815
Carroll Carrollton 393 29,166 Miami Troy 410 99,596
Champaign Urbana 429 39,121 Monroe Woodsfield 458 14,973
Clark Springfield 398 143,416 Montgomery Dayton 458 554,470
Clermont Batavia 456 183,352 Morgan McConnelsville 420 14,749
Clinton Wilmington 410 41,090 Morrow Mt. Gilead 406 32,976
Columbiana Lisbon 534 111,806 Muskingum Zanesville 654 85,349
Coshocton Coshocton 566 36,836 Noble Caldwell 399 14,088
Crawford Bucyrus 403 46,420 Ottawa Port Clinton 253 41,049
Cuyahoga Cleveland 459 1,379,049 Paulding Paulding 419 19,841
Darke Greenville 600 52,966 Perry New Lexington 412 34,408
Defiance Defiance 414 39,334 Pickaway Circleville 503 53,437
Delaware Delaware 443 125,399 Pike Waverly 443 27,921
Erie Sandusky 264 79,207 Portage Ravenna 493 153,886
Fairfield Lancaster 506 129,161 Preble Eaton 426 42,680
Fayette Washington Ct. House 405 28,176 Putnam Ottawa 484 34,736
Franklin Columbus 542 1,086,814 Richland Mansfield 497 128,004
Fulton Wauseon 407 42,573 Ross Chillicothe 692 74,469
Gallia Gallipolis 471 31,301 Sandusky Fremont 409 61,698
Geauga Chardon 408 92,980 Scioto Portsmouth 614 78,041
Greene Xenia 415 149,964 Seneca Tiffin 553 58,077
Guernsey Cambridge 522 40,987 Shelby Sidney 409 48,516
Hamilton Cincinnati 412 833,721 Stark Canton 574 377,940
Hancock Findlay 532 72,286 Summit Akron 412 546,381
Hardin Kenton 471 31,731 Trumbull Warren 612 223,518
Harrison Cadiz 400 15,890 Tuscarawas New Philadelphia 569 91,490
Henry Napoleon 415 29,478 Union Marysville 437 43,010
Highland Hillsboro 553 41,851 Van Wert Van Wert 410 29,399
Hocking Logan 423 28,481 Vinton McArthur 414 13,128
Holmes Millersburg 424 40,375 Warren Lebanon 403 175,133
Huron Norwalk 495 60,020 Washington Marietta 640 62,561
Jackson Jackson 420 32,854 Wayne Wooster 557 112,704
Jefferson Steubenville 410 72,402 Williams Bryan 422 39,020
Knox Mt. Vernon 529 56,037 Wood Bowling Green 619 122,387
Lake Painesville 231 229,004 Wyandot Upper Sandusky 406 22,773
Lawrence Ironton 457 62,172     ———— ——————
Licking Newark 686 148,731   TOTALS 41,004 11,421,267

1990 and 2000, Ohio's population grew from 10,847,115 to 11,353,140, an increase of 4.7%. The population is projected to reach 11.7 million by 2025. The population density in 2000 was 277.3 persons per sq mi, the 9th-highest among the 50 states.

Ohio's population grew slowly during the colonial period and totaled 45,365 persons in 1800. Once the territory became a state in 1803, settlers flocked to Ohio and the population quintupled to 230,760 by 1810. The state's population doubled again by 1820, approached 2,000,000 in 1850, and totaled 3,198,062 by 1880. Ohio's annual rate of population increase slowed considerably after 1900, when its population was 4,157,545; nevertheless, in the period between 1900 and 1960, the total population more than doubled to 9,706,397. A slow rate of population increase during the 1970s, and a population decline during 1980–85, resulted from a net migration loss and a declining birthrate.

In 2000, the median age in Ohio was 36.2. In the same year, more than 25.4% of the populace were under age 18 while 13.3% were age 65 or older.

As of the 1990 census, Columbus became Ohio's largest city, with a population of 632,910, trading 2nd place with Cleveland, which had 505,616 residents. Whereas Columbus increased its population by 12% during the 1980s, Cleveland's population decreased by 11.9%. The 2002 estimated populations of the two cities were Columbus, 725,228, and Cleveland, 467,851. Cincinnati and other large cities also lost population during this period, largely because of the shift of the middle class from the inner cities to the suburbs or to other states. In 2002, Cincinnati's estimated population was 323,885, followed by Toledo, 309,106; Akron, 214,349; and Dayton, 162,669.

Ohio's three most populated cities and their suburbs ranked among the 30 largest metropolitan areas in the US in 1996. In 1999, metropolitan Cleveland (including Akron and Lorain) had an estimated population of 2,910,616; metropolitan Cincinnati (including some portions of Kentucky and Indiana), 1,960,995; and the metropolitan area of Columbus, 1,489,487.