U.S. Census: Lorain County sees substantial population growth

Cities are swelling while rural areas struggle to keep up, according to the first detailed results of the 2020 U.S. Census. The data, collected last year and released Thursday, shows the United States now has a population in excess of 331 million, growing by about 22.7 million residents in the past decade — a more than 7 percent increase. That may sound like a boom, but in fact the nation grew at its slowest rate since the 1930s, the Census Bureau said. "Many counties within metro areas saw growth, especially those in the south and west. However, as we've been seeing in our annual population estimates, our nation is growing slower than it used to," said Marc Perry, a senior demographer at the Census Bureau. About 80 percent of all metropolitan areas grew in the past decade, but fewer than half of the 3,143 counties in the U.S. actually gained residents. Looking at sheer numbers, Texas, Florida, California, Georgia and Washington gained the most residents. The fastest-growing state was Utah with an 18.4 percent increase, followed by Idaho, Texas, North Dakota and Nevada. Lorain County cities population changes Cities 2020 Census&emsp;&emsp;&emsp;&emsp; 2010 Census&emsp;&emsp; Change&emsp;&emsp; Percent Change Amherst 12,681 12,021 660 5.5% Avon 24,847 21,193 3,654 17.2% Avon Lake 25,206 22,581 2,625 11.6% Elyria 52,656 54,533 -1,877 -3.4% Lorain 65,211 64,097 1,114 1.7% N. Ridgeville 35,280 29,465 5,815 19.7% Oberlin&emsp;&emsp;&emsp; 8,555 8,286 269 3.2% Shef. Lake 8,957 9,137 -180 -2.0% Vermilion 10,659 10,594 65 0.6% Only three states saw their populations drop: West Virginia, Mississippi and Illinois. Ohio's population grew by a slim 262,944 people since the last census in 2010. That's little more than a 2 percent increase. Lorain County was one of the few in Northeast Ohio to see substantial growth. It went from 301,356 residents to 312,964 in 10 years' time, a change of 11,608 or 3.9 percent. Only Elyria and Sheffield Lake saw total population decline in Lorain County, while cities like Avon, Avon Lake and North Ridgeville saw big gains. Neighboring Erie, Huron, Ashland and Cuyahoga counties lost residents. Medina County surged ahead with a 5.9 percent population increase, which at around 10,000 more residents was still smaller than Lorain County's gain. The net increase makes Lorain County the 227th most populous in the United States, and the ninth-largest of the 88 in Ohio. It trails Stark County in eighth place at 374,853. Franklin County remains the state's largest at over 1.3 million residents. The census numbers released Thursday also show housing stock by county. In 2020 — as the pandemic got underway and before the market caught fire — there were 134,341 housing units in Lorain County, and 125,239 of them (93.2 percent) were occupied. To look at socioeconomic connections, the Census Bureau lumps counties into "core-based statistical areas." They are regions anchored by urban areas, as well as the counties that are tied to them by commuters. Lorain County is part of the Cleveland-Elyria CBSA, which includes Cuyahoga, Medina, Lake, Geauga, Summit and Portage counties. It has only grown by a minuscule amount — some 11,000 people. The census results also show Lorain County growing, albeit slowly, more diverse. The shift is likely due in part to changes in the census' methods. Seeking more clarity about how Hispanic and Latino people self-identify, it moved to a two-question model. "These changes reveal that the U.S. population is much more multiracial and more diverse than what we measured in the past," the Census Bureau said. The data shows 247,300 Lorain County residents identified as white. That's 79 percent of the county's population, down from 86.2 percent a decade ago. The next largest group was Black and African-American with 24,863 residents (7.9 percent). Only 3,623 people (1.2 percent) identified as Asian, and 920 as Native American (less than 0.1 percent). About 10.5 percent of the population identified as Hispanic or Latino, which is an ethnic designation and not a racial one, and often overlaps with other groups. Here's where it gets even more interesting: In Ohio, there is now a 40.4 percent chance that any two residents chosen at random will be from different racial and ethnic groups, according to the Census Bureau. That's higher than most of the Midwest, but ranks low compared to the nation as a whole. The most diverse state in the nation is Hawaii, where there is a 76 percent chance. In the contiguous U.S., the most diverse state is California at 69.7 percent, and the least diverse state is Maine at 18.5 percent. Overall, 204.3 million people in America identified as white alone or in combination with another group. However, the share of those who said they are only white decreased by 8.6 percent since 2010. Meanwhile, the multiracial population has gone from just 9 million people a decade ago to 33.9 million in 2020, an increase of 276 percent. Those identifying as Hispanic or Latino — which can be of any race — grew to 62.1 million, an increase of 23 percent. "It is important to note that these data comparisons between the 2020 census and 2010 census race data should be made with caution, taking into account the improvements we have made to the Hispanic origin and race questions and the ways we code what people tell us," the Census Bureau said. Contact Jason Hawk at (440) 329-7122 or news@lcnewspapers.com. Ohio's 20 largest cities CITY 2020 CENSUS 2010 CENSUS CHANGE PERCENT CHANGE Columbus 905,748 787,033 118,715 15.1% Cleveland 372,624 396,815 -24,191 -6.1% Cincinnati 309,317 296,943 12,374 4.2% Toledo 270,871 287,208 -16,337 -5.7% Akron 190,469 199,110 -8,641 -4.3% Dayton 137,644 141,527 -3,883 -2.7% Parma 81,146 81,601 -455 -0.6% Canton 70,872 73,007 -2,135 -2.9% Lorain 65,211 64,097 1,114 1.7% Hamilton 63,399 62,477 922 1.5% Youngstown 60,068 66,982 -6,914 -10.3% Springfield 58,662 60,608 -1,946 -3.2% Kettering 57,862 56,163 1,699 3.0% Elyria 52,656 54,533 -1,877 -3.4% Cuyahoga Falls 51,114 49,652 1,462 2.9% Middletown 50,987 48,694 2,293 4.7% Lakewood 50,942 52,131 -1,189 -2.3% Newark 49,934 47,573 2,361 5.0% Euclid 49,692 48,920 772 1.6% Dublin 49,328 41,751 7,577 18.1% See also, Growing racial diversity in Lorain and Medina Counties CensusRaceWeb.pdf