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 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.